Chapter 52

Mia POV
 
"Mia, aren't you also taking me along with you and your husband?" Amanda said with her sitting on my bed.
 
"Rude of you to ask?" I replied.
 
"How did you expect a reply from me then?" She asked, acting so rude and arrogant.
 
"Amanda, what's your problem?" I asked her.
 
"Can we skip all this unuseful query and go to the right point here?" Her words sounded so hard to me.
 
I sat up looking at her with a different kind of look, still looking at her with different kinds of thoughts running through my head already.
 
"Amanda, be careful," I said to her.
 
 
"Amanda, be careful of me," I warned her once more, my voice low and even still filled with annoyance. But Amanda just laughed out, a cold, mirthless sound.
 
"Oh, I'm shaking in my boots already, Mia," she chuckled.
 
"You think you're so much better than me, Mia; don't you dare me? With your perfect little family and your perfect little life that I made for you." Her voice was filled with malice.
 
I felt a surge of anger at her arrogant words to me, but I kept my cool based on the fact that I am much older than her.
 
"Amanda, what's going on with you? You're acting really strange this time." I said with a much calmer voice.
 
"Strange?" she repeated, her voice rising up against mine. "You're one to talk, Miss 'I'm so much better than everyone else'." She laughed, making mockery of me.
 
I stood up, my heart racing with anger and pain. 
 
"Amanda, please stop it. You're being really hurtful now." I exclaimed.
 
But Amanda just kept going, her words cutting deep like a dagger stabbed between my heart.
 
"You think you're so perfect, but you're not perfect. You're just a fake life, Mia. A fake wife, a fake mother, a fake person living in a total fake world."
 
I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes slowly, but I refused to let them fall before her presence. I wouldn't give Amanda the satisfaction nor make myself like a brat.
 
 
I felt my anger boiling over, and I couldn't keep my cool anymore.
 
. "How dare you, Amanda!" I exclaimed, my voice rising with anger already.
 
. "You think you can just come at me like this and I'll take it from you? You're the fake one here, Amanda. You're the one who's always causing drama and stirring up trouble all over the place. You're a toxic person, hete, and I'm sick of it!"
 
Amanda's face twisted in a scowl, but she just kept going with her words. 
 
"At least I'm not much of a hypocrite like you, Mia," she spat after her words.
 
. "At least I'm not pretending to be something I'm not." She added.
 
I was furious now and could possibly do anything at this point. 
 
"How can you say that?" I demanded, grinning my teeth with anger. 
 
"You're the one who's always pretending to be something you're not, living the fake life. You're a master manipulator, Amanda. You manipulate everyone around you to get what you want at your time." She laughed.
 
Just as it seemed like things were about to get out of hand in the room, Ethan walked into the room.
 
"Hey, hey, ladies, what's going on here?" He asked, his voice calm and soothing, interrupting the bash.
 
Amanda's demeanor changed instantly, like a chameleon. She smiled sweetly at Ethan, and her voice became sugary sweet—or better yet, honey sweet.
 
"Oh, Ethan, I'm so glad you're here. Mia and I were just having a little disagreement about the personal last issue." She opened up her 32 with me looking at her weridly.
 
I rolled my eyes against her. 
 
"A little disagreement?" I repeated the words.
 
"That's not what I'd call it if I were you."
 
Ethan looked at me, then at Amanda, giving a confused look.
 
"What's actually going on here, Mia?" He asked with visible confusion.
 
But before I could answer his questions, Amanda jumped in.
 
. "Mia's just being really sensitive about things, Ethan. She can't handle a little bit of criticism from her sister." She faked the look again, looking more innocent.
 
I felt my anger surge again with me biting my lower lips and also biting my tongue. 
 
 
I wasn't going to let Amanda get to me this time like she did in the past. Not now, not in front of Ethan, who she forced me to.
 
"Amanda, that's totally not true," Ethan said, his voice firm and calm. 
 
"Mia, what's truly going on?" He asked, looking at me.
 
I took a deep breath and tried to calm down from the whole issue.
 
. "Amanda's just being really hurtful to me, Ethan. She's saying some really cruel things to me." I said calmly also.
 
Ethan looked at Amanda for a while, his expression Stern and serious.
 
"Amanda, can you apologize to Mia? Now." He said.
 
But Amanda just smiled sweetly at him faking her look.
 
"Oh, Ethan, I'm really sorry if I hurt Mia's feelings. That wasn't my intention though."
 
I knew she was really lying, but Ethan seemed to buy it from her. 
 
"Okay, let's just calm down and talk about this much later, okay?" he said with a smirk.
 
I nodded, still seething with anger for Amanda. But I knew I had to calm down since I couldn't hurt her. I couldn't let Amanda get the best of me this time, but I still can't hurt her.
 
As we left the room, I couldn't help but feel frustrated from what just happened. Why did Ethan always seem to take Amanda's side almost the whole time? Why did he always seem to believe her lies every time?
 
I knew I had to talk to him about this character he developed, but I didn't know how to place the matter. I didn't want to start another fight in the house that already started having peace, but I couldn't just let things go on like this.
 
As I walked away, I heard Amanda's voice behind me.
 
"Thanks, Ethan. I knew I could count on you.".
 
I felt a surge of anger at her words to me, but I kept walking, not trying to look back. I wasn't going to let her get to me again. Not now, not ever.
 
But as I walked, I couldn't shake the feeling that Amanda was going to be a problem for a long time to come. And I didn't know how to stop her from getting into it.