As soon as they walked in, his mother dropped to her knees with a heavy thud.
“Roxanne–no, Miss Harris, please,” she begged, her voice trembling. “I’m begging you, please have mercy and let Dale go! She’s still just a child. She didn’t know any better. If she ends up with a criminal record, her whole life will be ruined!“}
Colin’s eyes were red, and his voice was hoarse as he added, “Roxanne, I know… I know we were wrong. We were so wrong. We failed you. And we failed the baby. But Dale… she’s my only sister. Please, for the sake of what we once had, just tell the police this was a misunderstanding, alright?”
I stayed seated behind my desk, watching their performance with a calm, emotionless gaze.§
“Let her go?” I repeated slowly, my voice void of warmth. “I’m not the one who had her arrested. The law did. She came into my company lobby, holding up a sign, publicly slandering me and disturbing public order. That was her choice.“}]
“But… but if you just say a word, she can walk free!” his mother pleaded as she crawled closer, trying to grab my leg.§
I stepped aside before she could touch me and turned my eyes to Colin.D
“You want me to show mercy for the sake of our past?” I asked, my voice sharp. “Fine. Tell me, when your entire family shoved me out of my own home, forcing a pregnant woman onto the street, did you remember our past? When your sister screamed at me, said I was ‘hogging the toilet and not using it,‘ and nearly caused me to miscarry, did she think of me as her sister–in–law? When all of you changed the locks on my house without asking, did any of you care about our history then?”
Every word I said was like a knife, and Colin’s face turned ghostly pale. He had no answer.
But his mother kept wailing. “W
“We were blind! It was our fault! But we’ll do anything, just please, let Dale go!” “Anything?” I let out a cold laugh. “Alright. Then go to the police station right now and confess everything, how you all conspired to steal my house, and how you intentionally injured a pregnant woman. Can you do that?”
They both went completely silent. The expressions on their faces said it all.
I stood and slowly walked toward them, towering over them as I looked down. “You see? When you say ‘we’ll do anything,‘ what you really mean is ‘as long as it doesn’t cost us anything. Your apologies and begging aren’t because you feel guilty. They’re because you’re terrified of facing the consequences.”
“Dale’s ruined future? She did that to herself. From the
the moment she defied the law and slandered me–every step was her choice. I won’t drop the charges. I won’t plead for her. She has to moment she lied on her résumé, from the moment she treated me like trash, from face the consequences of her own actions. This is the last, and the best, lesson I can give her,” I said clearly and firmly.
“You… you heartless witch!” his mother snapped, finally showing her true face. Her expression twisted with rage. “You’re trying to destroy our whole family! You’ll never die in peace!”
But I was done listening.“Security!”
Two guards entered quickly and dragged out the screaming
screaming woman and the dazed, silent.Colin.
Finally, silence returned to the office.
I walked to the floor–to–ceiling window and looked down at their pathetic figures as they left, feeling nothing.
I knew it now. This chapter was over.
But I also knew that their desperation would eventually turn into somethin
Two months later, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.
uglier–revenge.
