Third person POV
The entire house was quiet, but Sierra's heart was pounding nonstop, and a chaos churned inside her.
She was nervous. They had been caught trying to sneak out after their passionate night together.
Damian was confidently looking at Sierra's mother, waiting for her to question him. Sierra, however, couldn't even look at her mother, afraid of being kicked out of the house after being caught with her boyfriend. She felt truly ashamed.
"So, you're leaving without saying goodbye?" Her mother, Stella, asked.
"Mom…" Sierra looked straight into her mother's eyes as she started the conversation.
Stella merely glanced at her daughter before looking back at Damian, waiting for him to answer.
Damian cleared his throat and straightened his posture, as if he were in a meeting with an important client.
"I'm sorry for offending you, Mom," Damian answered without hesitation, calling her mom.
Sierra's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe what she heard, Damian calling her mother 'Mom' as if it were nothing. She desperately wanted to hit Damian on his head to stop him from saying nonsense in front of her mother, but she couldn't do it since she was in front of her mother.
But Stella didn't even flinch. She smply crossed her arms, seemingly studying Damian's face.
"And you are?"
"I'm Damian," he said, not stuttering, and confidently meeting her gaze.
"And why were you trying to sneak out of my house, young man?" She asked bravely, causing Damian to lose his voice.
He couldn't bring up the fact that he came over because he missed Sierra so much. Her mother wasn't stupid; she already knew what had happened between them last night.
"Mom, I'm sorry…" Sierra apologized.
"Relax, I'm not mad," Stella said, surprising them both.
Anger can't really track on her eyes, but you can see sharp focus trying to learn Damian's true motive for her daughter.
"You're not mad?" Sierra asked to confirm. She thought her mother would be furious because of what she had just found out, making her confused right now.
"Sierra…" Her mother suddenly looked at her with a worried expression.
"I'm not mad at you for loving someone. I'm not against love." She spoke slowly, she wanted Sierra to understand every word she wanted to say.
"I've been there," Stella paused. She looked at her for a long moment before she continued.
"But you should know that love isn't always about sunshine and butterflies. It has a way of changing lives." Her voice softened, as she remembered her past relationship that didn't last.
"I loved someone once, but he died and left me..." Stella smiled, though her sad eyes couldn't lie.
"And then, I love someone again… But life still found a way to take him away from me. And that was your father." She reached for Sierra's hand and squeezed it.
The room fell quiet. But Sierra's heart ached for her mother. She clearly understood her mother's sacrifices and struggles for her and her sister because of 'love'.
"I know I haven't always been around to be a mother, but I don't want you to feel that kind of pain." Stella took a slow breath after saying those words.
Sierra suddenly hugged her mother.
"I'm sorry for not telling you, Mom."
"I promise to stay beside her and won't cause her heart pain, Mom," Damian said, catching Sierra's attention.
"You're ruining our drama," Sierra rolled her eyes at him when she heard Damian calling her mother 'Mom' again.
"Why?" Damian asked, confused.
"Ha-ha. You're clueless. Aren't you rushing things? You haven't even proposed yet," Sierra said sarcastically, then rolled her eyes for the second time.
"What are you mumbling about, honey?" Damian asked, as he didn't hear the last part of her sentence.
Stella smiled softly watching them both. She was happy that Sierra found happiness, but she knew deep inside of her that there was still something that she didn't fully understand.
Loving someone always comes with a price.
In the end, Damian didn't leave. Stella offered to cook breakfast and invited him to join them.
"Sierra, I haven't seen your sister, where is she?" Stella asked her younger daughter about her eldest daughter, Nadia.
"She had a party last night, she hasn't been home since then," she answered with her mouth full.
"Gross," Her mother rolled her eyes at her.
"You both are employed at the same company, right? You didn't go with her?" Stella asked again, curious.
"I lost my invitation. Hehe," She even made a peace sign after saying it.
"Irresponsible as ever," her mother rolled her eyes again.
"You have a sister?" Damian asked. He couldn't believe that he never knew Sierra had a sibling.
"She's also at our company?" He asked again, following his first questions.
He was pretty sure that there was no other Delacroix surname working at his company, since he had been quite particular about Sierra before.
"Ah—" Sierra was about to speak to tell Damian everything about her sister when they heard a voice from outside.
"I'm home!" It was a loud greeting from Nadia, even though she was still outside the house.
"Speaking of the devil," Sierra murmured, letting Damian meet her sister.
Nadia's eyes widened when she saw Damian sitting at the table and eating with her family, with her sister and mother.
"Ahhh!" She jumped up in joy and quickly sat beside Damian.
"Hi, Mr. CEO!" She greeted him loudly. She was still tipsy from drinking a lot at the party last night.
"Ms. Fairchild?" Damian asked confusedly.
Nadia didn't answer him but nodded repeatedly in response.
"CEO?" Stella asked, glancing back and forth at the three of them.
"Mhmm," Nadia faced her mother and nodded again.
"He's our boss. The CEO of our company. Sierra's boyfriend since college." Nadia answered, looking at her mother innocently, then looked at Sierra after.
"Right, Sierra?"
Sierra just smiled awkwardly and faced her mother. She met her mother's gaze, as if it were asking if what her sister said was true.
Stella looked at Damian and stood up.
"Ahm… Sorry for being rude, Mr. CEO. I didn't know you were such an influential person." She didn't know what to do or what to say anymore.
"Mom, sit down. You can still smack him if he hurts me," Sierra said, laughing.
"Yes, mom. I may be their boss at the company, but I'm Sierra's husband in the future. You can speak rudely to me," Damian nonchalantly said.
The three women look at him. Sierra hit him on his shoulder because his humor really sucked. But Sierra was hit on the same place by her mother.
"Stop it, Sierra. You shouldn't use violence all the time." Her mother sided against her.
"Mom!" She screamed in disbelief, while her sister was now eating with them, laughing because Damian was favored by her mother instead of Sierra.
While Damian's joy was immeasurable, he was warmly welcomed by the family of the love of his life.