Chapter 33
As either a plaintiff or a spectator, I witnessed almost everyone’s judgment.
Except for Regina.
Perhaps she had sensed something or caught a hint of the impending investigation, for by the time the police arrived at her home, she had already vanished.
Regina was promptly put on the wanted list.
At that moment, I knew the issue was far from resolved.
But before I could act again, my parents returned to the country unexpectedly.
My mother hugged me tightly, tears streaming down her face. “Doreen, my dear…”
My father’s exhaustion was evident on his face.
They had learned about the video too.
A glimmer of long–forgotten warmth stirred in my heart, but my mother’s words extinguished it.
“Doreen, come abroad with us.”
I was confused.
“I don’t want to leave the country. I still have things to sort out here. that your video has gone viral?”
My mother was even more distraught than I had been at my lowest.
“How can you be so calm? Do you…” She nearly gritted her teeth as she finished the latter half of her sentence. “Do you have no sense of shame?”
I stopped short, and after a long pause, I slowly lifted my gaze to meet hers.
She covered her face, her sobs muffled as tears streamed through her fingers.
“I don’t know what to say to our relatives who keep calling me about this. How can I explain that my daughter was…”
“If you stay here, your whole life will be ruined! Your father and I will never be able to hold our heads up in front of our friends and family!”
I looked at her, my dry lips parting as if to speak.
I wanted to tell her that I wasn’t ruined.
I was just struggling to overcome the past, but I still looked forward to the future.
I was working hard to save myself.
I would have a new life, a new beginning.
I wanted to tell her that I had nearly sent all those who had hurt me to prison.
I hadn’t given up on myself. Couldn’t she also hold on to hope for me?
But as I began to say, “Mom…”
She collapsed, unable to support herself any longer.
My father caught her just in time and looked at me with a sigh. “Doreen, why can’t you understand what your mother is going through? You don’t know the immense pressure she’s under from the outside world.”
My words of defense died on my lips.
Despite their modern, stylish clothing and advanced education, my parents‘ gestures and manners were always poised and refined. Yet their minds remained anchored in outdated and harmful beliefs.
My mother’s high blood pressure was brought on by my actions.All content is © N0velDrama.Org.
I had no choice but to give in.
On the flight to Melbourne, I felt a profound numbness.
Before this, Norton had asked Austin to relay a message to me, saying he wanted to see me.
“Doreen, Norton doesn’t seem to be doing well. Maybe you should go see him?” Austin suggested hesitantly.
I turned him down firmly and ended the call.
His poor condition was not a sign that he was dying.
If he were dying, that would be a different story, and I might have been eager to see him.
Austin then sent me a message, telling me that Norton had made reparations, leaving the remainder of his funds for me.
This time, I accepted. I used the money to publicize Regina’s wanted poster, spreading the police notice far and wide to ensure more people saw her face.
Before she was caught, she would live as a rat in the sewers, hidden from the light of day.
As I gazed out the airplane window at the sprawling city below, I knew I would return here eventually to finish what had started.