Chapter 3 Like Mother, Like Daughter

Both of them challenged each other with their eyes. Scarlett realized that her friend had never been truthful with her. She had never cared about her the way she had sworn many times before. Now, she couldn't hide her true face-and it was indeed an ugly one. All Scarlett could see in her was envy and the evil that lurked behind her eyes.

"You came right on time!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "Maybe you can explain what I just walked into? Something tells me you always knew your mom was screwing my dad, but you never thought I deserved to know. What else are you hiding from me, Megan?! It seems like I don't know you at all. I mean, you set me up with a stranger last night to rape me, so clearly, I don't know you!"

Megan's mother widened her eyes in shock. Scarlett wondered what her father's reaction was, but she wasn't going to turn around and check for herself. She wasn't going to break eye contact with Megan first.

The latter just stared back at her without saying a word. Her mother turned to face Scarlett:

"What are you talking about? What do you mean, set you up? My daughter would never do that. You had a one-night stand with a man and now you want to blame Meg for it?... Meg, say something!"

But Megan remained silent, her face turning crimson red. Scarlett couldn't stand her anymore. She raised her hand and slapped her across the face as hard as she could. The sound rang in the air for a few seconds after. Megan stumbled a few steps back, holding her cheek with a look of astonishment and pain.

Everyone was silent and shocked for a while until Megan's mother grabbed Scarlett's wrist and squeezed it:

"You-! How dare you hit my daughter inside our home?!"

She raised her own hand to return the slap, but Scarlett didn't wait for it. She was blinded by rage, and it was slowly taking over her entire reasoning. She acted before thinking and pushed Megan's mother back with all her strength. The woman wasn't expecting it. She let out a tiny noise before she fell. They watched her body hit the ground painfully, her head banging into the corner of a nearby table.

Megan screamed, staring at her mother's still body, drops of blood seeping from the wound on the back of her head. She rushed forward and knelt beside her, too scared to touch her.

"Mom... Oh my God, Mom?! Can you hear me?! Shit."

Scarlett blinked repeatedly. She didn't know what to do with herself. She clenched her fists, staring at the woman whose eyes didn't focus on anything in particular. Suddenly, her father pushed her out of the way and knelt beside Megan's mother.

Carefully, he lifted her upper body and rested it on his thighs. His hand cradled the back of her head and she moaned in pain. Scarlett watched in horror. It was odd to see the care and attention her own father was showing an estranged woman.

"Joyce..." he whispered. "Joyce, what's wrong, honey?"

Honey? Scarlett would have laughed if the situation wasn't literally blowing her mind. Megan's mother looked at her father and smiled. Megan, on the other hand, was on her feet again. She pointed a finger at Scarlett:

"You hurt my mom! Your problem is with me-why did you have to get her involved? She could have died, for God's sake!"

"Meg, stop," the woman whimpered. "I-I'm fine... Please, don't blame Scarlett. She's clearly out of her mind today..."

Both mother and daughter shared a look. Scarlett noticed how it seemed like they were silently communicating. Then Megan turned to the man still kneeling beside her mother and spoke words that made Scarlett realize her nightmare was only beginning:

"Why are you so quiet, Dad? You saw what she did, didn't you? How long are you going to stay quiet and pretend that everything is fine? How long are Mom and I going to be wronged and placed after the only daughter you acknowledge?"

Scarlett chuckled. All eyes turned toward her. She looked insane now, and Megan was clearly terrified of her. She stepped back as Scarlett fixed her with a murderous glare.

"Did I just hear you say Dad?"

Despite her fear, Megan held her head high.

"You heard me right."

She then turned to the man still kneeling on the floor, though Meg's mother had recovered enough to sit up, holding her head.

"Dad. I'm sick of being an illegitimate child, okay? Now's your chance. You have to tell the truth so we can all move on. There's no way out of this anymore."

The man stood. Both of his daughters were looking at him. He knew it was true. He couldn't run anymore. When he spoke, he made sure not to meet Scarlett's eyes.

"Listen, honey... it's true. Megan is actually your sister."

He dared to glance at her. Scarlett's face was void of any emotion. Somehow, it made the father upset, and his voice rose:

"Don't look at me like that, okay? I tried to keep this from you because I didn't want you to suffer, but you give me no choice. You came here and burst into the room without even... Well. It doesn't matter now. You had to find out one way or another.

"The thing is, I've been seeing Joyce for a while now. It started before I even married your mother. We broke up at that time, but I didn't know she was pregnant. I met Megan a few years later, but I just couldn't say anything to you or your mother, so I kept it a secret.

"But all I ever wanted, Scar, was to tell you about your sister... This is not how I wanted things to go. And you might feel like you've been wronged, but put yourself in Meg's shoes. She had to live as an illegitimate daughter. You had all the privileges she could only dream of. You can't be angrier than she is right now."

The man took a few steps forward. Scarlett stood frozen, like a statue, and didn't try to speak-not even once. So her father took a deep breath and smiled awkwardly:

"I see you're taking this rather well, Scar... Good. Now that you know the truth, we can start a new Chapter of our lives, together. We can finally become a family-"

"Stop."

Scarlett wrapped her arms around herself.

"What's wrong?"

"Family, you say? With these women? Never, Dad."

"You have to stop being selfish, Scarlett!"

"Selfish?! Is that what you call someone who doesn't want to be related to a woman who didn't hesitate to set her up with a man out of jealousy? I don't know, Dad... Are you sure you're my father? You just sound like a complete stranger right now."

"Lies won't get you out of this situation, Scarlett. I'm telling you, from now on, Meg and her mom are your family. You will call them sister and mother."

"I will die before I let those words come out of my mouth, do you hear me?"

Joyce approached, putting a gentle hand on Scarlett's father's shoulder. She said to him in a soft voice:

"Please don't force her. If she doesn't want to, it's still okay. We've lived all this time without her, I'm sure we can go on a bit longer. Give her time."

Scarlett rolled her eyes at the woman's show of kindness. As if she cared about her well-being. How could her father be blind enough not to see the sly look on her face? How could he not know they were taking advantage of him? Scarlett gritted her teeth. She had been stupid to still care about her father after all he had done.

"It doesn't matter," he spat out, anger in his voice. "Acting like a spoiled little brat won't change the fact that Megan is your sister, Scarlett. You must accept it, whether you like it or not. And now that you know the whole story, Megan and her mother must come and live with us. There's no point in staying separated."

Scarlett gasped in shock. The sly smirks on Megan and her mother's faces made her sick.

"Never!" she yelled. "That house belonged to my mother. I won't allow you to bring strangers in there, Dad. You'll have to cross my dead body before you do, believe me."

"That house belongs to me, young lady!"

"Yeah, only after my mother died. And I won't let you do this disgusting thing. I won't let you bring these whor-Ah!"

Scarlett received an unforgiving slap on her right cheek. It wasn't the pain that hurt the most-it was knowing that her gentle father had dared to slap her for the sake of someone else. Her eyes filled with tears as she glared at him.

"You hit me because of these women?"

The father didn't reply. He clenched his trembling hand and Scarlett could tell he regretted his actions-but it was too late. She sprinted out the door and didn't stop when the man called her name. She burst into tears as soon as she was inside the elevator, her heart aching so much that she feared it was truly broken.

She had come to confront Megan about her rape but never even got to it. Instead, she had broken the relationship she had with her father and now found herself a complete orphan. She had lost both of her parents.

Scarlett walked out of the building, half-crying and shaking her head in confusion. It occurred to her that Megan had ruined her life in barely a few hours by stealing her virginity and her father. She wondered if that had always been her goal since the beginning of their friendship. Had she approached her that first time with the sole purpose of ruining her life?

Scarlett was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the dark vehicle that suddenly screeched to a stop not far from her. The man in the back seat jumped out quickly. He watched as the young lady bumped into a couple of people walking in the opposite direction. She didn't even bother to apologize. It was as if she were trapped in her own bubble and the outside world had become invisible to her.

The man ran after Scarlett and grabbed her arm.

"Hey."

She turned around and frowned when she recognized the man from earlier-the male escort she had woken up next to that morning. He had a concerned look on his face, but Scarlett knew better than to believe he actually cared.

"Don't touch me," she hissed, snatching her arm away from his grasp.

"What happened?" he asked.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a handkerchief. Scarlett refused to take it.

"Tell me what happened," the man insisted. "I might be able to help you. Look, if this is about this morning-"

"Yes, you son of a bitch! It's about this morning, and it's also about what just happened to me. And you know what?! There's nothing you can do for me-and even if you could, I would never accept any kind of help from a male escort!"

Scarlett could have spit in his face, but she decided against it. She didn't notice how the man's bodyguards looked at her, their hands resting on their weapons, waiting for a single order from their boss. But the man said nothing.

"Sir..."

"Let her go," he sighed, watching the woman walk away. "So much anger in her..."

He wondered why he wanted so badly to help her. She was just one woman among many, after all. He had already tried being kind-twice. It was more than enough generosity.

"Let's just go to the company."

He ended up saying to his men before returning to the car. But the thoughts of Scarlett didn't leave his mind on the way. Not even a bit.