After lunch, Arianne was asked to stay by her Aunt Joyce and Uncle Yosef. She initially wanted to decline, but when told a lawyer was already on his way to discuss her mother's inheritance and properties, she agreed.
Joyce brought her to a familiar room at the end of the corridor. The door opened inward with a muted click. Arianne stepped inside, eyes sweeping across walls and furniture. Little had changed during her long absence.
This was Ysabella's room from when she was young, before she married. Decor outdated. Everything clean and tidy. Curtains halfway drawn, filtered daylight falling across the writing desk and the neatly arranged vanity. A portrait of her mother hung on the wall opposite the bed.
Arianne stood before it. Studied her mother's warm smile.
For as long as she could remember, she had only seen her mother looking at her with conflicted and distraught eyes. Never loved. Never with affection.
