บท 32: 'When did you become my mother?'

Tristan groaned as he awoke from a deep sleep. He gradually heard the familiar voice of an angry woman—nagging someone—outside his room.

"I asked you many times and none of you wanted to answer?! WHERE IS HE!"

"H-He's... s-sleeping ma'am"

"What took you so long to tell me that? Wake him up! I'll talk to him."

"B-But..."

"WAKE HIM UP!"

Yeah... It was his mother's voice... What is it this time?

Tristan got up and glanced at the round clock, hanging on the wall. It's exactly midnight...

He sluggishly went towards the door and went out of his room. The maid stopped halfway as soon as she saw Tristan. Nervousness and fear were written on her face.

"M-Ma'am Sharrie is... Is looking for you, sir"

Tristan took a deep breath and nodded as a response... When his mother was looking for him, it only meant two things; He will be rebuked or she will pour out her wrath in the world on him.

Sharrie jolted her head to the direction where the maid's eyes in front of her, landed. Her expression became darker when she saw her son. Her raging eyes were digging holes at Tristan's face while pacing towards him.

"Do you know what stupidity you did?! You canceled all the important appointments! ALL OF IT! Don't you know how difficult it is to ask for their time!? Tristan, you were causing us to fall behind the competition!"

"I felt sick earlier, mom" Tristan calmly told his mother. Sharrie instantly snickered.

"Even if you crawl in pain you should still prioritize your obligation!" Sharrie exclaimed with her eyes widened in anger.

"What's happening here?" Trish butted in, rolling her wheelchair towards them.

Sharrie was about to say something but Tristan's sudden burst of laughter snapped all of their heads in his direction.

They confusedly stared at him, losing his sanity. He was laughing at the same time crying.

"Are you insane?!" Sharrie scolded him. But, Tristan was still laughing his lungs out while shedding tears.

"Even I crawled in pain? Damn. What a funny thing to hear" Tristan talked to himself, just enough to incense his mother even more.

"What did you say?!" Tristan stopped laughing at Sharrie's question.

Tristan raised his arms and pointed his finger to Trish. "Why don't you make her do it even if she CRAWLS IN PAIN, too?"

"Don't talk to me like that. I'm still your mother!"

"Don't you dare use that word, you have never been one to me!" Sharrie was taken aback by Tristan's fierce remark.

"You're STILL my mother?" He sneered.

"When did you become my mother?"

"9 months!... 9 months I carefully carried you inside me... I risked my life just to give birth to you... YOU owe me your life, Tristan... If I hadn't been a mother, you are not living in this world... Both of you!"

"Ah... Yeah... Thank you, MOM... Thank you for this hell... Unfair... PAINFUL life you gave me... 9 months? And what happened next? You left me, right? Will you bother to remember you have a son if you hadn't made up with dad?"

Sharrie was shut. Even if she will not admit it, those years they've been apart... She indeed barely remembered her other child.

"Of course, you wouldn't... Just like what you're doing now..."

"I didn't leave you! We split up and we agreed to the arrangement of Split Custody"

"Whatever you say... You're still an INCOMPETENT mother!"

Sharrie raised her hand then walloped Tristan's cheek that swung his face to the left... Sharrie couldn't tolerate the disrespectful words coming out of her son's mouth. She had enough... She was hurt...

"Whether I failed to be a mother or not, you shouldn't insult me! Respect me, Tristan"

"Even though I wasn't raised by you and didn't grow up with you... You should still have treated me fairly."

Tristan slowly lifted his face to look at his mother. He pierced his cold stare in her's, emanating a strong aura that caused a shiver runs up to Sharrie's spine...

Again, that rare side of her son showed up. The frightening side of his.

"All my life... I was like a beggar, begging for your attention... I am... So thirsty for your love... You made me hunger for your care... I did everything... Everything! But... You still didn't care, mom... You didn't see my efforts at all"

"I... I just want you to look at me the way you look at Trish... I want to be embraced just like how you wrapped your arms around her... Have you noticed why I suddenly dressed up like her? You didn't, right? You have no idea, mom..."

"I am always waiting for that day to come... To feel your warmth... Your caress... Your love... But... Will it really come?... I'm so tired of waiting and trying... I am so damn tired!"

Sharrie couldn't utter a word... Indeed... She had no idea... She didn't notice that she was neglecting her son... She was so preoccupied and focused on Trish that she barely recognized Tristan's needs...

Tristan paused for a moment, wiping the tears that fell off. He took a deep breath and looked at Trish after he let out a silent sigh.

"I apologize for another mistake I did... I'll make sure to do something about it... But..." Tristan turned his gaze again to his mother.

"After that... I won't be a stupid proxy and desperate son anymore... I'm done with this madness! Take care on your way home"

Tristan immediately went out as he finished his sentence. Leaving them all dumbfounded...

Sharrie couldn't react. Everything seems to sink in slower than a turtle to her... Does she feel guilt? Upset? She didn't know. It was all mixed up and jumbled.

"Mom" Trish softly called her.

"This is what I was trying to say... I wanted you to see his pain and feel his longingness... You have to treat him as one of your children too, mom... Don't overlook him just to focus on me... We are siblings... We both are your children... If I need your care and protection, so does he"

Blank... Emotionless... Tired... Yes, that's what you could see in Tristan's face while he was walking down the streets without direction and exact destination...

His thoughts were cloudy and flooded that he barely keep up on thinking...

The streets were as empty as he was feeling right now. The deafening silence and flickering lights of the lamp-posts made him realize his upsetting solitude... Wherever his sight landed, no one is there except for the darkness and cold breeze of the road... Loneliness completely swallowed him...

The sound of a car engine was heard, approaching his direction. Its headlights brightened the dim surroundings.

Tristan looked beside him as the car synchronized its move to his walk. The side window facing him rolled down and it revealed the driver of the car.

Harry instantly greeted him a wide smile with a glimpse of worry in his eyes.

"Why are you walking alone without covering your face? Don't you know what danger awaits if someone noticed you?" Harry loudly said. Tristan didn't bother to listen and just continued to walk.

Harry narrowed his eyes when he was ignored.

He quickly pulled off the car horizontally, blocking Tristan's way.

"Get in."

"I don't want to go home" Tristan coldly responded.

Harry sighed and once again smiled.

"Did I say I will drop you home? Come on. I know a place to unwind"

Tristan hesitated for a moment but still got in later... Harry immediately drove away as soon as Tristan comfortably secured himself with a seatbelt.

They were both silent... Harry keeps on glancing at him, wondering who he was with... Is it Trish or Tristan? Since he wasn't familiar with the twins, he was at sixes and sevens in distinguishing the two.

"I'm Tristan" Tristan broke the silence while his eyes were still focused on the road. Harry chuckled at his on-point answer to his thoughts...

"Are you a mind reader?"

"No... Your annoying glance since I got here says it all"

"Mhm..." Harry smiled.

"Where are we going?"

"At my place"

Tristan didn't ask anymore and just stared through the window until they arrived at Harry's place.

"Can you drink?" Harry asked, unlocking his house's front door.

"Yes."

"Glad to know that." Harry turned the lights on as they entered his living room.

He put all the stuff he brought on the sofa and removed his jacket.

"Feel at home" He winked at Tristan then headed to his kitchen. Soon after, he came back carrying two shot glasses and a bottle of wine

"I'm really not that good at listening to someone's drama but I am pretty skilled at keeping secrets" Harry filled his glass with wine and Tristan's.

"That, if you choose to open up... You can just drink without saying anything if you'd like"

Tristan indeed didn't say anything and just instantly emptied his glass. Harry blinked as he snatched the bottle in his hand and refilled his glass again.

'He was more problematic than I thought' was what he thought, looking at Tristan pouring and drinking until the bottle almost emptied in just a few minutes.

"Uh. Should I get another bottle?" Tristan nodded, consuming the last drop of the wine.

Without a second thought, Harry enthusiastically brought his 5 cases of wine.

"Get ready to be hospitalized!"