:// battle for it all / solo
this was it, the moment she had been working towards.
after the meetings with each of her siblings and getting their approval, along with getting toshi’s support, she was finally ready to confront her mother and end all of this nonsense once and for all. she was about to get a grip on her own life, to free herself from the restraints and restrictions her mother had set in place for her every waking moment of her youth. opportunity after opportunity had been spoiled for her, but now she was finally able to salvage something she had worked hard to gain. her mother wouldn’t dig her claws into shiah’s modelling career, no way.
she walked into the penthouse while squeezing toshi’s hand (he had been kind enough to come along with her for support in this), moving towards the living room where she knew her mother would be waiting for her. she had called in advance to let her know she had to come over and talk to her about something important. she would be ready and waiting, shiah knew.
at first her mother greeted her and her now-boyfriend with a warm and inviting smile, gesturing them inside, happy to see them holding hands. shiah knew her mother was probably thinking they were announcing a date for their wedding or wanted to discuss details about living circumstances. something domestic and concerning the engagement moving forward was probably what her mother expected, and the thought that shiah was about to prove her mother wrong in that was a little spiteful in how it made her gleeful, but she was filled with glee over it nonetheless.
she gestured for toshi to sit. as long as he was there with her for this, that was all she needed from him, he didn’t need to say anything on her behalf. it was her battle. him being there on her side would just let her mother know she had his support and agreement in this too, which was all the help she needed from him. she turned to her mother, expression solid and strong, eyes hard and almost cold as she fixed her gaze on the elder woman.
“i’m calling off the engagement.”
he mother stared, blinked a bit, then laughed as if it were a joke. when shiah’s expression didn’t change, her mother blanched, panic clear in her visage. then her cheeks turned red with rage, her neck lighting up like a hot poker. her voice was booming with pure disgust and anger, “you will do no such thing.”
shiah was unmoving, unaffected by her mother’s demeanor, and held her ground. “i most certainly will, and you can’t stop me. toshi has agreed, all of my siblings have agreed. you know father will agree too. there’s nothing you can do about it.”
her mother nearly collapsed as her knees gave out and she fell back onto the sofa behind her, shaken and trembling with panic and fear, the realization of her failure with shiah starting to sink in. “this can’t be happening... no... everything was going so well... it was according to the plan... you were the one, shiah, you were going to make us great again. now you’re ruining us.”
that one hurt, but it wasn’t unexpected. her mother had been using her to try and fix her own failure this whole time. she had no regard for shiah’s well being or wants, it was a selfish patch up job she was trying to accomplish. it hurt her, knowing her mother never really cared about what she wanted to do with her own life. she just wanted to use shiah to better her own reputation.
“i’m not ruining anything. i’m doing what i want with my own life instead of patching up the damage from your divorce. the only person who doesn’t want me to chase my dreams and be successful is you, my own damn mother. you just wanted me to make you look better. you have myeongcha for that, you don’t need me. so i’m calling this off, and doing what i want with my own life. which means i’m going to keep modelling, i’m going to keep dancing, i’m going to go to school even, and i’m going to date toshi instead of being engaged right off the bat. i’m going to do what makes me happy. that’s why i went with father - no, dad. that’s why i went with him and not you, because he’s wanted nothing but for me to be happy doing what i want to do. he loves me for me. you don’t, and that’s your true failure.”
with that, she felt she had said all she needed to say. she strode over to where toshi sat, holding all the tears in that she wanted to spill like the champion she was, took his hand, and headed straight for the door. it was over now. she was free.
