Mother
5

Chapter 5

The others, curious, picked up the paper and read it.

Their faces instantly drained of color.

Even though they often played wild pranks, they had never caused a death before.

Now they panicked, trying to shift blame onto each other.

“This isn’t our fault. If anyone’s to blame, it’s her own bad luck.”

“Sienna, don’t you dare try to blackmail us with this.”

“Yeah, she could swim. It was just an accident. You can’t pin this on us.”

Ethan, irritated by their bickering, shouted, “All of you, shut up!”

Then he looked at me cautiously, his earlier arrogance gone. “Sienna, I’m so sorry about this. I never meant for it to happen. If I’d known it would turn out like this, I never would have done it.”

Could a simple “I didn’t mean to” erase the harm they’d done to my mom? Could it bring her back to life?

Tearfully, I looked at Ethan. “I used to think you were just immature. Now I see you’re heartless. My mom cared for you for ten years. If you had any conscience at all, you wouldn’t have let them joke about her life.”

“You know what? When my mom died, she was still clutching that watch you told her to fetch. You knew she’d do anything you asked, no matter what, and you used that to amuse yourself.”

“Even if she wasn’t my mom, she was a human being. She deserved respect and had rights. She worked for you; she didn’t sell her life to you. She wasn’t a toy for you rich kids to play with and discard.” Ethan paled, stumbling back half a step. “No, it’s not like that. I didn’t think it through, I just…

“Just what? You never respected me, never saw me as a real girlfriend. You all wanted to humiliate me, right? Then come at me directly. Why did you have to do that to my mom?”

“You’re all murderers. I’ll never forgive you, not in this lifetime.”

As I hurled my accusations, they hung their heads in silence.

But Mia protested, “Sienna, you’re being too harsh. We didn’t mean for this to happen. Calling us murderers and condemning us isn’t fair.“”

I laughed bitterly. “I’m unfair? I’m harsh? If I killed your mom today and then told you I didn’t mean to, would you let it go?”

She choked on her words. “That’s not what I meant.”

Ethan glared at her. “Enough! Shut up!”

Mia, silenced by Ethan’s shout, pouted resentfully.

They were born privileged, thinking everyone should flatter and obey them, that they were the center of the universe.

Ethan and his friends had never truly seen my mom and me as their equals.

I was exhausted. I turned to leave, struggling.

Ethan grabbed my wrist. “Sienna, don’t go. Stay, let me take care of you.”

I yanked my arm free. “Ethan, you’re despicable. I wish I’d never met you.”

Under Ethan’s pained gaze, I walked out of the villa, step by step, out of his world. From this day on, we would be mortal enemies.

Chapter 6