Sweet Hatred Chapter 66: Sisters

Her voice ca in hot and harsh. "Aria, what the hell is wrong with you?"

My brows shot up. "Good morning to you too."

"I’ve been calling. I left, like, a hundred ssages. Voicemails. You just vanish and go mute for days?"

I exhaled sharply through my nose, holding back the urge to snap. "I’ve been busy."

"Busy? Busy?" She laughed bitterly. "Michael is in deep shit, Aria. Deep. Those loan sharks he borrowed from? They’re looking for him. Saying things like they’ll chop him up and sell him for spare parts!"

My stomach dropped, but I refused to let panic show in my voice. "What the hell do you an ’looking for him’?"

"I an he’s fine for now. Hiding. Ghosted. And I’ve been trying to keep it all from completely falling apart while you’ve been—what? Off doing God knows what for that asshole company of yours?"

I rubbed at my temple, jaw clenching. "That ’asshole company is the reason why you still have a fucking roof over your head Olivia. I didn’t exactly have ti to scroll through voicemails while trying to do my job."

"Well, maybe if you answered just one of my calls, you’d know what the hell’s happening at ho!"

My patience was paper-thin now, and her voice was shredding right through it. "You think I’m not trying?" I said tightly. "You think I like being pulled in a thousand directions, stuck between soone else’s ss and ours?"

She went silent.

"You always act like I’m the problem, like I’m the one screwing everything up. But who took the jobs no one else wanted just to keep us afloat, huh? Who paid for Mom’s surgery? Who bailed Michael out the last ti he got himself into crap like this?"

Another pause. But then she muttered, quieter, "You’re still selfish sotis."

That stung more than it should have. My grip on the phone tightened until my knuckles turned pale. I closed my eyes, trying not to let her words crawl too deep under my skin.

For a mont—just a small, sharp second—I wanted to disappear. Leave it all behind. Go sowhere new, clean, quiet. No Kael. No Olivia. No Michael. A place where no one blad for everything going wrong.

But I didn’t run. I never did.

"I’m coming ho," I said, voice flat.

"...Fine."

"But first, I’m stopping by the hospital. I need to check on Mom."

She didn’t say anything after that. The line went dead. I dropped the phone a little too hard on the counter after, tying my hair into a loose bun.

After taking my bath and changing into one of Sarah’s sweater and shorts, I stared at my reflection in the dark screen—dark circles under my eyes, my face paler than usual, sweater loose and unfamiliar.

The last ti I looked this drained was when I ran on two hours of sleep for three weeks straight, pouring everything into making sure XE’s huge international event went off without a hitch—for a promotion I never even got. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be her again anyway.

I grabbed my bag, exhaled hard, and headed out.

I wasn’t sure if I was ready for the next disaster but ti would tell.

The hospital slled like antiseptic and fake lemon—clean but cold, like it was trying too hard to feel comforting.

I walked through the halls slowly, like my legs weren’t fully convinced they should be moving. Everything inside still buzzed from that call with Olivia. My head hurt. My chest felt tight, and my sweater suddenly felt too warm, too heavy on my body. I hadn’t even had breakfast.

I reached the room and paused outside the door for a second, collecting myself before knocking gently and pushing it open.

There she was—Mom—sitting upright in bed with the soft morning light casting a glow on her face. She was focused on sothing in her lap, fingers moving in a rhythm I hadn’t seen in years.

Knitting.

A soft pink yarn was looped through her fingers, and sothing floppy and unfinished sat between her hands. A cap. With bunny ears.

I blinked.

She looked up and gasped when she saw . "Aria!"

Her smile stretched across her face like sunlight, warm and unguarded. It hit sothing tender in . Guilt, probably.

"Hi, Mom," I whispered, stepping inside.

She set the knitting aside and opened her arms. "Co here, sweet girl."

I crossed the room in three long steps and buried myself in her hug. Her arms were thin, but they wrapped around like ho. Like forgiveness.

"I’m so sorry," I mumbled against her shoulder. "I should’ve been here after the surgery. I just—everything got so out of control and—"

She pulled back and cupped my face gently. "Hey. I understand. You’ve been working. Providing. Taking care of us." She squinted at . "Though...you’ve lost weight. And what’s with the sweater? You hate sweaters."

I let out a weak laugh. "Maybe I’m trying to rebrand. New, mysterious Aria."

She chuckled, shaking her head. "I’ll believe that when I see you wearing boots instead of heels."

We both laughed, and for a second, everything felt normal again. Safe.

I looked down at the cap she’d been working on. "So...what is this?"

She lifted it proudly. "It’s a bunny hat for Kaleb. Early birthday present."

"Kaleb?" I blinked. "Mom, he’s almost eight. You really think he’s going to wear a hat with bunny ears?"

She gave a smug little smile. "He’ll love it. He still watches that bunny cartoon every Saturday morning like it’s sacred. Don’t let him fool you with the big boy act."

I grinned. "You’ve got him wrapped around your finger."

She chuckled. "It’s called grandma magic."

She leaned back, adjusting the pillows behind her. "So Olivia was here yesterday."

The grin slipped off my face. "Yeah?"

"She looked off. Like sothing was weighing her down. She tried to smile through it, but...you know her, she’s not very good at hiding how she feels."

"Its okay Mom." I lowered my gaze. "We had a fight." I lied.

She gave a knowing look. "You two always do."

"This one was complicated."

She didn’t press. Just let the silence sit between us for a beat before gently saying, "Be patient with her, Aria. You’re both all you have. Sisters fight, but I don’t like seeing you drift so far apart."

I nodded, even though I didn’t want to talk about Olivia right now. "I hear you."

She reached out and squeezed my hand. "I know you’re tired, baby. I can see it in your eyes."

I looked away before she saw too much. "I should go check on things at ho."

"Alright." She smiled, but there was sothing small and sad in it. "Thank you for coming. You don’t know how happy it made ."

I kissed her cheek. "I love you mom."

"Love you more."

And then I was out the door again, bracing myself.