Scarlet’s POV

Pathum: Scarlet, are you out of your mind?

Scarlet: But how else are we going to help Abigail?

Pathum: You’re walking into a trap.

Scarlet: I know that, but how can we help her? She’s in that hospital bed because of me. I can’t stand that.

Pathum: It’s not your fault, sweetie.

Scarlet: Yes, it is, Pathum.

Pathum: Why do you say that?

Scarlet: She wouldn’t be in this state if it weren't for me.

Pathum: That’s a load of crap.

Scarlet: You don’t know the story she shared with me before her accident.

Pathum: Now’s the time to share it with me.

Scarlet: Ok. So, Victor forced Abigail to get pictures of me saying it was comparison and that he needed proof that her body was the best

Pathum: That son of a bit–

Scarlet: i know Pathum, its horrible.

Pathum: gosh I am so sorry. Keep continuing.

Scarlet: Anyway, as I was saying, he tricked her into giving him pictures and commented that she had a better body than me. He then asked for some pictures of mine, but she refused. So, he started sending us photos of her, asking about my life, and forcing her to stalk me.

Pathum: Everything makes sense now. She didn’t betray you; she was trying to protect you.

Scarlet: Exactly. And knowing that she’s on the verge of death makes me hurt so much.

Pathum: Don’t blame yourself. It was the fault of her heart.

Scarlet: But Pathum…

Pathum: Yes, sweetie?

Scarlet: I want to cry.

Pathum: Sweetie, it’s okay to cry. Just let it out.

Scarlet: But I don’t know if I can. I’m so tired. Can I go to sleep?

Pathum: Sweetie, I hope slumber takes you soon.

Scarlet: Ok, goodnight. I’m sorry for leaving so early.

Pathum: Shush. It would help if you had sleep and I need to study some more. But soon, Abigail will be healed.

A few minutes later, I fell asleep and slept until I was interrupted by my mom. She shook me vigorously, saying that I had overslept and complained about my device being the cause of the trouble.

My heart ached at her harsh words against Pathum. I won’t let her hurt him, so I fought back, which only brought forth a grumpy mama.

“Abigail’s hurt, and here you are, getting mad at me,” she commented while I was getting ready.

“Mom, I’m getting ready. Just give me a minute,” I protested.

Thankfully, we were soon on our way to the hospital, but it was just my mom and I. My dad stayed home because he had work to do. I don’t know whether it was out of frustration or selfishness. But still, I guess I’m not giving my dad the benefit of the doubt. Just because he doesn’t show it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love us.

A while later, we were at the hospital and in Abigail’s room. She looked better and was probably in the mood to talk.

“How are you doing, dear?” Mom asked, sitting beside her, eagerly awaiting her answer.

Abigail’s complexion was still somewhat pale from the blood loss, but it was slowly getting better. She was still weak, though. She could barely lift her head. And when she replied to Mom, her voice was quiet.

“I’m good.”

Mom smiled, and she smiled back, but when our eyes met, she sighed. Mom left to talk to the doctor privately about Abigail and her mental health. Once Mom’s figure disappeared, Abigail took a deep breath and let it go, with her poker face fading away.

I saw the look on her face and narrowed my eyes to her in suspicion.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded, but I didn’t believe her. However, I didn’t call her out on it. Instead, we stayed silent until she brought up the topic I dreaded.

“So, you talked to Victor. What did he say?”

I shook my head, wanting to avoid the topic for as long as possible. Besides, Abigail didn’t need to know the details—not right now. She needed to focus on recovering from her injury and her mental health.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll figure out to get him out of your life.”

“But Scarlet-”

I glanced at her and saw tears cascading down her cheek.

“Don’t tell me you did something stupid.” She extended her hand out to touch my cheek. I stood up and looked away, scanning the vicinity to see if our mom was nearby.

When I didn’t see her, I started talking in a low voice.

“Victor is only after me. He'll leave you alone if I give him what he wants.”

She shook her head and raised her hand at me.

“Please don’t make the same mistake I did.” Her tone was quiet yet pleading.

I gave her a look of contempt, poking my finger at her in disapproval.

“You did that to prove your love for him while I do the opposite. There’s a big difference,” I said.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

That’s when I realised what I said wasn’t pleasant.

She froze, covered her face, and began to cry. The memories were starting to haunt her. The fact I just said that I’m what he’s after surely must’ve hurt more. Even though my intentions weren’t to hurt her, they did just that.

Taking a step forward, I touched her face gently, but she shrugged me away.

“I’m sorry, Abigail. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

She shook her head, her tears making her eyes blurry.

“It doesn’t matter. He only offered me his fake love to mask his true love for you. It was always you—the better one. I was an option he had when he was bored. You were the divine goddess while I was the slut,” she said, looking away from me and sobbing.

I couldn’t focus my gaze on her after hearing those words. I wanted to puke.

What the hell, she calls me a divine goddess? Ew.

“Don’t talk about yourself like that,” I replied, failing to find the right words to console her.

“But I just told you the truth,” she wept.

I turned back to her before clearing my throat.

We both sighed and focused our gazes at the door. Mom was still nowhere in sight, so we continued our conversation.

“He promised me he’d leave you alone if I gave him what he wanted.”

Abigail raised her eyebrows in suspicion.

“And you believe that?”

“I know he’s one of the worst people, but he isn’t a liar,” I said, crossing my arms.

The scoff Abigail gave me was mocking.

“Then you’ll end up like me once you fulfill his desires.”

“Don’t talk like that. I only wanted to help you.”

“You’re a sacrifice, Scarlet, so get it out of your mind.” She took a deep breath, laid her head back on the pillow, and closed her eyes.

I looked up at the ceiling, my thoughts going a million miles a minute. I wanted to figure out how to get us both out of this mess.

“How are we going to fix this?” I eventually asked.

My sister shrugged her shoulders without opening her eyes. Her voice was sad and tired when she answered me like she wanted to cry.

“I don’t know, but I just want to die. Why am I still alive? I don’t understand. Why is God doing this?”

“It’s just a test by god. So let’s overcome it and turn it into a blessing in our life,” I said optimistically, trying to encourage her.

“A test?” she laughed, shaking her head.

“Yes, that’s what I believe it is,” I nodded before a sudden thought came to me. “Now, I want to talk to you about something.”

Abigail’s eyes opened, and she sat up with my help before looking at me curiously.

“Go ahead.”

“If we told the police the details of your conversation and everything that happened, they might listen to us and arrest him. That way, we can be free—or you can be free from him,” I said, looking sideways.

Abigail didn’t look too convinced. In fact, she frowned and shook her head at me, and it didn’t look like she approved of my plan.

“The police won’t work against him, but even if they do, what if he presses the share button and forwards the pictures to Mom? Scarlet, I’m better off dead than having to confess my sins to Mom,” she sobbed.

Getting closer to her, I let my hug give her some warmth. Hoping that it would ease her pain.

“My love beguiled me into thinking he was after me, but I was only a pawn in his game,” she continued crying, and I tightened my arms around her, trying my best not to shed tears.

“I’m so sorry, Abigail. There are two options; either I give him what he wants, or we give the police what they want. So, please choose one. He won’t give us a break.”

“But how can we trust the police?”

“I guess the tall officer could be trusted. His name was Michael, Mom has his number so I could text him about this situation,” I said convincingly.

She looked at me for a second before nodding hesitantly.

“Are you sure about this?”

“I’m not 100% confident, but I still hope it’ll work.”

“But what if it doesn’t?”

“Then I’ll give Victor what he wants,” I said.

The next thing I knew, Abigail was slapping me across the face.

“Don’t even think about it. It’s my fault I got into this mess, and I don’t want you to suffer.”

“But I don’t want to see you in this weak state,” I protested.

Instead of agreeing with me, she only shook her head angrily.

“No. Don’t take my burdens with you. Let me suffer alone and pretend that I was an evil sister. I treated you terribly by always taking Mom’s side whenever you got in trouble and tried my best to be her favourite child.”

“I’m the favourite?” That thought made me laugh in amusement, and I shook my head.

“Yes.” She looked away.

I gave her the most flabbergasted expression ever.

“Excuse me, but I thought you were the favourite child?” I asked, making her body numb and her speech stop.

“I’m not,” she said, glaring at me.

“Why not?”

Abigail didn’t look like she wanted to answer the question, she looked uncomfortable to be honest. But I was stubborn and unwilling to let this go. She took one look at me before sighing loudly.

“Mom constantly tells me to take care of you. Whenever we talk, she’d inquire about your well-being. But she wouldn’t ask me how I was doing. She never expressed her feelings in front of you, but things were tough behind the scenes. I had to be the strong, big sister while you got all the attention of both parents. That sucks, you know. And I know Dad loves me, but when was the last time he expressed it? Oh, I sometimes honestly hate our parents. While they raised us right, they disappointed us.” she delivered her speech while tears cascaded down her cheeks.

She ensured she wiped them before anyone could see them, especially Mom.

Thinking about it, I nodded. It made sense why Abigail behaved the way she did. She’s been jealous of me since birth and wanted to be our parents’ favourite child. I thought it was me who was trying to reach that status, but it seemed we were running the race, looking with both our eyes—except our views were different.

She snapped me out of my thoughts by snapping her fingers in my face.

“Scarlet, give me my phone. I was bored all day without it, and I want to see what notifications I have.”

I furrowed my brow in confusion and shook my head.

“What are you talking about? I don’t have it.”

She snickered at me and shook her head at my obliviousness before pointing to the trouser pocket, where she could see the familiar screen of her phone peeking out.

“I can see it in your pants pocket.”

Sheepishly, I looked down, and we laughed for a few moments before I handed her the device.

While she logged into her phone, I left the room, trying to find Mom. I looked everywhere, but I couldn’t see her. I don’t know what’s taking her so long. Well, she’ll return when it’s time for her to come.

Shaking my head, I went back into Abigail’s room and sat in the chair beside her bed. She must’ve heard me because she suddenly looked up from her phone at me.

“Victor’s saying he won’t let me go, and he doesn’t care if I’m dead. How can he be so rude?” she asked, fuming. Tears started cascading down her cheeks while she looked at something on her device.

“Don’t listen to him.”

She tossed her phone down on the bed before turning to look at me. Her green eyes were dull and sad. When she spoke, her voice was quiet yet vulnerable.

“I loved him from the bottom of my heart. But how could he deceive me like this, Scarlet?”

‘’He’s a monster.”

“I know that now, and I want to be free of him. Please help me, Scarlet!” she cried, her voice full of desperation and despair.

I could not bear it, so I did the only thing I could do. I offered her my warmth through a hug.

“I’m so sorry for helping him, for lying to you, and for every other wrong I did. Will you forgive me?” she asked.

I knew I wouldn’t even have to think about it. I’d forgive her within a heartbeat.

I opened my mouth to say it to her, but I suddenly stopped when our mom came in, interrupting me.

She smiled as she clasped her hands in front of her and looked at the two of us. It looked like she had some good news to share. That would be great, considering all we’ve been dealing with is bad news. We could use a break from it.

“Hey, guys, the doctors said we can leave this evening,” she said before turning to me. “And Scarlet, call your dad and tell him not to come home today. I want to make sure your sister’s settled in.”

I nodded, pulling my phone out of my other pocket, and dialed Dad’s number. It didn’t even ring once before he answered. I told him we were coming home, but he wasn’t allowed to. I then hung up and was about to leave the room when Mom stopped me. Judging by the raised eyebrow, she was giving me. She looked like she had heard the tail end of our conversation.

“So scarlet, will you forgive Abigail for whatever she did?” she asked.

Abigail and I glanced at each other.

“What do you mean by that, Mom?”

“I believe you heard me, Scarlet,” she said, directing her attention towards Abigail.

But before I could respond, Abigail broke into sobs while I stood there, not knowing what to say.