The Diary That Held The Votes Against Me Chapter 06

Outside the airport in Melbourne, I recognized Mom at a glance, even after thirteen years apart.

She looked exactly as I remembered, as if time had barely touched her face.

“Nora! Over here!”

She pulled off her sunglasses, her face lighting up with joy.

I buried myself in her arms and let myself feel safe.

After we hugged, she handed me the flowers she’d brought.

“Welcome to Melbourne, Nora. From now on, I’m going to give you the best of everything.”

“Everything’s set for school. From now on, you can count on me.”

I looked up at her. She smiled at me, soft and warm.

Something inside me gave way.

My throat tightened, and suddenly I wanted to cry.

So this was what it felt like to be loved.

I hesitantly held out my hand.

“Mom, can I hold your hand?”

She immediately took it.

“Of course you can, Nora.”

“Please don’t hate me for not coming to find you all these years…”

As she began talking about the past, her eyes turned red.

“When your father and I divorced, all I got was the house and about twenty thousand dollars in cash.”

“I couldn’t afford to raise you on my own.”

“So I took the money and moved overseas. I learned the business from someone who’d mentored me years

earlier. Those first years were brutal. More times than I can count, I was grateful I hadn’t brought you with me

and made you suffer through it too.”

“I knew that bastard your father wouldn’t treat you well, but at least the house was yours. No matter what

happened, you’d always have a roof over your head…”

I studied her from the corner of my eye.

Her clothes were beautifully made, and the enormous blue diamond on her hand was impossible to miss.

Yet the pale, delicate hands I remembered were now lined with age.

“Later, once the business started doing well, I wanted to come back for you. But your father told me you

didn’t want to live with me. He said you’d never acknowledge me as your mother…”

“That’s not true,” I said quickly. “I hadn’t heard anything about you all these years.”

Mom’s expression remained gentle.

“I know. You would never say something like that. Your father was the one keeping us apart. But back then,

the business consumed nearly all my time. Even if I’d brought you over, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to take

care of you properly.”

“Nora, do you hate me?”

I shook my head firmly.

When we got home, Mom immediately started buying things for me.

Instead of the bare room I was used to, with nothing but a bed and a single ceiling light, I now had a spacious bedroom filled with the plush toys I loved and decorated in the romantic vintage style I’d adored as a little girl.

The walk-in closet was stocked with earrings and jewelry for me to choose from, and the vanity was covered with skincare selected specifically for my skin.

I could tell Mom was doing everything she could to give me the best.

Once university started, I took on twice the normal course load.

I pushed through what should have been a four-year double degree in just three years.

Mom was always worried I was pushing myself too hard and that the pressure would eventually take a toll

on me.

But I needed to prove something to myself.

Having someone to fall back on didn’t give me an excuse to coast through life.

The day I completed both degrees, I knew every late night and every page I’d studied had been worth it.

After I finished taking graduation pictures, Mom called.

“Happy graduation, Nora!”

“The doctor has finished putting together the treatment plan for your scar. We’ll go in tomorrow.”

“Come home early tonight. I made chicken soup.”

During my years in Melbourne, hardly anyone deliberately brought up the scar on my face.

My classmates were kind, and my professors were thoughtful and dedicated. There were no disgusted stares, no snickering behind raised hands.

Most days, I almost forgot the long scar was there.

But whenever I came close to forgetting it completely, Sloane’s shrill laughter would come back to me,

playing on a loop in my head.

At the hospital the next day, the specialist glanced at my name and looked mildly surprised.

“You’re Nora Hart?”

I nodded.

“Do you know Julian Pierce?”

Hearing that name again-the name that had once been enough to make my heart skip a beat-I was calmer

than I’d expected.

“We grew up next door to each other.”

The doctor nodded, looking faintly amused.

“Did you know Julian once booked an appointment with me for you?”

“No.”

It didn’t matter, either.

I was no longer the girl whose whole world began and ended with Julian.

After three rounds of treatment, the scar on my face had faded until it was barely visible.

Something that had haunted me for more than a decade had taken less than three months to all but

disappear.

Mom gave me three months to myself before I started learning the business and gradually preparing to take

over the company.

I’d spent all my time in Australia studying so hard that I hadn’t even explored the cities around Melbourne.

What I never expected was to run into Julian while I was traveling.