15
By the time Isabelle finally noticed my family, she was about to launch into another tirade. But my father grabbed her by the collar before she
could get a word out.
“Isabelle,” he growled, his voice heavy as lead, “did you know about Stella’s cancer?”
Isabelle, caught off guard, just blinked at him. “What?”
“I asked you,” my father roared, “did you know that Stella had cancer?!”
Isabelle flinched. She saw the look on her parents‘ and brother’s faces, saw Dr. Reed standing there, and the truth of the situation finally dawned
on her.
A cold sweat broke out on her forehead. She pointed a trembling finger at the doctor. “Dr. Reed, what have you been saying? You were the one
who examined Stella! You said she wasn’t sick!”
Dr. Reed’s face was ashen. “Miss Hawthorne, a person has to have a conscience. You threatened and bribed me to hide Miss Stella’s condition…”
“You’re lying!” Isabelle shrieked, her face pale, her voice laced with terrified sobs. She turned to my mother. “Mom, you have to believe me! It was
all Dr. Reed! I didn’t know anything…”
SMACK!
A sharp slap echoed through the air, sending her head snapping to the side.
It was Liam.
He looked like a dead man walking, his face devoid of all color. He slapped her again, and again, and again.
Isabelle’s face swelled arid turned a bruised purple. She wailed in pain. “Liam, why are you hitting me? It hurts!”
“Hurts?” Liam’s voice was colder than ice. “How many times did you slap Stella? In those videos alone, we counted over a hundred slaps!”
He hit her again, so hard she crumpled to the ground, her mouth and face bloody.
My mother burst into tears.
Isabelle, thinking her mother was feeling sorry for her, scrambled over and clung to her leg. “Mom, it hurts so much! I’m sorry, I know I was wrong!
Stella’s gone, but I’ll be a good daughter to you now! I’m your only daughter!”
My mother choked on a sob and kicked her away. Her voice was barely a whisper, but it was filled with a terrible strength. “Isabelle, how could you be so cruel? Do you have any idea what you did to your sister? You tortured her, you drove her to her death, and you’re proud of it? You have no remorse at all. You deliberately led us to those videos to mock us, to test our limits, and we endured it. But we never imagined… we never imagin-
ed you would collude with a doctor to hide her illness!”
With that, my mother lost control completely and slapped Isabelle across the face.
Isabelle nearly passed out from the pain, but she managed to gasp out a defense. “What videos? I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Chapter 2
09:33
“Still lying? You sent the text! You told us to check under your sister’s mattress… You are disgusting! Did you think that with her out of the way, you could do whatever you wanted?!” my mother shrieked, her whole body trembling.
Isabelle was both in pain and utterly confused. “No… I didn’t send a text. My phone was stolen by the monkey…” She suddenly pointed at me. “It was her! She stole my phone, did something to it, and then had the gorilla smash it! She’s the one who sent the text!”
Everyone stared, stunned. The accusation was absurd.
But my mother shuddered violently. She began to wal
