Conflict of Heart

Chapter 19

Sitting down to dinner felt unusual, as much as it had been the past few days since Jenny and Nathan had left for their second honeymoon. It was too quiet, and the table felt far too large to accommodate only two people. But even then, Isabella was still eager to take her seat, ready to tuck into a good meal.

Her face had not quite lost its rosy hue since her afternoon visit to Damien's apartment, and she hoped that her giddy nature had not been too conspicuous. But her light-hearted mood immediately dampened upon sighting her sister as the younger woman entered the dining room, and worry set her delicate eyebrows in a deep frown.

Rosa seemed to look worse and worse as the days went by, and the dark colouring under her eyes was unmistakable as she quietly took her usual seat at the table. Lines of exhaustion marred her once glowing face, her olive complexion seeming to have set in a permanently ashen hue, and her sapphire eyes, which once gleamed with mischief and excitement, were now two dull cobalt irises that stared vacantly at the utensils and cutlery before her.

Isabella held her tongue until Lesley had carried through all of the food and poured their drinks, watching her sister's unfocused gaze continue to watch her empty plate. Once she knew that Lesley would not be returning, she sighed and placed her cutlery down, the sound of silver clinking on china echoing throughout the quiet room.

"What's going on, Rosa?" she asked, her soft, caring voice carrying across the table easily in the quiet room.

Rosa shrugged but didn't meet her gaze as she began dishing up her food absentmindedly. "Nothing."

The older sister raised a dark eyebrow. "It sure doesn't look like 'nothing'. You've been in this . . ." She gestured to her sister's haggard appearance. "I don't know what sort of mood to call it, but you've been in it for days. What's wrong?"

"I told you it's nothing," Rosa adamantly insisted, refusing to look at her as she dished up a pathetically small portion of food.

A sharp spike of frustration and worry coiled together in Isabella's stomach, making her voice sound cutting as she spoke, "For goodness' sake, Rosa. It's not nothing! You haven't eaten properly in days. You hardly speak to anyone, and – by the looks of it – you haven't slept much either. And don't give me that same old story that you're stressed about your studies, because I know that's a lie. Now tell me: what happened?"

Her sister's sapphire gaze finally snapped up to meet her dark irises. An unorthodox anger burned her eyes to an azure shade, and a splash of red formed on her cheeks as she glared at her.

"Maybe if you stopped butting your nose where it didn't belong then I wouldn't be in this mood!" she yelled, her voice hoarse from hardly speaking for days.

Isabella froze at her sister's words and tone. Her lips parted then closed, at a loss for words. Eventually she uttered, "Wh-what do you mean?"

Rosa pressed her lips together, a sudden rush of tears filling her eyes as she glared back at her. "You told me to invite Ethan," she hissed, her jaw clenched and a sudden paleness developing about her mouth. "You're the one who persisted, even when I told you that I didn't feel comfortable doing so. Well, he rejected me, and I don't only mean my invitation!"

Isabella's eyes widened in shock at the younger woman's words, her jaw slackening. "Do you mean . . .?"

Rosa dropped her utensils as a choked sob escaped her lips and stood, the chair screeching along the floor as she did. She turned sharply and had run into the hall by the time Isabella caught up to her.

"Rosa, wait!" she called, but the younger woman didn't halt her fast steps as she moved towards the ostentatious staircase.

Rosa's teary gaze glared and her lips scowled as she looked at the detail of the home she once loved, only guessing the cost that went into each little feature and structure. Living in all the luxury made her feel sick to her stomach. So much so that she couldn't even look at the food that was laid out for her every day without wanting shove it out of her sight or burn all of the clothes in her closet.