The Haunted’s Kiss of Regret and Repentance

“Don’t look at me like you don’t know me, you whore. You’re the reason why my cousin Rian isn’t with us anymore. You have the gutts to go back to this town, but you don’t have the gutts to kill yourself after what happened to him because of your selfish doing?”

I looked at the lady who wore a plain navy blue shirt, sexy shorts that looked like panties, and sneakers. Her taste is awful, but the way she spoke to me showed that her attitude was awful as well. Despite having nice fair skin, her pink and black hair, and her excessive accessories made me want to look the other way.

“Excuse me, but I have no interest in picking a fight with someone like you, Anita,” I looked at her as she glared at me, ” you know nothing about us, and that includes the reason he’s gone. So it’s better for you to stop embarrassing yourself and leave me alone while you still haven’t embarrassed yourself.”

The woman was Rian’s younger cousin, and she was eighteen years old, if I’m not mistaken. She was really close to Rian, and was even rumored to be close enough to like him too much.

She stared at me like she wanted to kill me, and from the corner of my eyes, I could see my two bodyguards looking at us. They must have seen Anita’s expression, and saw I was angry. They inched closer as Anita’s expression turned angrier.

“You are such an entitled bitch, Shyne!” Anita tried to grab my hair, but I caught her hand and pushed her away.

“Damn you, Shyne!” One of my guards grabbed her arms and held her so she wouldn’t be able to hurt me.

“Let go of me! I’ll call the police! Let me go now!” She screamed and thrashed her hands as she tried to hurt my guard.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” said the other one who blocked me from Anita’s view, while his partner tried to hold onto the raging woman.

A few of the mall’s security guards came, and they tried to drag Anita away as she shouted curses to them and me. I decided to fix my clothes and buy the earrings I was looking at, and left the mall.

“Ma’am, do you want us to file a complaint against that woman?” One of the guards said as we were driving home.

“No, that wouldn’t be necessary, Jude. Just leave her be, but you can tell this to my mother if you want, just so they can be prepared. But tell her I don’t want the woman to be in jail if we could help it.”

Jude, the guard, noded as we all sat in silence. I was getting uneasy again, but I needed to control my emotions, so I just closed my eyes and prayed.

“I forgive, Anita…” I whispered in my prayer, and felt myself feel lighter. I knew I shouldn’t be affected by her.

“Ma’am, Shyne? We’re here. Wake up, ma’am.” Jude was calling me, and my eyes opened as I realized that we were in the mansion.

“I’m sorry, I fell asleep. Thanks for waking me up.” Jude helped me bring my things inside the house while his partner parked the car inside of the garage.

“Shyne!” My father’s voice boomed inside of the silent house. I looked up and he was on top of the staircase as I was at the bottom. My father’s eyes were angry, and I swallowed hard at the possible reasons.Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

“Young lady, follow me inside of my office, right now!” He screamed in full authority, and pointed at Jude, “you! Call your partner, and meet me in my office. Quickly!”

I saw the guard run fast to find his partner as I sighed and followed my father to his office inside of our house. I hated that place, because it was always the place where I was either a good child for being the family’s trophy, or I was a bad child for not making the family proud.

“Shyne…Shyne!” I flinched at my father’s voice. I looked at him and apologized, “what is the matter with you, Shyne?” irritation was in his voice.

“Dad, whatever it is that you were going to say, please just tell me. I don’t mean any disrespect, but-”

“Shut up before I slap this book on your face!” He held the dictionary with his right hand, and I swallowed hard as I nodded and stood straight.

“My friend called me and told me that she saw you and a woman fighting in the mall. Explain to me why you did such a disgraceful thing in public, and why I shouldn’t punish you for this.”

I felt my hands tremble at the thought of my father finding out about my secret.

“Dad, that woman was someone I knew back in highschool. She was a girl from another school who had a crush on a guy who was courting me.” My father’s face scrunched up in anger, “the boy didn’t matter, but ever since, she hated me for it. She likes making up stories about me, but no one believes her. I guess she still hates me that much to make up stories about me and scream when she sees me at the mall. But, dad, I didn’t fight with her. I just avoided her, and my guards took care of it.”

“I’ll put that woman in jail.” My father said simply and grabbed his phone. I stood up and grabbed it by instinct. My father had a look of shock on his face. It was the first time that I did something like that.

“I-I-I’m sorry, dad, b-but, I-” I was stuttering as I gave him back his phone, and he grabbed it forcefully as he stood up and slapped me hard.

I fell back on my seat and held my cheeks. It stung, and I was sure that it was bright red from the force of his slap.

“Don’t ever touch my things without my permission!” He bellowed and I nodded as my eyes met his angry gaze.

“I will put that woman in jail, and I don’t care whatever problem you have with her. She insults you, she insults the clan. Now, I don’t want to hear anything from you. Do you understand me?!”

“Yes, sir.” I said as I composed myself and looked at his face while I held my expressionless face.

“Now, call your guards. From now on, you will have four guards with you, and I don’t want to hear any news that you are escaping them. Do I make myself clear, young lady?!”

“Yes, sir.” I bit my tongue to force myself to just agree. There was no use talking to my father when he was this angry at me. My brother was the only one who could at least talk back to my dad, but it has to be when he proves that dad is wrong.

I left my father’s office and went straight to my room. I grabbed my phone and saw that Izzy texted me. I smiled when I read the message:

“Grab your paint and brushes, and meet me at the church. There’s going to be a show where you’ll do live painting for the holy week, and I already agreed on your behalf.”

I decided to devote myself to the church to escape the shadows, my family’s expectations and my crowded mind. I did the live painting, and it was a success. The senior pastor, Malina, prayed for me and prophesied that all my artworks would glorify God. She prayed for me to be free, and for the first time in my life, I was proud of the artwork I did. I knew it wasn’t me, but it was God who helped me.

I was sitting on one of the chairs in our garden, and I was painting peonies, my favorite flower.

“What is this?!” I looked up and saw my mom speed walking in my direction.

“What?” I asked as she reached me and stood in front of me. She raised her newspaper, and I saw a photo of me pushing Anita in the mall.

“Sadistic Heiress at the Mall” I read the title of the photo. I looked at a smaller photo, and I saw a blurred photo of a woman lying in bed. I froze as I read the news. It was Anita.

“Explain this to me young lady, because when I checked the profile of the woman, she is now in the hospital and in a medically induced coma. She tried to kill herself by hanging, but someone found her, and when they cut the rope, the knife behind her back stabbed her spine. She even left a suicide note that contained your name!” My mother was furious, and I was in shock.