Middle Child Syndrome - Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Ch 55: Get out and find your way
“Give me your phone and wallet. I also want all the cash and cards you have on hand. And you better give it all to me before I freeze your account.”

Mark looked at the oldest alpha with an angry expression on his face.

He did not want to do anything he was being told to do.

But going against his mother was not part of his plan for doing things so early in the morning.

“Fuck! Do you want it that much? Fine! Have it all. Here, are you happy now?”

Mark asked, enraged, as he placed everything he had before his mother. Rika could not figure out what her mother wanted until she spoke up again.

“Now that you gave me this, I’ve all exited my car. You can find your way back home just fine on your own. Meanwhile, I will go ahead alone with Rika.”

It was clear why Mark looked stunned at their mother’s words. Even Rika felt like this was too much.

She wanted to speak up and tell her mother that this was too much, but the heavy air in the car made breathing difficult.

“What’s wrong? You did not want to be with us. Then you can go back now.”

That was Mark’s final straw. He slammed the door open and quickly got out, but not before he gave Rika and their mother an angry look.

“I will make sure Suzie does not like either of you anymore, especially you, Mom. I do not care how much Suzie loves you now; I will ensure she does not love you in the future.”

With those words said, Mark slammed the door shut behind him and went out, not even with a penny in his pocket.

“That man-child. When will he mature and stop causing me trouble? I am getting so tired of caring for him all this time.”

Rika stayed quiet. She did not want to be thrown out of the car like Mark was.

She waited until her mother was better able to ask her questions.

“Are you sure Mark will be okay? He looks angry, and Mark loses his rationality when he is angry. You know he did not mean half of what he said, right?”

Rika asked in a hushed voice.

She asked this question, but that did not mean she had forgiven Mark for what he had said. She did not think he deserved to be thrown out on the street like this.

“Rika, don’t sympathise with your brother. First, he needs to grow up and act his age. Second, I have people keeping an eye on him. And third, he has a GPS chip that can help us track him down. All of us have it in case of emergency-”

Her mother stopped talking, finally realising that not everyone in their family had the GPS chip on them.

She had ensured that Mark and Suzie got those chips after someone tried to lure them after a party.

But since Rika was someone who should have paid more attention to, she had been included.

“Anyway, I wanted to bring you along because you are near Suzie’s age. You can give me a better idea of what to buy her than Mark could. By the way, what did I get you for your birthday, Rika? I don’t remember.”

It was Rika’s turn to look at her mother.

The answer to her mother’s question was ‘nothing.’

Suzie had gotten sick that week, and her mother had accompanied her for the hospital admission. The same thing happened last year and the year before that.

Rika could not remember the last time she had been with her family like this.

“Did I buy you a scarf because January is a cold month? I am sure that it was cold when we went out for your birthday dinner. Was it in January?”

“Mom, my birthday is in October.”

Rika reminded the older alpha, and the tension in the car worsened.

“It’s fine! I think Suzie was sick on my birthday last year, and we had to admit her to a ward. We were all busy that day.”

Rika reminded her mother, and the older alpha fell silent after that.

There was a lot of expression on her mother’s face that could mean many things. But Rika decided not to unpack that right now.

“I see! After all, there was a reason to forget that kind of memory. But I promise we will have a huge party for you this year.”

Rika did not want that, but she did not bother to say this to her mother.

Knowing her mother, she would forget all about this by the time October rolled around.

Either this or Suzie would get sick again, and Rika would have to spend in this hospital because of Suzie.

“By the way, you should have gone shopping with Mark instead of me. He knows Suzie’s tastes better than I do. I have no idea what an omega our age would like.”

Had it been alpha instead, Rika would have had an idea because of Emily and Damian. But sadly, she was in the dark about the omega side of things.

Rika’s mother made an awkward face at her confession. It was clear that she did not mean to make Rika feel awkward.

“It is fine! We will think of something to gift Suzie. Why don’t we also buy you something while we are there, Rika? I am sure that there must be something that you want to buy.”

Her mother tried to bribe Rika, but she had no idea what to do with this situation now,

She tried to do as much damage control as possible, but it was clear that her mother had nothing to say about this situation.

The trip felt awkward, and Rika just wanted it to end. She could also tell that her mother was feeling the tension in the air.

‘Just let this trip end already. I want to go back to my room and spend time in my room.’