Scarlet’s POV

Memories flashed before my eyes: I could still remember the horrible moment the words, “I was the one who sent pictures to Victor,” came out of Abigail’s mouth, and the look of horror melting into rage on my mom’s face before she did the unthinkable. She began hitting Abigail all over her body, each slap more forceful than the last. I could only stand there and watch as Abigail stayed silent, taking every hit, and drops of crimson-red blood started to stain her cheeks.

She was helpless against Mom’s fury, but it seemed she had known Mom would get like this. So, she made sure to do everything she could to ensure that Mom would never find out about the photos she took of herself. But now that she knows…. Oh my gosh.

God bless her.

Abigail continued to maintain her serene composure despite the vile insults now spewing from Mom’s mouth. Mom seemed agitated to the core, starkly contrasting Abigail’s calm visage. Well, at least she was showing us that she was externally calm, but internally, I’m sure her emotions were swirling around like a vicious hurricane.

Mom, seeing that Abigail wasn’t responding, suddenly stopped before growling and slapping Abigail across the face as hard as she could. The force of the abrupt blow threw her backward into some glass vases, which shattered and cut into her already injured skin. I turned and gaped at Mom in shock, my hands covering my mouth. I was speechless, unable to process the fact that our mom had done that.

But Abigail rose to her feet slowly, an impassive look on her face. I sighed in relief. It seemed like she wasn’t as weak as I thought.

Even under Mom’s rage, she was cool and collected, but if I had been in her shoes, I would’ve been a nervous, stammering wreck by now. I watched Mom’s facial expressions and movements and listened to her words. From my point of view, they were too much to handle, but my sister surprised me with how calmly she was acting.

Abigail’s a monster that can withstand any force of nature directed upon her.

Isn’t she something to admire?

Oh, forgive me, Lord, I’m not mocking her. I’m just impressed by her courage.

However, my sudden train of thought was interrupted by my mom’s furious voice yelling.

“I cannot believe this, Abigail. At first, I thought it was your sister sending those horrible pictures to Victor, but as it turns out…. it was you all along! All this time, I blindly trusted you and you betrayed me. I thought I had raised you correctly!” Mom’s face was red with rage as she shook her hands vigorously, trying to resist the urge to strangle Abigail with her bare hands.

All Abigail could do was hang her head in shame while crying silent tears. As I watched her, I noticed that she was becoming more ashen by the minute. I bit my lip. I knew I had to intervene in the conversation somehow, otherwise things would get even uglier.

“Mom, you need to calm down; it’s unhealthy to get angry like this,” I said, trying to ease the situation.

But my words only fell on deaf ears. In other words, she didn’t give a dang about what I said. Neither was she aware of her own. Mom was freaking out; she couldn’t absorb everything; it seemed it was all too much to handle. It seems both of us were doing an awful job at restoring peace.

While Mom was cursing at herself and Abigail, I swiftly exited the house to look for Dad. I found him in the garage, working under his car to change the oil. He heard me and slid out from under the car. His eyebrows furrowed when he saw the tears in my eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

I took a deep breath before launching into the explanation.

“Abigail told Mom that she was the one that sent Victor the pictures, and she went ballistic. She slapped and hit Abigail so much that she started bleeding, and then she slapped her so hard that she fell into several vases. It’s such a mess, Dad. I need you to help me calm them down.”

Then, after listening to what I said, he walked inside. I looked up at the sky, deep in thought for several moments.

God forgive me, but I think Dad took the news much better than Mom did. And during everything, is this a role You play or is it their own? Do You interfere with the minds of everyone?

After that, I followed Dad inside and as we returned to the living room, their voices increased. It seems like Mom hasn’t been able to control her temper and my sister has no ability to speak for herself.

I shook my head in disappointment.

Dear God, why am I mocking us?

Once Dad interfered with the situation, Mom’s pleading came to a stop. Nevertheless, she continued to spill insults towards Abigail. On the other hand, my sister looks like someone poured acid into her heart. She had an inexplicable amount of pain on her face.

Don’t you feel sad, God? Why put her and us in this turmoil?!

I was searching for God’s guidance, but it was nowhere near. I don’t doubt God; I know He has a plan for everything He does, but sometimes I wonder if this is really planned or just a mistake of His.

Finally, after several minutes of Dad’s interference, Mom’s nerves were calmed.

“You must forgive her,” Dad said once Mom was mostly silent except for her heavy, angered breathing.

But once the words left Dad’s mouth, her features contorted into another angry expression.

“Why should I forgive her?!” she screamed, pointing at Abigail.

Dad sighed before pinching his nose like he had a bad headache coming on before speaking in a calm but slightly firm tone.

“Because she’s your daughter, Daisy. You should remember that before everything. You need to value her more than your egoistic pride.”

Instead of agreeing with him, Mom only laughed humorlessly.

“My pride? Is that what you think I’m worried about? Look at what she has done! Is this how we raised her? Why are you easily forgiving her?”

“She hasn’t committed a crime, so just forgive her, and let’s move on with our lives,” Dad said.

Mom scoffed and crossed her arms stubbornly.

“Are you serious, Steve?”

My father nodded firmly.

“Yes. Because you would’ve done the same thing if you were in her shoes.”

Mom looked offended.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Well, I never did.” She touched her hip before staring at Abigail who was looking at her feet, head down, mostly avoiding their gazes.

She couldn’t tolerate their watchful eyes, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I was their child. It was the first time in my life that mom stood against Abigail or genuinely said it was the first time I ever witnessed a public onslaught on my dearest sister. I couldn’t quite comprehend whether I felt joy or misery in my heart. I was joyful seeing Abigail being slayed yet miserable at the turmoil she was going through.

“You would’ve done the same if it were me,” Dad said a moment later.

But Mom shook her head.

“It’s different because we were in love with each other.”

Dad cast a look in Abigail’s direction before looking back at Mom.

“Yeah, well, so was she.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? You can’t justify her actions like that.”

Dad went on to further explain, hoping to get Mom to understand.

“She was in love and did whatever she could to win his love. Just like you skipped classes to meet up with me, she did what she thought was right to spend time with her lover,” Dad said. Whether it was convincing or not, Mom settled on his words.

Abigail looked surprised at the news and was about to say something, but Mom silenced her with a wave of her hand.

“Yes, it’s true that I skipped classes, but I never shared such disgusting pictures to win your love.” Mom threw daggers from her eyes.

“That’s called the generational gap,” Dad sighed.

Mom looked at him confused.

“What?”

Dad, hearing her question, realized he needed to elaborate.

“You would’ve done whatever you could to win my love, just like you married me against your mother’s wishes. You would’ve taken any pictures if I had asked you or if we had the technology that exists now back then.”

“I know. But we raised her to be a sensible Christian girl. Not someone who poses naked for creeps on the internet,” Mom said as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

“I know that Daisy, but love makes us do crazy things. So, you really to calm down and forgive her,” Dad said, pulling Mom into a comforting hug before leaning over to kiss Abigail on the forehead.

Oh my god, where are the kisses for me?

After Dad released her, Mom took a deep breath, rubbed her head, and sat beside Abigail. She was still in tears, which cascaded down her face like a waterfall. I went to get some tissues for her, and when I returned, she sent me a thankful smile.

“Whatever she did was wrong. Even if it was for love.”

“I’m not going to say what she did wasn’t wrong, but what happened was for a reason, and we must learn from those mistakes and move on instead of torturing her.” Dad sounded right; his words touched Mom’s heart as her violent behaviour slowly faded away with a mixture of confusion and guilt taking its place.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Abigail finally managed to say once she stopped sobbing.

Mom, who had been calm moments before, glared at her harshly and, with shaking fingers, pointed at her. When she spoke, she was seething.

“After everything you did, you have the nerve to say that to me.”

Abigail looked away at Mom's hurtful, anger-filled comment. I felt terrible for her. Dad did an excellent job consoling Mom and Abigail. We rarely get to see this side of him, and I yearn for it. We all waited for years to see that side of Dad.

After a few remarks and stating she was grounded, our parents took her phone, and Mom settled peacefully. Although I said it was peaceful, I didn’t mean that their faces were etched with wide grins.

I went to my room and told Pathum everything—about the conversation and every single emotion I felt. I even confessed about the jealousy that rose within my heart when Dad kissed her forehead.

Pathum: Will she be okay then?

Scarlet: Yep. Mom won’t be mad at her for long.

Pathum: That’s good.

Scarlet: Yeah.

Pathum: And what about the police?

Scarlet: Oh, gosh, I had forgotten about it, but Michael called us during our argument. He told us to visit the station as soon as possible to discuss some matters involving the case. So, I’ll be leaving soon, but I’ll still be able to talk to you.

Pathum: Okay, Scarlet. I’m glad it came to an end. What a crazy time it was, right?

Scarlet: Yeah, but at least one good thing happened during everything.

Pathum: And that is…

Scarlet: Our friendship is getting stronger, and I’m one hundred percent glad it worked that way.

Pathum: Aww sweetie.

Scarlet: We both can go to sleep peacefully from today onwards.

Pathum: Yes, we all can sweetie. I’m proud that we endured this problematic period together.

Scarlet: I adore the time I spend with you. You were there with me from the beginning, and you didn’t judge me or Abigail. You were helpful to us even though it was none of your business. So I’m indeed blessed by God.

Pathum: Oh, I must correct you. You said it was ‘none of mine,’ but trust me, it was ‘my’ business all the way, sweetie.

Scarlet: You know how to talk, don’t you?

Pathum: I’m sorry I must break your heart a little. I’m no good at talking, sweetie. Often, disasters happen when I open my mouth. I‘m good at texting but not talking. You get the point, I guess.

Scarlet: Yes, I do. Now shut up, you brat.

Pathum: Oh, hehehehehe.

We left the house and soon were at the police station. Michael greeted us at the door with a warm, bright smile and a polite, “Come in.”

Maybe capturing Victor was an all-time achievement for him. It seemed he was delighted with his boss for putting that scumbag behind bars.

On the other hand, Freddy avoided our gaze. He came in and out of the room occasionally but never engaged in conversation with us. It was fine with us. None of us were pleased to have any contact with him.

Things went well until we met the chief in his office with a stack of books on his table. He ordered us to take our seats and elaborated on the crimes Victor had committed. He was guilty of many cyberbullying and sexual assault cases so eventually he was sentenced to ten years in prison.

We soon left and I texted Pathum.

Pathum: Can you believe that it ended?

Scarlet: No, but thank God it did.

Pathum: Umm.. yeah

Scarlet: What’s wrong?

Pathum: Umm.. Nothing.

Scarlet: Pathum, don’t make me repeat myself.

Pathum: OMG, it seems like you’re the boss.

Scarlet: I sure am. So now tell me, what you were thinking?

Pathum: It’ll hurt you, and I don’t want to do that.

Scarlet: I don’t care. Tell me what’s going on in your head.

Pathum: I’m sorry but I can’t.

Scarlet: Stop being dramatic.

Pathum: Oh my - did you just call me dramatic?

Scarlet: Yes, I sure did.

Pathum: How could you do that?

Scarlet: Just look at you, proving what I said.

Pathum: Um.. okay.

Scarlet: Pathum tell me, what’s wrong?

Pathum: Nothing’s wrong…

Scarlet: There sure is something wrong, so spill the beans already.

Pathum: Well, it’s about thanking God.

Scarlet: Okay. What’s with it?

Pathum: Shouldn’t we also be thanking the officers for making the right decision and giving us justice? I know that thanking God first is necessary, and He was there all the way, but wasn’t it the officers who made the change? Oh, it doesn’t matter. Either way, He protected us, so that’s all that matters.

Scarlet: Yeah…

Pathum: Sweetie, I told you I never meant to hurt you, please understand what I said.

Scarlet: I didn’t misunderstand anything so stop thinking likewise.

Pathum: Are you sure?

Scarlet: Yes sweetie. I’m sorry if I make you feel like a victim. It wasn’t my intention.

Pathum: Okay, then. Thank God you’re fine. Oh, gosh I’m sorry I didn’t mean to mock you or anything.

Scarlet: I know, sweetie, so don’t apologise. You didn’t do anything wrong, so let’s forget about that.

Pathum: Okay. Oh, I’m so sleepy.

Scarlet: Aww, look at you. You’re such an adorable little thing.

Pathum: Oh, my goodness, you didn’t just say that.

Scarlet: Blab blaah blab shoooe

Pathum: Umm. What in the butt was that?

Scarlet: A sleeping spell.

Pathum: Truth be told, if I wasn't the adorable thing, it would be you.

Scarlet: Okay. Well, anyway, I must go since we must do our prayers. I’ll see you in the morning.

Pathum: Okay, bye sweetie.

Scarlet: Goodnight to you, sweetie, sleep well.