Helen’s POV:
After I ran out of the company canteen, I didn’t know where to go.I just wanted to be miles away from
that place and those horrible people.
So I got onto the subway and just went wherever it took me.I was directionless and broken.
This morning, I received an urgent call from the doctor, saying that my mother had suddenly suffered a
mental breakdown.
When I arrived at the hospital, I was informed that the caregiver had allowed my mother to meet Libby
and Jane on several occasions in the past week.
The caregiver explained, "I don’t know how matters took such a drastic turn.When those two people
came to visit your mother, she did not refuse them.Instead, she asked me to excuse them so that they
could chat in private."
"What did they talk about?" I asked sternly.
"I don’t know.They requested me to leave so I didn’t listen in at all.I thought they were your mother’s
friends and it was just a normal visit so I left and went about my other duties." The caregiver was eager
to shirk the responsibility.
I didn’t interrogate her any further.
The unexpected visit by Libby and Jane posed a near fatal shock to my mother.I couldn’t imagine how
much of torture my mother must have suffered at their stained hands all week.
She just agonized in silence.As a normal person, just the sight of that evil duo would upset me
emotionally.I couldn’t imagine what my mother had to endure when Libby and Jane confronted her.
At my father’s funeral, many dirty facts came to light that shocked my mother and me.
Many matters that I couldn’t figure out earlier, suddenly fell into place with their revelation I was wearing
my heart on my sleeve, exposed to the blistering sun.It hurt pretty badly and I had no way of cooling it.
When my mother was faced with the truth of my father’s betrayal, she was devastated.She had loved
my father so much and never had an inkling of his betrayal during their time together.She suffered
more mental anguish than me.
I couldn’t imagine how much my mother must have suffered when Libby and Jane suddenly appeared
in front of her out of thin air.
Her old nightmares must have returned with their untimely visit.It was a waste of my precious time to
hold the caregiver accountable for what had transpired.I had to focus all my energies on my mother
now.
"How is my mother now?"
My voice trembled as I enquired.
My mother was recovering so well.She had made breakthrough progress.But she suffered a relapse
after Libby’s and Jane’s visit.She had to have urgent treatment.If her condition was not getting worse,
the doctor would not have personally called me.
The caregiver looked at me apologetically and then lowered her head in shame.She informed me about
my mother’s condition.
"Your mother kept asking to leave the hospital recently.Whenever she was awake, she would cry for
you.Last night while the doctors were inspecting the wards, they noticed your mother trying to
escape.They immediately stopped her.Then she threatened to commit suicide if we didn’t let her go."
These words rang like a satanic chant in my ears and I became dizzy.
"Suicide?" I asked in a trembling voice.
My heart had endured so much pain recently, I wondered if I still had one.
No! That was not possible.
In the past, no matter how sick my mother was, she never contemplated suicide.
What exactly did Libby and Jane say to her that made her fall over the edge?
"Don’t worry.We stopped her in time.Because she put up such a fight, we compromised and told her
that we would allow you to visit her.Follow me."
The doctor comforted me in a soft voice and then took me to my mother’s ward.
On the way, he continued to say to me, "Your mother is very weak.With whatever strength she had, she
would ask to leave the hospital.She shouted so loudly that her voice was hoarse.We were worried that
she would overreact, so we gave her a tranquilizer to sedate her.But she is probably awake now"
I stood outside the ward and looked inside.
It pained me to see my mother’s hands handcuffed to the head of the bed and a mouth guard stuffed in
her mouth When I came, the nurse removed the handcuffs and mouth guard.
As soon as my mother was freed, she immediately got up from the bed and grabbed the doctor’s
clothes, Her voice was hoarse, but she kept pleading with the doctor.
"I’m fine now.Please let me leave the hospital.Please, let me go out just for a day.I want to see my
daughter.I need to go to her.She will be bullied if there is no one there to protect her.What if she is
bullied?" I stopped, and tears instantly surfaced in my eyes.
It turned out that my mother risked her life to leave the hospital in order to protect me from being bullied
by Libby and Jane.She was afraid of what they would do to me.
"Your mother has been shouting these words for days.She seems to think that someone is out to harm
you.Go inside and talk to her.Remember not to antagonize her."
The doctor warned me and then opened the door.I wiped my tears and followed him in.I didn’t want my
mother to see how fragile I was.
"Mom"
"Helen? My mother turned around and looked at me as soon as she heard my voice.She let go of the
doctor’s clothes and quickly got out of bed.She staggered to me and held my shoulder.Then she looked
me up and down anxiously.
"Helen, did Libby and her daughter come to see you? Did they try to hurt you? When did they even
come back from abroad? Tell me now."
Her concerns couldn’t be hidden.I held her hand and helped her sit back on the bed.I comforted her in
a soft voice, "I’m fine.They don’t scare me.Mom, I’ve grown up.I can take care of myself.Don’t worry."
"Helen, you have always been too kind, Jane has been bullying you from the time you were a child.I
feel so guilty now when I remember those moments of injustice when you were a child.Back then, I
pretended to be magnanimous and sometimes even spoke for Jane.Your father was an imbecile.He
always protected Jane.Every time you and Jane quarreled, you had to bear the brunt of your father’s
one sidedness.It’s all my fault.If I had known the truth earlier, I would have saved you a lot of suffering."
My mother gently touched my face, and her eyes were swollen with regret.
"Mom, let bygones be bygones.No one can touch us now.I’m living a happy life now.Didn’t you see that
when you came to visit over the weekend? I’m no longer the little girl who would cry when she was
bullied.I have learnt to fight back."
I threw myself into my mother’s arms and hugged her tightly.
She felt like a bag of bones.
Maybe she had lost weight because of the upsetting events of that week 1 rubbed my head against her
shoulder lovingly, feeling helpless.
When I saw my mother’s haggard condition in the hospital, I was flabbergasted.
The moment I closed my mother’s ward door, my anger and hatred spilled out.I had been suppressing
it for far too long.It had to find an outlet now.
Carrying all this volatile negative energy in me, 1 rushed to Zhester Technology with the intention of
beating Jane to a pulp However, because of George’s intrusion, I was the one who ended up getting
slapped by Jane.
A crowd of curious onlookers had gathered around us in the canteen.I was slapped by Jane in front of
all of them.I would never forget the provocative complacence with which she stared at me.
Her eyes were exactly the same as when she had hit me as a child.
In a state of stupefaction, I felt as if I had returned to my childhood.
Those nightmares played themselves out in my head.
At this moment, I was sitting on the subway, and my face was burning from that sharp slap. My phone
kept ringing Calls came non-stop from George, Lucy and Phil.
I didn’t bother to answer.
"Here you are, Miss." A little girl next to me kindly handed me a tissue.
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