"And what is that truth?" Razeal asked, his voice remaining calm and controlled, almost as if he didn't already know the answer. His expression didn't change, his eyes still locked onto hers, but there was something deeper behind the question. It wasn't curiosity. Not completely. He wasn't asking because he was unaware of what she would say. He was asking because he wanted to hear it from her own mouth. He wanted her to finally speak the words she had avoided for so long.
Merisa looked into his eyes silently for a few moments, and the longer she stared at him, the heavier the feeling inside her became. There was no escaping it anymore. No hiding behind misunderstandings, no hiding behind doubts, no trying to convince herself that things could have been different. She had finally reached the point where she had to face everything she had done.
"The truth…" she slowly began, her voice quiet but clear, "is that I was a failure as a mother."
