The air fell quiet for a mont.
I sat on the couch, my fingers tensed up. "What?"
I thought I heard it wrong.
Or, could it be possible that my mory was wrong?
I recalled that I was in 12th grade that year. I was exhausted after all my studies, so I fell
asleep as soon as I got into the car.
In my mory, Dad drove for a long way. I couldn’t rember where we were headed, but I rembered lying on Mom’s lap, sleeping soundly.
"Turn down the music. Sophia’s sleeping." I vaguely heard Mom softly scolding Dad.
"Andy asked to et at the Hymn Bridge. Let’s head over there."
I couldn’t quite recall Dad’s exact words, but I rembered feeling excited to et
soone.
"Isn’t that Andy’s car?" Mom asked.
"The orphanage has fostered two geniuses, and the superiors have high expectations for them. This is a good opportunity to promote our cause and inspire more people to join the public welfare movent. We have to raise awareness about orphaned and neglected.
children..."
Bang!
The mont Dad stopped the car, a loud bang echoed, and a powerful impact nearly threw out of the car.
"Sophia..."
My final mory froze as Mom held tightly, sheltering in her arms.
Her blood mingled with mine.
"Sophia..."
"Stay alive..."
"Sophia... Sophia!"
But I couldn’t recall anything beyond the crash. I was stunned the mont it happened.
I couldn’t tell when it occurred, or how much ti passed. It just felt as though ti had frozen.
All I rembered was that when I regained consciousness, Damien was there beside and was repeatedly calling my na.
I also vaguely rembered a figure rushing into the flas, risking his life to get Mom and Dad out of the car...
And then, the figure gradually rged with Damien’s.
Could it be that my mory was distorted?
Aunty Lisa continued, "It was the day of the award ceremony and the children’s graduation ceremony at Double Stars Welfare Ho. Sophia’s parents and I had agreed to et there. Then, when I saw the car accident on the bridge, I realized that Sophia’s parents and Andy Black were involved in it."
"It was a terrible accident. The Carlsons and the Blacks were caught between a dump truck that was traveling in the wrong direction and an overloaded semi–truck. The Blacks were instantly killed."
Aunty Lisa sobbed and continued her story.
"According to witnesses, a teenage boy had bravely rushed into the flas to save Sophia. But when Sophia woke up, she couldn’t recall who had saved her, so she
assud it was Damien.
"But before I could tell Sophia the truth, Damien had already taken the credit... I was surprised, but I didn’t want to ddle, so I never imagined that it would bring harm to Sophia!"
I sat on the couch, bewildered.
I stiffly stared at Aunty Lisa, feeling as if my head were about to explode.
Apparently, your own mory could deceive you, especially in tis of imnse trauma and shock.
The brain would fabricate false mories of the monts preceding unconsciousness.
I always thought that Damien was the one who saved , and I’d never once doubted it.
And whenever I asked Damien about it, he would quietly concede too.
"Damien’s father and I were on bad terms, so Damien never received the love he deserved from a young age. He knows how to possess, but not to love."
Aunty Lisa wiped her tears before continuing, "I was close friends with Sophia’s mom, so we arranged Damien and Sophia’s marriage early on. We hoped to be in–laws soday."
"Damien was a rebellious kid with opinions of his own. And if he didn’t like Sophia, he would never accept the arrangent. Yet, he’d quietly accepted it. So, I knew Damien liked Sophia. He really did! Though he never admitted it."
"Sorry, Mrs. Coleman. The Damien that you just described seems to be different from the man Sophia described to ," I interrupted Aunty Lisa’s story because I refused to believe that Damien had loved .
I shook my head and added, "Love isn’t about possessing or hurting soone. Yet, Damien had brought Sophia nothing but pain. No matter what his reasons were, it doesn’t change the fact that Damien had lied to Sophia and caused her significant
harm."
Aunty Lisa lowered her eyes and said, "Ms. Miller, Sophia loved Damien. She loved him deeply... Can’t you give Damien another chance, for Sophia’s sake? Damien’s the president of the Coleman Group, and his reputation carries weight on the fate of the entire corporation. He cannot afford any tarnish on his record."
Aunty Lisa was trying to convince that Damien had also loved Sophia. And so, I should give him another chance for Sophia’s sake.
"Why didn’t you tell Sophia the truth? You had so many chances..." I asked in a hoarse voice.
Was I blaming Aunty Lisa? Perhaps a little....
"Because I loved Sophia dearly as if she were my own daughter. Since Sophia was in love with Damien, I was looking forward to the day Damien would marry her. Then, we could finally be a real family.
"I prayed that Damien would one day recognize his true feelings and treat Sophia with care. I knew Damien loved Sophia too..."
I laughed with my head down as welled up with tears.
Suddenly, I realized how selfish people could be at tis.
During my days in the Coleman family, did Aunty Lisa not notice the harm and emotional abuse Damien had inflicted upon ?
Was she not aware that I constantly felt like I was walking on eggshells living under soone else’s roof?
All she needed to do was tell that Damien wasn’t the one who rescued , and I wouldn’t have had to tolerate Damien out of my sense of indebtedness toward him.
I too, had my own dignity and pride.
If I had known that I wasn’t indebted to Damien, I wouldn’t have let him hurt . I
would have had the freedom to choose whether or not to love him
I shouldn’t have been bound by him. I could have called the police when Damien forced to do things against my will and let him get the punishnt he deserved.
However, because I had believed I owed him for rescuing and my parents’ bodies. from that fire, I tolerated his emotional abuse and torture for so
years
All of this could have been avoided if Aunty Lisa had just told the truth.
Yet, she and her son held captive in the na of love. One was afraid of leaving while the other had claid it to be love.
"So, do you know who rescued Sophia, Mrs. Coleman?" I took a deep breath, tightened my hands, and looked up at Aunty Lisa.
Since Damien wasn’t the one who saved , I had no reason to show rcy to him
anymore.
He was the reason and my unborn child had died! He and Juliet had to pay for what they did!
Aunty Lisa shook her head. "The person left when we arrived. There were no surveillance caras on the bridge too, so no one knew who saved you."
"But according to the witnesses, it was a teenage boy. I placed ads to find him, but no one ca forward. I’ve never stopped asking around since."
I silently lowered my head.
"Ms. Miller, could you please give Damien another chance? I hope we can settle this in private..." Aunty Lisa said with a gentle voice.
I was aware that she wouldn’t sound so gentle anymore if I turned her down again this ti.
Before Damien took over the company, Aunty Lisa had been running the company alone. She was a strong and decisive woman.
"Sorry." I shook my head.
I would not compromise again, Damien Coleman.
"Damien’s abduction charge won’t hold, so that leaves only the assault accusation that you’ve made against him. However, it appears that you haven’t suffered any harm, Ms. Please check Sophia".
"There are better ways to handle this, ways that won’t lead to a feud between our families," Aunty Lisa’s voice turned cold.
"What he’s done to goes beyond physical injury. He abducted , threatened my husband, and even ntally abused him. I will not tolerate any of this," I stated solemnly and firmly.
After a mont of silence, Aunty Lisa placed her phone in front of .
On the screen were images of Dexter, still holess at the ti, holding an abused
animal.
He was covered in blood and was cradling a kitten that had been severely abused and mutilated.
"Since the Black family wants to wage a public relations battle, the Coleman family will see it through to the end," Aunty Lisa declared.
With that, she stood up and left.
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