The Secrets He Keeps

"Roxy, what are you two talking about?" Anthony asked me with a smile as he approached me and the girl.

I just smiled back awkwardly. "I wanted to greet her, but she never gave me the time of day."

Anthony glanced at the young girl. Then, he said coldly, "There's no need to pay attention to her. She's mute, so she can't speak."

I was surprised to hear Anthony's response. Then, I shot the girl a sympathetic look.

The girl raised her head to glance at us at that moment. Mockery flashed across her eyes momentarily before she lowered her head once again.

I turned to look at Anthony instinctively. But he didn't seem to have noticed the girl's expression. Instead, he took my hand and led me back to the farmhouse.

A while later, I asked softly, "Who is that girl, Anthony?"

Anthony hesitated for a moment. He then replied impatiently, "She's my little sister. She's been a little messed up in the head since young. You don't have to pay any attention to her.

"Let's head back into the farmhouse. Mom doesn't want me to help her with dinner. She wants me to spend more time with you instead."

Shock was all I felt at that moment.

Was that young girl really Anthony's sister? Based on how cold Anthony and Mrs. Hawthorne were to the girl, I thought she was just a neighbor or someone who wasn't on good terms with them.

As I studied Anthony's demeanor toward the young girl, doubt began to grow within me. To me, Anthony was a gentle and patient man who had a cheerful personality and loved to laugh a lot. In fact, he was exactly my cup of tea.

But now, the way he treated his own sister made me feel chills running down my spine.

When I turned around, I felt Anthony patting me on the head. He said to me with a smile, "Alright, don't overthink it. I'll fill you in on what exactly happened."

I nodded in response.

Anthony let out a sigh. "Fiona… That's my sister's name. To tell you the truth, she was pretty normal when she was a kid. But then she fell seriously ill to the point her brain was all toasted. Her throat was ruined as well.

"When she recovered from her illness, that was when she lost her marbles. Her temper tantrums were beyond terrible back then. If we didn't pay attention to where she was, she'd escape from home or beat some poor kid up.

"I needed to go to school, and my mom couldn't watch over Fiona all by herself. She had no choice but to lock Fiona up in her room or have her bound with ropes.

"A few years later, Fiona began picking up pieces of her sanity bit by bit. She no longer threw tantrums, but she became the way she is today."

Anthony sighed at the end of his explanation. He sounded very sincere the whole time.

I let out a deep sigh of my own. It seemed that I had wrongfully blamed Anthony this time. He and his mother had it tough in the past, after all.

Then again, Fiona's past was quite tragic. Poor girl.

Mrs. Hawthorne refused to let Fione eat at the same table with us during dinner. She claimed that Fiona was a sloppy eater and that it might ruin our appetite if we were to witness the way she ate.

I wanted to say something, but then I remembered I was just a guest in Anthony's home. Hence, I clamped up.

Maybe I was getting tired. Maybe there were other reasons at play, for I didn't have any appetite at all. I just picked at dinner. I was clearly not in the mood to eat.

After dinner, Mrs. Hawthorne hollered at Fiona to do the dishes.

Since this was my first time visiting Anthony's home, I didn't want to offer to help out with chores just yet. So, I didn't make a peep.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Hawthorne pulled Anthony to the side and began pelting him with questions.

After a few minutes of sitting around, I felt bad for watching Fiona entering and exiting the kitchen constantly while doing the chores. Hence, I got up and followed her into the kitchen.