Chapter 3: The Flashback
After finding out that her daughter had fainted, Theodora's mom came rushing home from work to pick up Theodora from school. "Are you okay?" she said anxiously as they got in the car. "What happened?"
Theodora sighed. "I just got a bit of a shock, that's all... Ian proposed to me."
The car skidded to a halt. "WHAT?!" shrieked Mrs. Huntington.
Theodora sighed. She knew why this had upset her mother so much, and she knew why the proposal had upset her so much when it had happened. Theodora's mother had been born in Beijing, and she married Theodora's father when she was only fifteen years old. She became a mother to Theodora's brother at only seventeen years old, and a few years later, she had Theodora, whose birth name was Jia. But Mrs. Huntington and her ex got into arguments often, and he started to abuse her. Soon, the woman decided that she'd had enough, so she packed up all her things and moved to England. There was a fierce custody battle after that.
"You can keep the girl," Theodora's father had said, "I have no use for her. But do not take my boy."
Theodora had not seen her older brother Liang since, and she missed him terribly. When their parents' arguing scared her, he would always make her laugh by sticking straws up his nose or spewing milk out of his ears, but that did not matter anymore; that was in the past. Theodora now lived a comfortable life and she attended London's most prestigious school, and her mother had remarried to a very wealthy man, Arthur Huntington III, after finishing her degree.
"Theodora, I sincerely hope you did not say yes," said Mrs. Huntington coldly, snapping Theodora back into reality. Theodora sighed, shaking her head.
"No. We have broken up now."
Mrs. Huntington smiled sadly. "You did the right thing, my angel. You did not make my same mistakes. You are a smart girl, Theodora, very smart, and so I knew you would not. Never lose that brain of yours..." She had a far-off, dreamy look on her face.
"But I can still go to the party tonight, right?" said Theodora anxiously.
"Yes, you may go. Your wisdom has earned it. But do not talk to any boys, you hear me? And do not let that Jessica girl steer you into doing something bad." Theodora laughed.
"Okay, Mum."
Giving her mother an affectionate kiss on the cheek, she climbed out of the car and looked up at the mansion where she, her mother, and her stepfather lived.
Observing the house's polished stone exterior and slanted roof, with sprawling gardens behind it, she realized just how lucky she was to have been safe in England for the last few years, and she vowed right then and there that she would never take the safety for granted. She would never be like her mother had been as a teen.
She would never throw away her new beginning.
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