When Love Turns Cold

Miranda took a huge bite of the strawberry. Her eyes immediately lit up in a bright smile. “It’s delicious!”

Mindy looked at the smile on Miranda’s face and was suddenly reminded of the state she’d come home in earlier. She felt her heart stirring and gently took Miranda’s hand in the warmth of her palms. Then, she took a proper look at Miranda, from her hair to her face.

“You’ve gotten thinner,”

Miranda’s mouth was stuffed full with strawberries, and her cheeks were bulging with them. She widened her eyes and shook her head, saying, “No way! I just weighed myself, and I’ve put on two pounds since last week!

“I just look like I lost weight. Look, my hands are still chubby and meaty.” Miranda then put on a frustrated look and said, “I think I need

soon…”

no on a diet

Before she could say more, however, Lionel frowned and interrupted her. “Why is it that you young women always think about going on a diet? What fat is there to lose anymore on your scrawny body? If you lose even more weight afterward, you’re going to be nothing but a pile of bones!”

Lionel thought that youngsters nowadays were too easily influenced by trends they saw online, including dieting trends. It was bad enough that some of them were starving themselves, but even more of them were also taking dieting pills. He had a headache just looking at them.

Miranda’s eyes were bright and shiny, though. She slumped against her mother’s frame and said, “I was just joking…”

Mindy tapped her on the forehead. “This isn’t a joking matter, okay? You had better watch out if you lose even more weight the next time you come home again.”

Miranda grinned and said, “Alright, I know that.”

Mindy let Miranda lean against her as she ran her fingers through her daughter’s hair. She then asked the question she’d been itching to ask for the

+25 BORUS

longest time ever. “Have you been doing well on your own for the past few years?”

Miranda’s eyes glossed over. She then said as lightheartedly as possible, “I’m fine.”

“What about that guy, what’s his name again? Why didn’t he come back with you this time?”

Finally, there was no evading this question after all.

Miranda’s eyes drooped as she said faintly, “We’ve broken up.”

A few years back, after Lionel had been discharged from the hospital, he and Mindy had come to Elgerson City to visit Miranda. However, Miranda’s stubbornness had driven them away.

Ever since then, her parents had stopped contacting her. They never even paid her a visit in the next six years to come.

While bringing the subject up again, Miranda thought that Lionel was going to get mad at her once more. However, there was or.., a sense of calmness and forgiveness that reflected in Lionel’s eyes amidst the crackling fireplace.

He simply sighed and said, “You were both never meant to be. It’s good that you’ve broken up now.”

Miranda felt a lump in her throat once more.

In the blink of an eye, it was soon Christmas Eve.

Mindy called Miranda up early in the morning while she was still all tangled up in bed. When Miranda opened the door, she was still dressed in her pajamas and had barely registered that she’d even woken up yet. Her eyes were half- closed, and her hair was a tousled mess

It was obvious that Miranda was still half asleep.

“Who was the one who promised me she’d come last–minute Christmas shopping with me?” Mindy chided her while pushing her back into her room.” Look at the time! Hurry, go wash up and come down for breakfast.”

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“Isn’t it only 7:30 am now?” Miranda drawled, seeing that the sky hadn’t even lit up outside the window.

Mindy scoffed. “It’s already 7:30 am, which means we’re late! Hurry up and come down. Breakfast is getting cold!”

As soon as Mindy said that, Miranda had thoroughly woken up. She hurriedly cleaned and washed up in the bathroom, changed into clean clothes, and went

down for breakfast.

Breakfast was milk and toast that Lionel had bought from the nearby stores, and oatmeal porridge that he made himself. Everything smelled heavenly. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

Miranda sat down and took a bite of the toast. She saw that Lionel wasn’t in the yard nor in the kitchen, so she asked Mindy, “Where’s Dad?”

“The headmaster called him over early this morning to settle some things. He

said he’d be back later in the day.”

While explaining, Mindy’s phone suddenly rang. She excused herself and went to answer the call in the yard.

However, the conversation didn’t seem to be a pleasant one. Miranda had

never heard her mother speak in such an upset and exasperated tone before.