Lies, Lies And More Lies✔️

25.1: Such A Screw Up

"Explain yourself." Mom gestured for me to speak before crossing her arms. Her frown had grown deeper and her glares told me that she would have beat me up if she could have.

"I'm not pregnant." I decided to go straight for it. "If you want we can go and do a pregnancy test at the hospital. I'm not pregnant."

"That is fine by me. Evidence is the end of argument." Mom agreed and I should have felt relieved that she didn't shout at me but I felt even worse. What she had indirectly told me was that she couldn't believe my words without evidence but she had believed Ruby blindly. Why?

"Ruby should take a test as well." I said and both my parents stared at me like I had suddenly gone crazy.

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying your precious Ruby is the pregnant one, not me." I stated. "She's the one who took the test and then, pinned it on me to save herself."

"Tiaraoluwa!" Mom yelled my name as she got up to her feet and I winced from the loud sound. "Baba Tiara, Ṣe o n gbọ ohun ti ọmọbinrin rẹ n sọ? [Tiara's father, are you hearing what your daughter is saying?]"

"Tiara, why would you say such a thing about your cousin? Are you trying to say she set you up?" Dad decided to speak up for the first time. He looked much more calmer than mom did. He was never one to flare up in anger but he was scary when he did get angry like how he was after I had supposedly pushed Ruby down the stairs. He had shouted at me and the more I spoke the angrier he had gotten.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Yes." I nodded.

"I don't believe you." Mom said and I felt my heart break into a thousand pieces. My face must have conveyed just how I felt in the moment because Derrek gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze. I didn't dare look at him though. I hated that he had to witness all this.

"Why not? You had no trouble believing Ruby when she said I was pregnant." I said crossing my arms over my chest. I felt tears sting at my eyes but I blinked them back. I didn't want to cry over this.

"Tiaraoluwa!" Mom called in a warning tone. I knew I should have kept shut in order not to cause any disrespect for my parents but my blood boiled and I couldn't control the words that came out next.

"This is not fair! None of this is!" I blurted out, throwing my arms up in frustration. "How could my parents choose to believe a stranger over their own daughter? Ruby said Tiara's pregnant, so, Tiara must be pregnant. Tiara said Ruby's pregnant but Tiara's a liar, so we don't believe her, right? Why do you always take her side? I'm so sick of competing with her for the love of my parents all the time! She's not your daughter, I am! Is it too much to ask that you have a little faith in me?"

My parents were silent afterwards. They looked stunned and I felt like a heavy burden had been lifted off me but at the same time, I felt horrible for shouting at my parents. I had no idea what was going through their minds in the moment and the silence was nerve wracking. I had no idea what they were going to say next but I prayed and hoped that they realized their mistake.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude or disrespectful but it's just—Ruby is not the angelic, perfect person you think she is. She has been bullying me my entire life. She's a horrible person and that's why I always attacked her but you never believed me when I tried to tell you. You always believed what she said and you always fell for her crocodile tears. She made me out to be the troublemaker but she was always the one causing trouble!" I said in a calmer tone but I was still pissed off.

I waited for my parents to respond but they said nothing. They couldn't even look at me.

"Mom? Dad?"

"It's not fair that you're throwing these accusations at Ruby when she's not even here to defend herself." Mom finally said and I scoffed. She still refused to believe a word I said.

"Where the hell is she?" I muttered as I turned around, looking for Ruby. She was standing by the door earlier on but she wasn't there anymore. I walked over to the door and looked out into the hallway but she was gone. She had run away. "Ruby left." I said as I returned back to my previous position.

"I know she left. She had a pressing matter to attend to." Mom answered and I scoffed, shaking my head. I should have known she had planned to run away.

"She ran away." I informed. "Ruby ran away because she knew I was going to expose her. She must have—"

"Tiara, Dawọ duro! [Stop it!]" Dad yelled, causing me to flinch from the loud sound. "I am sick and tired of you blaming Ruby all the time! You need to own up to your actions and stop blaming others for the decisions you make! Come on!"

My eyes teared up as he said this. Anger was written all over his features and it was directed at me. It became obvious that no matter what I said, my parents were never going to believe me. They had already chosen Ruby over me. What I had to say didn't matter to them.

I bit my lower lip to stop sobs from escaping my lips but I couldn't stop the tears from falling down. I quickly wiped them away with my palms before attempting to speak up.

"I'm sorry I'm such a disappointment to you." I choked out. I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself down but it didn't work and the sobs broke through.

"Tiara." I heard my mom call but I didn't bother to look up at her. I couldn't stand to see the disappointed look on her face or the angry one on my dad's face. I knew coming here in the first place was a waste of time. I was stupid to think that it would have been different this time. One would think after a lifetime of being scolded whenever I tried to expose Ruby's true nature, I would have learned that I could never win against her.

I ran out of the house, not being able to stand there for a moment longer. There was no point in being here. There was no point in trying to make them realize they were wrong about me. They had already made up their minds about me a long time ago. I was the screw up of the family who couldn't get excellent grades in school. The screw up who chased her dreams and failed. The screw up who had to get a fake fiancé to get validation from her family and friends. They were right. I was such a screw up.

"Tiara! Tiara, wait!" I heard Derrek call as I ran down the hallway. I ignored him as I pressed on the button to call up the elevator. I waited impatiently for the doors to open. I didn't want Derrek to catch up with me but I wasn't so lucky cause in a moment, I felt his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't try to stop me, Derrek. I need to get out of here." I said, sniffling right after. His hand dropped just as the elevator doors opened and I stepped inside. Just as I turned around to press on the ground floor button, I saw Derrek step inside. "What are you doing?"

"Getting you out of here." He said simply, pressing on the ground floor button. He took my hand in his and I stared up at him in surprise. His eyes were fixed on the doors but the gentle squeeze he gave my hand told me all I needed to know. He was here for me.

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Here's the second installment of Chapter 25. What are your thoughts?