Chapter 3: Present

Daddy's face was smacked by Mommy's hand. She gave him such a harsh smack. I separated them right away, but Mom is irrepressible. Now she began pounding Dad in the chest.

"Where is my daughter? Where have you taken my Jillian?" she raged.

I couldn't believe the expression on Dad's face. He even dared to smile as if nothing had happened to him!

"Flora, lead your Ma'am into her room first," he said to the maid, who did so without hesitation.

They are pressuring Mom to come with them. So I insisted on being the one to deliver her, but Dad instantly defied me since we needed to talk about something important. Before joining Dad on the balcony, I left Mom with them.

I nodded awkwardly and inquired, "W-What do you want to talk about?" I can count how many times we've spoken in my life.

"How are things in Korea?"

"Uh, it's alright," I said.

He exhaled deeply. "That's good to know."

I don't know what his grin appeals to me. It's a strange one. When he abruptly seized both of my hands, I was taken aback. When we have a conversation, Dad is usually formal.

"Jian, do you love us?" I could tell he was unsure.

I nodded right away. "Of course, you're a member of my family..."

His grasp on my hands became much tighter. "So you're going to accept my favor. You're not going to say no?"

Even when he talked immediately away, I couldn't respond. His approval gives me a horrible sensation. However, I see no reason to refuse whatever favor he is offering. He comes up to me once in a while.

"Oh, you see... Jillian had an accident and inadvertently murdered Howard's heiress; Howard is a prominent family with many ties; if they discover the tragedy, it'll be the end of us all..."

"T-Then..." I don't know what he's talking about.

"Please imitate that face, that woman's face-"

"What?" I exclaimed, my mouth gaping and shaking a few times. I took my hands away from his grip. "You've got to be kidding me, Dad-"

His grin abruptly transformed into narrow lips! Is he even thinking correctly? He wants me to replicate the woman's face that Jillian murdered. What for? To deceive the Howards?

"So you're dismissing-"

"Dad, your favor is out of the ordinary-"

When he hit me, I didn't finish my statement and immediately collapsed on the floor. He slapped me... He'd never smacked me before!

"How could you refuse my favor! The favor of the one who feeds you? The one who pays for your school! The one who provides you with nice clothing!" he raged.

I've been a member of their family my entire life. It never occurred to me that he would want payment from me.

"Daddy..." I said gently.

"Don't call me that! I've never considered you like my daughter-"

"Then why didn't you simply take me back to my actual parents the instant you found Jillian!" I couldn't help but close my eyes as I screamed at those things.

"Parents? So you're hoping for them! Jian, your life is useless! You don't have a parent, and if it weren't for me, people might have mistaken you for someone who had just emerged from a bamboo slice-"

When Mommy unexpectedly bumped into him, he couldn't continue, and Mommy instantly attended to me. Perhaps she heard our screams.

"What the hell, Rico! Why are you so cruel to her?! She's our daughter, for God sake!" she screamed.

Daddy chuckled and gave us a menacing expression. He, too, had some white hair, just like Mom.

He approached us and said, "She's not ours, Ellen!"

I'm suddenly panicking since he approached me with his eyes clenched. He forced me to stand up by yanking my hair. My scalp is aching.

"Rico! Let her go. What the hell!"

We encountered Steven with blood on his lip; when he saw my condition, his chinky eyes enlarged. I attempted to remove Daddy's hand, but he was mighty; I'm shivering with anguish now, asking him to let go of my hair.

Steven tried to yank Dad's hand from my hair away, but he was also powerless like Mom and me, and all he did was plead to let me free. I know he can't fight back against Dad because he has too much respect for him.

Steven and Mommy trailed behind us as he took me down a dark corridor inside the house.

Steven said, "Uncle, please let go of her hair!"

Daddy flung me out the door as soon as he opened it. I was sobbing on the floor— my scalp throbs with pain.

"Just stay there till you change your mind and agree in my favor!" he raged before closing the door, gloating evilly. "I'll tell you a secret. A secret that will completely change your perspective! Your fucking mother is sick. She has leukemia! Isn't that enough to persuade you?"

I sprang to my feet, but he had already shut the door behind me. It was pitch black here! I'm terrified of the dark! Oh, please!

"Dad, please open this up..." I couldn't help but cry as I tried to open the door. I could hear their footsteps go away. I cried when I realized there were just boxes in this room with me.

What if there's a ghost lurking around here? With that notion, I clutched my knees and buried my face between my legs.

Why is it necessary for everything in this world to change? Why?

They aren't the same people I met nineteen years ago.

They're my friends, so why am I envious every time I see them as options for couples who can't afford a child?

Why aren't they picking me? I'm nice! I could take care of everything! Why should it be just me? Sitting in a tiny park near the Orphanage Center where my parents had abandoned me.

When I noticed a shadow before me, I came to a halt. I couldn't take my gaze away from her. She smiled at me; she was lovely, and her skin was delightful! Her aura screams elegance! Before returning to the swing, I couldn't help but grin at her.

"I suppose you're on your own?" she inquired softly.

"Yeah," I said flatly.

"Uh, why?"

"I'm not going to have a family anymore." It makes me want to cry just thinking about it.

She followed the beat of my cradle, and I heard her feeble chuckle. "You have a family now."

I shifted my gaze to her. "I'm eleven, and no one wants to adopt me. They said I'm too old to be adopted."

"I'm going to adopt you."

"Really?" I ask, my eyes welling up.

She gave me a beautiful smile and extended her hands to me. I embraced it wholeheartedly.

I devoted my entire life to them the minute I touched her.

I reflected on the past. I'm still trying to figure out why Daddy said those things earlier!

"Jian."

When I heard Steven's feeble voice, I quickly awoke. He's finally arrived, thank God! I put my ear to the door, hoping to listen to him.

"Steven, please help me..." I implored.

"I want to, but Uncle is so severe that I can't."

My shoulder slumped when he said that, and I leaned against the door. I looked down at the cell phone that had arrived beside me.

"First, use this as a temporary light; I merely placed my phone number on it; call me if the battery dies-"

"What?! Why only yours?" I wondered as I fiddled with the phone.

"I have a plan, Jian and I don't want you to sabotage it by seeking assistance— ah fuck!"

My pupils dilated. Was he captured?

"Steven! Are you still there, Steven?"

I felt relieved when I heard him sigh deeply. "I was thinking who, but it's just you, Aunt."

Is Mommy around? What is she doing in this place? She may even be apprehended!

I listened to her request to Steven that we allow ourselves some solitude to chat, and then I heard Steven's footsteps heading away.

I could listen to her heaving sighs.

"Get out of here," I said, pushing her away with my exhausted voice. "Are you okay? You should be sleeping right now!"

"I know his favor. His outrageous favor, to be exact," Mom giggled, still reeling from her husband's fantastic favor.

"Sweetie, I've had to tell you something..."

Her endearment to me.

"You asked me about this countless times, and I never responded." I know what she's up to. I have both of my ears on her. "Your mother is the finest mother I've ever known."

Did they meet?

"Then you ..." I trailed off.

"Yes, I met her. She was the first one who approached me. At first, I was scared when she introduced herself as your mother, and I pushed her away because I thought she would take you away from me, but I was wrong. Very wrong. She wanted to come in as a maid, then she promised she wouldn't go one centimeter close to you, and she just wanted to see you grow because you were her only child. I agreed to her offer..."

Even though I believed my eyes were dry, I continued to cry. "So, she stayed at my side the whole time?"

"She was there to guide you, Sweetie, even when you were still in the orphanage; she didn't introduce herself to you because she is embarrassed by what she did when she left you in the institution-"

"If she had been there all that time, she would have known I'm thirsty for love! Isn't it enough for her to introduce herself to me if she had been there?"

I could hear her sniffling. "I asked the same question, but she refused to respond. I noticed you and her growing close when I hired her, and she broke her vow, so I found a way for you to detest her. I set her up in a scenario where she took my necklace-"

I started crying even more when I realized who she was talking about. "Please tell me! Tell me that what I'm thinking right now is incorrect!"

"I don't want to lie to my youngest daughter any longer..." and she began to cry. "The person you're thinking about is your birth mother, Jian. Sue is your birth mother…."

"Fuck! Fuck! No! No! You're lying! Stop! Please stop! How could you do this to me..."

She was referring to a woman who died eleven years ago!

I was there…

I was present when the accident occurred.