New World with Four Husbands-Chapter 606: Confronting her daughter [2]

"How have you been?" Cleora asked, taking a seat across Coco and eyeing the pancake before her. "And why aren’t you eating that, Coco?"

Coco couldn’t find it in herself to answer her mother so she just proceeded into digging her fork onto the pancake before shoving a piece inside her mouth, making sure that she had a mouthful.

Cleora’s eyebrow twitched at the deliberate move her daughter did. "Seriously? Finish that first then. I won’t move from here until we’re done talking."

Coco’s heart dropped to her stomach the moment those words left her mother’s mouth because she knew that Cleora will keep her word, so if she said that she won’t move until they’re done talking, then she won’t move— not even an inch, even if she had to go to the bathroom, hungry, or sleepy.

She’s stubborn like that, she’s a Coison after all.

Coco quickly began chewing the pancake, not even bothering to chew them to pieces and settled on just a few chews before she swallowed.

"Okay, okay!" Coco exclaimed, her voice breaking slightly. "I’m done! We can talk, see? I’ve finished that forkful!"

Cleora cast a narrowed glance at Coco as she crossed her arms and placed them on the table. "So? How have you been? I didn’t see you for two whole days and left me alone with my sons-in-law. I thought something bad had happened to you."

Coco felt a lump starting to form in her throat as she stammered in her words. "I, uhm, I was.. I was at the guild.. Working.. And came back late.."

"All because of what?" Cleora tilted her head, smiling at Coco.

That smile did NOT reach her eyes! AT ALL! Coco’s head was filled with alert noises, making her body tense against the chair and avert her eyes from her mother once again.

"Because I was busy.." Coco lied through her teeth, clearing her throat to get rid of the lump.

"Busy hunting, I presume?" Cleora’s voice was dripping with skepticism, like she couldn’t believe Coco’s reason for being the whole day, though, a part of her believes her daughter because she, too, overwork herself whenever there’s something bothering her.

"Of course." Coco murmured, her eyebrows furrowing. "What else would I be doing?"

"I’m just saying.." The older woman blinked, feeling awkward all of a sudden. She didn’t expect Coco to be so dismissive of what she was trying to do for the past two days— she felt like a wall was suddenly built between them. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Cleora cleared her throat and it was her who averted her gaze away from Coco this time. "Anyway.. I.. I’m sorry. I know.. I know that you got hurt, but I.. I didn’t mean to. I really didn’t mean to."

Coco let her gaze drift back to her mother, her heart strings getting by the unexpected apology.

"What..?" Coco’s face twisted into a frown. "Mama, you shouldn’t be the one apologizing— it was me, I should be the one apologizing to you. I was the one who was rude and left while we were still talking.. I was the one who disregarded what you might have felt during that time."

Clear shook her head, a small, sad smile emerging in her lips. "No, my sweet angel."

"No?" Coco’s frown deepened further, she was practically looking at her mother like she had said something outrageous. "Mama, we both know what I did would have got me a spanking session if you were an Asian mother."

"But I was one." Cleora retorted, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "You were an Asian, Coco."

"I was?" Coco blinked, eyes wide.

"Yes? Why are you not aware of this?" Cleora asked, her words coming out as a hiss, unintentionally or not, Coco doesn’t know, but she could feel her mother’s disappointment.

"B-Because we only migrated to the Philippines..?" Coco laughed nervously, scratching her cheek.

"Your father might be white, but that doesn’t mean I am one! Why would you think otherwise?" Cleora was practically sneering at her own child, getting more upset as the seconds passed by.

"Because you don’t look or act like one?" Coco answered, her words sounding like she was questioning herself rather than answering her mother’s query.

"I do act like one!" The older Coison hissed, standing up on her seat and leaning down to grab her shoeware.

But she froze when she realized that she’s wearing boots, which didn’t stop her, so she proceeded to take it off and threw it across the table to aim at Coco’s head.

Coco’s eyes widened at the sight of her mother unbuckling her boots’ tie and quickly forced herself to stand up.

Pak.

"Ouch!"

But it was futile because the moment she did so, the sole of the boot had hit her square in the head and forced her to sit back down on her chair.

When the boot hit her head, it quickly moved and fell down on the table where the pancake was left vulnerable, but once again, Coco held out her hands and catched it before it could land on her breakfast.

"I may not raise my hands or take my belt off to discipline you and your sisters doesn’t make me less Asian!" Cleora declared with a huff, her eyes narrowed dangerously towards her daughter.

"I-I’m sorry.." Coco mumbled, eyes fluttering shut.

"Anyway." Cleora cleared her throat and realized that they got off their original topic. "I wanted to apologize because I knew I hurt you."

"Ma, please stop." Coco pleaded, her words dripping with desperation. "Stop, please? You didn’t do anything wrong. It was me who got hurt because of my expectations, because of my own thoughts— not you, you didn’t do anything wrong."

"But you got hurt.." Cleora mumbled, her throat clogging up as the words she wanted to say got stuck at the tip of her tongue.

"Yes, and it was because of me." Coco smiled at her mother, her expression softening.

Even though Coco had assured her, Cleora felt otherwise.