Chapter 3

3

Back then, Tristan was slipping into a coma. But he still held my hand, begging me to stay.

"Don't leave me, Dawn... I promise I'll get better... I'll be normal for you..."

Before he lost consciousness, I ripped my hand away and gave him a cold look. It was the same look he was giving my mother now.

My mother's throat was ruined. She could only use clumsy sign language to try and talk to him.

But Tristan had no patience. He called his guards to kick her out. "My parents are coming to see me. I don't have time for you."

"Get out now. If you ruin their mood, I'll destroy what's left of your family." It was a threat he could easily fulfill.

My mother didn't have the strength to fight him anymore. I watched her hunched back, feeling a spark of regret for saving him.

As my mother reached for the door, it opened from the outside. It was Tristan's parents.

They froze when they saw her. They couldn't believe the happy woman they once knew was now this wreck.

Tristan's mother, Mrs. Miller, grabbed my mother's hands with worry. She soon realized my mother couldn't speak.

"Sarah? What happened to your voice?!" Tristan's mother cried out.

"Don't worry about her, Mom! She's just getting what she deserves!" Tristan pushed my mother aside.

"Her daughter left me when I was dying. I'm just returning the favor. I sent her husband to jail too."

"Dawn is next. I'm going to ruin them all!" Tristan shouted, proud of his cruelty.

Suddenly, a sharp slap cut him off. Mrs. Miller's hand was shaking in the air.

Tristan was stunned. "Mom... you hit me?!"

"I hit you because I failed as a parent! I wanted you to be kind. I never thought I was raising a monster!"

Tristan tried to defend himself. "I just wanted Dawn to regret it! She's hiding from me!"

"Dawn is dead! How can she come to you?!" Mrs. Miller screamed through her tears.

She took a deep breath and let out the truth. "Seven years ago, she gave her organs to you. She died on that table!"

"She didn't want you to be sad. She begged us not to tell you. Otherwise, why would she leave her parents like this?"

"If we knew you'd become this, we would have let you die instead!"