Lies, Lies And More Lies✔️

33: Can't Take A Joke

It was only seven in the morning when my mother called. I had to rub my eyes to be sure I'd seen correctly but the caller ID remained the same. It was my mother.

"Oh God!" I panicked, setting my phone down on the bed and jumping down to the floor like I was scared my mother would reach out of the phone and grab me by the ear.

Naborhi had released Ruby last night and she had assured me that Ruby had no idea who had kidnapped her but I was still anxious about the whole thing. What if Ruby had figured it all out? What if she had told my parents and that was why my mom had called?

In all honesty, I was scared to pick up the call. I had no idea what to expect. If Ruby hadn't said anything about Naborhi and I kidnapping her, why was my mother calling? Was she worried about me or was she just calling because I hadn't showed up at work for a couple of days? It was certainly bad that the daughter of the CEO of such a huge firm had acted so irresponsibly and abandoned her office duties. If the information spread around, it was going to ruin my parents reputation and they obviously didn't want that.

The phone suddenly stopped ringing and I freaked out. Was I to call her back or pretend I didn't see the call? I was still contemplating the next step to take when the phone began to ring once again and my heart began beating even faster. Slowly, I reached for the phone with my sweaty palm and swallowed hard as I picked up the call. I had expected her to yell the moment I did but what I didn't expect was the exhausted sounding voice. I panicked instantly as she spoke up. I couldn't remember the last time she had spoken to me so softly. Was she alright?

"Hello, Tiara."

"Mom? Good morning ma."

"My daughter, how are you?" She asked and I became even more confused. Why was she sounding so nice to me? She had been shouting at me just a few days ago, what had changed?

"I'm fine, mom. Uh, how are you and everyone at home?" I asked, scratching my head. This was a very unexpected conversation.

"We miss you, Tiara. I think it's time you came home. Let's work things out." She said and my eyebrows shot up in surprise.

My mother had wanted to work things out? Why now? Had she perhaps received Ruby's pregnancy test? Naborhi had promised to tell me when the results were out, so that couldn't have been it.

"Tiara, are you there?" Mom called as I stayed silent for a few seconds. I shook myself out from my thoughts and answered.

"Yes, mom. I'm here."

"We're having a family meeting this evening at six. We'll be expecting you." She said and I let out a breath of air, rubbing my forehead with my index finger.

"Okay, mom." I answered, although I wasn't sure I was going to show up. I felt like this was an ambush, a ploy to get me back to the house so they could all descend on me for running away.

"Alright. I'll see you then." She said before hanging up and leaving me utterly confused. I tossed the phone on the bed and took a seat on the edge as I tried to make a decision. Should I have given an excuse or just gained some courage to face my family once again?

Sighing, I decided to sleep on it. I was exhausted as Tosin had kept me up all night watching kdramas. We'd laughed and cried the entire night and it was a lot of fun but the sickening feeling I felt as soon as I woke up this morning made me regret it. I had barely slept three hours when I got up at six for a morning jog down the street with Tosin. She was all about keeping fit and staying healthy and had convinced me to go on a jog with her as 'exercise was refreshing to the soul'. After much protesting, I eventually gave in, however, I walked the entire time, much to Tosin's disappointment.