The One Who Stares

“Take a sit, Devin...don't be too formal. You're like family to us.” My mother said.

My father nodded. Devin who had no choice decided to sit with us.

“So...what brings you here?” My brother asked.

I raised one brow at him and crossed my arms, “well, for starters, mom called me. As you may have already known, I decided to live in another country. I even transferred there. But after a year, I got a phone call from mom. She was panicking. She told me to go home.”

I said narrating the moment when my mother called me.

“Do you know what she said in a panic? She said, 'what should I do, Lisia? You're brother is going to jail! He's been arrested due to some accusations of tax evasion!'” I said while mimicking my mom's frantic phone call.

My mom didn't deny it. She stayed silent.

My brother, on the other hand, was a bit upset that our mother got so worried, that she ended up calling me from the other side of the globe.

My brother sighed and said, “yeah...it was something like that. But that was just accusations. I'm already cleared. And that's when I met Mara.” He put his hands on top of hers and smiled.

“Care to explain?” I asked.

“Oh...yeah. As I told you earlier, I'm Mara Blake, I'm a lawyer. I kinda thought your brother was guilty, but when he told me to investigate myself, it turns out he's being framed. I hate false accusations, so I decided to defend him. And we won. Well, after that, we got really curious about each other and ended up dating.” She shyly explained.

“Oh, is that so...”, I said.

My brother glared at me, again. He must be sending messages about my rude behavior. Despite knowing that I've been like this since birth.

So, she was his lawyer. A love formed in a courtroom.

How unusual...

My mother and father seemed to like her. So the real reason my mother called me was for this. She must've figured that I wouldn't come back unless it concerns jail or coffin.

She's my mother, alright.

Mara continued to talk about random stuff. Her childhood. Her reasons on becoming a lawyer. Every small talk.

They were focused on her.

But I couldn't care less.

One person would always be in my line of sight.

The reason why I chose to attend a school abroad.

My brother's secretary and best friend, Devin Orion.

But wait...

He's looking at something...

Someone...?

I followed his eyes and saw Mara.

She smiled like a bright sun. But why? Why was he looking at her?