Chapter 268
Zinnia scheduled her meeting with Maelis for Saturday. As soon as she got home that evening, Zinnia told Yannis about it.
Donald was still missing. Though Yannis never said a word about it, Emily and his team shadowed Zinnia everywhere, never letting her out of sight. As long as Donald remained at large, he was a lurking threat.
Yannis accompanied Zinnia to meet Maelis.
A staff member greeted them. โMr. Perkins, Ms. Moore.โ Upon arriving at the prison, Zinnia and Yannis were met by a staff member who escorted them to the door of the supervision room.
โMaelis is inside,โ the staff member said.
Zinnia stopped and turned to Yannis. โYannis, let me go in by myself. You can wait for me out here, okay?โ Maelis had specifically requested to see Zinnia alone. Yannis frowned, uneasy about Zinnia being alone with Maelis.
โDonโt worry, sheโs not dangerous anymore. She wonโt hurt me,โ Zinnia said, her eyes crinkling as she gave Yannisโs sleeve a playful tug.
โIโll be right outside. Call me if you need anything,โ Yannis said, his heart melting at Zinniaโs gentle tug on his sleeve.
She knew exactly how to sway Yannis, without saying a word, just a playful tug on his sleeve, and heโd give her the world.
โOkay,โ Zinnia said, handing him her scarf. Yannis draped the creamโcolored scarf over his arm, watching intently as Zinnia entered, then peered through the window in the door.
The moment Zinnia stepped inside, her eyes instantly locked onto Maelis, who was sitting on a chair nearby.
For a moment, Zinnia barely recognized her.
Maelisโs long hair had been chopped off into a blunt, earโlength bob, revealing a weathered face etched with wrinkles. Her skin was sallow and yellowish, her lips dry and chapped. Her eyes were lifeless, her head slightly bowed. Her hands rested on the table, wrists cuffed. She wore a standard prison uniform, her back hunched. All life seemed to drain from her instantly.
At the sound of the door opening, Maelis slowly looked up. Maelisโs dark, lifeless eyes finally flickered with emotion when she saw Zinnia in a white down jacket and khaki skirt.
Maelisโs unfocused gaze gradually converged, coming to rest on Zinniaโs exquisitely beautiful face. Complex emotions flooded Maelisโs eyes.
Zinnia stood tall and graceful. She had a sparkling crystal butterfly hairpin in her sideโbraided, silky long hair that fell over her left shoulder. A delicate crystal bracelet was on her wrist. She was exactly what Maelis had envisioned when pregnant with a girl.
She would have taken such good care of her, wanting to bring the best things right to her. But sadly, they never had a chance to truly bond. As a mother, she was never there for her; instead, others took good care of her.
โYouโre here,โ Maelis said, her voice rough and weary, yet eerily calm. It was the calmest tone Zinnia had ever heard from Maelis.
Zinnia asked, โDo you know where Donald is?โ Zinnia sat down on the chair across from Maelis, casually removing her bag and setting it aside.
Maelisโs gaze lingered on the bag Zinnia had carelessly set aside. It was a customโmade piece from LV, embroidered with a white kitten, worth over 300 thousand dollars.
Zinniaโs gaze was calm as her fingers idly picked at the embroidered kitten on the bag, seemingly oblivious to its hefty price tag. With Yannis not around, she had no idea what to do with herself, so she just kept fidgeting with her bag.
โHow is your grandpa?โ
Maelis watched as Zinnia handled the bag with casual, carefree ease, completely unconcerned about whether it might get scratched. Such things probably didnโt even register with her, Maelis reckoned.
A bitter smile touched her lips. โWhat was I even thinking about?โ Maelis wondered, โWhat did any of this matter to me now? Knowing sheโs doing well enough.โ
โHeโs fine,โ Zinnia responded flatly. After all, given their history, they were never the type to sit down and have a civil conversation.
โAre your hands and your legs cured now?โ Maelis asked quietly, her weary eyes lingering on Zinniaโs wrists, unfazed by Zinniaโs cold demeanor.
Maelis heard Zinnia was administering injections for six hours straight, and her hands were shaking afterward. She was kneeling for six hours; itโs unclear if she suffered any lasting effects in her legs.
Since entering prison, she had faced far more hostility than sheโd ever dished out herself. To Maelis, even Zinniaโs cold expression now felt like a rare kindness.
โDonโt bother,โ Zinnia replied flatly.
โHow have you been these days?โ Maelis asked, her gaze lingering wistfully on Zinniaโs face, which faintly resembled her own.
โHer face had thinned. Before, she looked more like me. Now, only a close look reveals any resemblance,โ Maelis stared, her eyes softening. She studied Zinnia, trying to see traces of herself in Zinniaโs features.
But it was too late. She had realized it far too late. She didnโt deserve to be her mother.
With a slight frown, Zinnia said, โPretty good.โ
โCould you tell me about your childhood?โ Maelis asked, concern softening her eyes. โYou once mentioned you were almost choked to death. Did it leave any lasting effects?โ
Only after truly calming down and reflecting on everything that had happened to Zinnia did Maelis feel a pang of concern for Zinniaโs health.
Zinnia was nearly strangled as a tiny baby at its most fragile stage when any risk could be fatal. After such a harrowing rescue, thereโs no way she came out of that unscathed.
โNo,โ Zinnia replied coldly, her expression utterly impassive as she met Maelisโs worried gaze. Zinnia thought to herself, โDidnโt you wish I was dead before? So why the sudden interest now?โ
The brief spark that had returned to Maelisโs eyes dimmed once more. โYouโฆโ Maelisโs gaze lingered on the right side of Zinniaโs face. She wanted to ask Zinnia but the words never left her lips.
Maelis had long been mentally unstable. Her emotions could spiral out of control at any moment. Only after hitting Zinnia did the dull ache of regret begin spreading through Maelisโs chest.
Maelis couldnโt figure out her feelings for this newly found daughter. There was hate, blame, and resentment. โI wished she would soften towards me,โ Maelis thought, feeling the complexity of her emotions.
Zinniaโs tough personality led to constant clashes. With the Betty incident, she knew Betty framed her but couldnโt calmly explain. She just said, โBetty did it, not me,โ without softening her stance.
She never realized that they didnโt actually care about the truth. If only she had shown a little vulnerability to Maelis, Maelis would have protected her. But she was so stubborn. She just had to turn the house upside down, insisting on clearing her name.
As time went on, Maelis began to see Zinnia as simply being unreasonable and gradually distanced herself from her. Both of them were stubborn, which doomed them to an endless stalemate.
But now, after all sheโd been through, Maelis no longer wanted to dwell on the past. She had already paid the price for her mistakes. Donald got his comeuppance tooโcuckolded and raised another manโs child.
Zinnia instantly sensed what Maelis was getting at and cut her off firmly. โIf you called me here just to talk about this, then thereโs no point in meeting at all.โ
Zinnia came here to find out about Donaldโs whereabouts. Yannis had been racking his brains over Donaldโs situation this whole time. If an early lead turned up, it would ease his burden. But Maelis kept dodging the real issue, and Zinniaโs patience was wearing thin.
Outside, Yannis was waiting for Zinnia. With the yearโend approaching, he was very busy and had squeezed out a rare day off. Zinnia didnโt want to waste this time and hoped he would hurry home to rest.