MANDY POV

Oh, the unrequited love. It truly hurts. I was unable to hide it. I cried in front of the driver, I cried in front of mom and I cried in front of the mirror.

I felt doubly betrayed, by Mark and by Steph.

Mom allowed me twenty minutes alone sobbing in the bathroom, then she came knocking.

“Mandy, I´ll really give you space if that´s what you want. But I´m here with some mother´s arms ready to hug you.”

I chose that. I opened the door and flew into her arms. She caressed my hair and I told her everything that happened.

Surprisingly she didn´t enter her ninja operational mode, threatening to kill everybody.

It felt good to open up with mom. Besides, enough secrets already. Maybe it would have eased the pain if Steph had prepared me for it. I knew that mom had to know because it would take me a while to collect myself. And most of all, I needed an ally.

We were on the sofa now, drinking some chamomi