Rita had offered to carry the bags out of consideration, but Sherman remained firm in his response. "You''re the one who shouldn''t underestimate me! These are just a couple of clothes. Let''s hurry along now!" Their interaction did not escape the notice of the clothes boutique''s staff member, who found the interaction particrly heartwarming. In her view, Rita and Sherman seemed to be a perfect match, which made it all the more unfortunate that they were not together.


    As they finally settled into the car, Rita was still clutching the almost weightless paper bag in her hand as Sherman prepared to drive her home.


    "Are you heading back to your family home?" Sherman inquired.


    Rita shook her head. "No. You can drop me off at the ce I''m renting."


    "Sure."Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDra/ma.O(r)g!


    After a brief silence, Rita put forth a question. "Why didn''t you ask about my decision not to go home?"


    "What''s there to ask? You''re an adult, and you''re not obligated to stay at home every day. Besides, I think staying alone gives you a little more breathing room," Sherman replied.


    Rita chuckled. "You''ve only been to my house once, and you''ve already seen through it all. My father can''t see the truth even though he''s been with that woman and her daughter for years. He continues to think that I have a good rtionship with them."


    Sherman could sense the underlying helplessness in her tone despite her smile.


    "Your father gets easily attached. Perhaps the older generation tends to focus more on having aplete family. My grandma used to drone on about getting married," Sherman remarked.


    "Your situation is different from mine, though," Rita countered. She leaned back in her seat and gazed into the distance, feeling as if there was this sudden urge to open up on that tranquil afternoon ride. Her heart began to race as if to warn her of the danger of revealing too much.


    "I''ll lend you an ear if there''s anything you''d like to talk about," Sherman offered.


    That was the catalyst that opened the floodgates.


    ???


    "There are times when I don''t even understand what my father is thinking. He says he remarried out of concern for me because he''s worried about me not having a mother figure. I''ve always hoped she''d be someone who could treat me like my mother would, but she showed her true colors right from the outset. I learned to protect myself from her and her daughter at a young age, but I didn''t expect my father to bring her back and let them take after his surname. Isn''t that something you should put more thought into before going ahead with it?"


    She then continued, "I''ve put up with their maniptions and their scheming over the years, but I still get angry from time to time because


    I can never understand why my


    father is so blind to all their actions. His intelligence seems to just disappear when ites to


    handling family matters..."


    Sherman nced at Rita through the rearview mirror, noticing her rising anger and the quiver in her voice as she continued to vent. At that moment, he felt a sudden and unexinable urge to pull over, embrace her, and assure her that none of it was her fault.


    However, he remained behind the wheel in prolonged silence before finally saying, "This isn''t your fault. You have every right to feel anger."


    Those words seemed to have lifted a weight off Rita''s shoulders. Tears streamed down her face as she turned away because of how long it had been since she heard validation. Despite expressing her frustrations and disappointments, she never troly voiced out the suffering and grievances that she experiences.


    Vince always sided with Karen and Sadie even when Rita had been wrongly used by both of them. s, Vince was never able to see through it.