Delaine felt so happy that she felt like she would almost burst with delight. She’d been staying with her grandma for the past 6 years due to all the financial problems her parents were facing. So Delaine’s mother convinced her father to send her off to live with her grandma who lived in Texas.

Unknown to Delaine, the reason her parents had shipped her off to Texas was because they considered spending money on her and her education a waste of their hard-earned cash.

Their only priority was to provide excellent education to their son so they got rid of Delaine.

Whereas naive seventeen-year-old Delaine thought that her family’s financial conditions had finally improved and that’s why they’d called her back.

If she knew the real reason as to why they’d called her back home, she would’ve crossed continents to escape them.

Delaine almost jumped out of the cab when it finally pulled over outside her house.

Ringing the doorbell, her mother opened the door.

“Mom, I missed you so much.” Delaine says, hugging the life out of her mother. When she pulled back, her mother gave her an evidently forced smile but Delaine was too happy to pay any heed to her mother’s brusque behaviour towards her.

“Where’s dad ? And also where’s Dan ? I just wanted to catch up with him before he went off to college. Gosh ! It’s been so so long since I saw my own brother and…..” Delaine chirped, eager to meet her brother as ever. She’d always shared a very strong bond with him and couldn’t believe it’d been six years since she last saw him.

They were practically babies when they last saw each other.

“Oh Delaine, you’re just the same as ever. Come inside first, your father and Dan have been waiting for you for hours. It's been so long since we saw you.” Her mother says, trying to show some affection but failing miserably as instead of sporting a kind smile, her nose crinkled up into a frown.

Delaine didn’t mind her mother’s less than welcoming tone, the only person she cared for was her brother, Dan. And she couldn’t wait to meet him.

Her eyes lit up when she saw her brother and her father seated at the little dining table placed right in front of their kitchen. Delaine was in a daze for a moment, just taking in everything, she was surprised as to how the house she’d grown up in could look so foreign to her.

“Dan, Oh my god ! You’ve grown up to be such a handsome man.” She says, flunging her arms around her brother’s shoulders as she bent down to engulf him in a bone-crushing hug.

Dan hugged her back with just as much love and adoration.

When she pulled back, she expected her brother to smile at her warmly just as she was smiling at him but instead of that, she was faced with a torn expression on his face.

When the looming cloud of happiness lifted from her eyes, that is when she noticed the grim tension in the room.

“Delaine, please sit down. There is something we need to talk about. “ Her mother said in all seriousness. “As a family.”

Lines of worry crossed Delaine’s delicate face when she noticed how distressed both her father and her brother looked.

“Dad, is everything ok ? I thought all our financial problems had been resolved but if they aren’t, I can go back to grandma’s….” Delaine starts as she takes a seat next to her brother when her legs turn weak.

She was always willing to sacrifice her life and enjoyment for the happiness of her family.