Feeling indecisive, Carmen stood in front of the mirror, wearing a blue long sleeve dress with its length reaching below her knee. Then she wore her hair down.

However, the reflection staring back at her was not what she was going for at that moment. The bite marks on her neck were still showing, and the wound on her fingers remained exposed.

In anger, Carmen took off the dress and threw it on the bed, and it landed on top of all the other clothes she had tried on. Then she approached her closet, took out a gray sweater and blue jeans.

After Carmen had worn it, she went back to the mirror and stared at her reflection. The sweater's turtleneck and long sleeves concealed the bite marks on her body, and the sleeves were also long enough for her to hide her fingers in. But even though her dress code was perfect, the only thing destroying it was the hot June sun awaiting her outside her house.

“Mom is not going to buy this look, but it is the only solution I have because of the short time I been given.” Carmen murmured as she took a seat on the stool in front of her dresser mirror.

Sighing, she took out a lipstick from in her makeup bag and applied it hot red color on her lips.

“Done!” Carmen sadly uttered.

After sitting in silence for a brief while, she stood up, grabbed her purse, and headed out.

An hour later, Carmen was standing in front of the butter café. Then she smiled weakly as her mother waved to her from behind the transparent glass. Feeling like this entire breakfast date was a mistake, Carmen unwillingly pushed the door open and walked inside.

“Carm, over here!” Deborah called out to her daughter.

When she saw her mother's pleasant expression, Carmen put her depressed emotions together and wore an elated smile as she approached the table.

With a trace of excitement in her eyes, Deborah stood up when her daughter reached her and they embraced each other. Afterward, Carmen pulled out a chair and sat down.

“What's with the winter outfit?” Deborah asked.

The question had been playing on her mind the moment she saw her daughter outside of the shop dressed like it was Christmas morning.

“I wanted to stay in and sleep, but you dragged me out here to have breakfast with you. So I decided to dress casually to feel comfortable while outside of my home.” Carmen firmly said.

“You couldn't feel comfortable with something less thick and long?” Deborah asked.

Not uttering a word, Carmen pouted at her mother's remark. Then she stopped looking at her phone and focused on her mother's face.

“Mom, we came out here to eat. Let's not talk about fashion now, okay?” Carmen fiercely said.

Although Deborah still had a lot to say, she could tell from her daughter's cold expression that Carmen was not kidding and if she continued pushing, they could get into another argument.

“What would you have from the menu?” Deborah asked as she tried to change the course of their discussion.

“The apple pie with orange juice,” Carmen replied.

“Waiter!” Deborah called.

A tall and slime middle-aged and friendly looking man approached them.

“What can I do for you, ladies.” He asked with a bright smile when he arrived at their table.

"We will have some donuts, cranberry juice, an apple pie, and orange juice.” Deborah said.

The man left them and later returned with a tray full of their orders. After placing the plates and glasses on the table, he walked away and left the ladies by themselves. It did not take long for Carmen to put her worries aside as she and her mother happily chatted while eating their food.

Even though the air conditioner was on, Carmen started feeling hot in the sweater. Unknown to herself she rolled the sleeve of the sweater up, then the reason she wore it down clicked to her mind, and Carmen hurriedly tried to bring the sweater sleeve downward. But her mother stopped her, grabbing her wrist.

“What are these marks?” Deborah angrily asked.

Immediately, Carmen yanked her hand from in her mother's grip. Then she hastily rolled her sleeve down. Afterward, she could not look into her mother's eyes, and she couldn't stop feeling embarrassed and angry at the same time.

“Are you not going to answer me?” Her mother inquired with rage in her tone.

“Mom, I am a married woman. Liam and I had sex last night and these are love bites.” Carmen boldly answered.

Frowning, she felt annoyed by her mother's constant interference in her affair. Plus, the continuous lies she had been telling were eating at her conscious, and it was getting frustrating for her to handle.

“With the number of bite marks on your skin, it doesn't seem like your husband made those out of love. Carmen, did Liam torture you last night?” Deborah asked with concern in her eyes.

“Mom, how many times do I have to tell you that my husband loves me and he won't hurt me?” Carmen angrily cried.

Even if she wanted to, she couldn't say yes to the truth because although her mother's words were accurate, she couldn't afford to get her husband in a problem with her parents.

“Then why are you hiding it from me? Why would you wear such clothes in this kind of weather?” Deborah calmly asked.

Even without Carmen telling her the truth, she could tell that her daughter was lying, and she noticed the hurt in Carmen's eyes, but what Deborah couldn't understand was why her daughter was hiding all of these issues.

“Because you never stop nagging about my husband and meddling in my life! I knew if you saw these marks you would assume the worst, and I am not surprised that I was right.” Carmen screamed.

Then she lifted her head, and her gaze met her mother's eyes. She then weakly smiled, because for once since her wedding day, she could finally say something half truthful.

Everyone in the café was now staring at them, and Deborah felt embarrassed as people's eyes remained focused on them. Then when she saw the hurt in her daughter's expression, she finally decided to let this go until Carmen was ready to talk about it.

"Fine, I am sorry that I don't know when to stop. I should not have forced you to speak out about something that you wish to keep private." Deborah stated.

"There's nothing to talk about, mom!" Carmen mumbled as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I don't believe it, sweetheart. I am sorry, but I just don't trust that you are happy in your marriage. Please promise to talk to me when you decide to walk away." Deborah said.

Not replying, Carmen picked up her fork and began to eat her pie as a feeling of sadness overcame her because she knew that her love for Liam was too precious to her for her to walk away from him.

A few moments later, the café door opened, and Carmen heard a familiar voice. She turned her head to look, and when she saw the person, her eyes lost their sparkle.