I blinked my eyes. This might be just a dream. Just a dream, Hannah. Not even a dream, it might be a nightmare. Calm down Ann. Deep breathes.
I rubbed my eyes and then opened them. They were still standing there. Wait, this isn't a nightmare?
"Hannah..." the man, who used to be my dad, said in a daze as if he too couldn't believe that he was seeing his daughter.
His daughter? Nah, I'm not his daughter.
"What do you want?" I asked them, with a harsh tone.
The woman, who I suppose was my mom said, "Ham, we-"
"Who in world is Ham? Honestly, I don't know anyone named Ham." I nearly shouted at them. What? They shut me out and tortured me so much in my nightmare years, and now they expect me to be like, 'Oh! Mommy and daddy, I missed you!' and hug them? Not happening.
"Can we at least come in? We promise we won't take much time of yours," the man requested, and if this would've been the Hannah before Hailey's death I would gladly let them in, and they wouldn't even need to ask to be welcomed, I would have welcomed them with open arms.
But now, I don't think that's ever going to happen.
"If you are expecting me to forgive you right away and then jump in your arms and hug you, you are so wrong. I'm only letting you in because you are... no, used to be my parents and I should be respectful towards you," I said while glaring at them as I opened the door wide for them to enter.
I didn't wait for them to enter and then close the door behind them. I simply came inside and then sat patiently on the couch. The man closed the door as he and the woman came and sat on the other couch.
"I hope I made it clear. If you are here to talk about the case, then you are free to do so. Please do not waste my time by begging for forgiveness, if that's what you wanted to do anyway. I don't even know if you feel sorry or not," I said simply with disgust, so that they would know I don't have time to listen to their sorry.
The man... Fine, my dad said, "We heard about the M case, though we did not get much information about it. I still can't believe that he killed my dear Hailey. Today we came in the flight along with the Chicago Police. I hope you knew."
Oh yeah, I forgot! The other day Officer Matt said that the Chicago Police were coming, but it didn't click to me that my parents would be coming too.
Mom asked, "Can you please tell us the full details of the case?"
I sighed before sitting up straight and starting, "Mark Adams killed Hailey. With some investigation, it seems to be that Macy Adams, his daughter is behind this. I hope you remember Macy. We still haven't found the reason why he killed Hailey. I'm sure the Chicago Police have brought a CCTV record too, as I requested Officer Matt to tell them to bring. It's still a mystery how Hailey was found dead in the middle of a road seeming that it was an accident.
"I was living peacefully here in London, until three months ago when Mark started sending me letters stating about Hailey's death and mysterious stalks. Later I came across Macy too, but didn't know she was Mark's daughter until he kidnapped one of my family member and I got to know that time."
I paused, waiting to see my parents' reaction. Sure, they seemed a bit shocked and surprised when I mentioned the word 'family', but they didn't say anything.
"I think I remember Macy. You, Hailey, Cedric and Macy used to play all the time as kids, right?" mom said.
I nodded at her statement.
"Wait. Mark killed her?" dad said in bewilderment, to which I nodded again.
Dad seemed to be shocked and surprised. Wait a minute... did dad know Mark beforehand?
Dad continued, with the shock still on his face, "I'm starting to remember... Mark Adams, you say? He was my rival in business. We used to be partners but then he left me and started his own business, and then his desire for a revenge, though I don't know what for, increased so much that ever since he was always after destroying me.
"I remember a few days before Hailey's death he barged into my office and said that my 'useless waste' daughters shouldn't be seen around Macy anymore. I was surprised since you three were so good friends, and I told him it might be a misunderstanding because Hailey and Hannah love Macy very much. I don't know what happened to him and then he punched me and we had a fight. That was the last time I saw him."
Dad and Mark were... rivals? How come it never clicked to me when I was still friends with Macy? Was that the reason Macy's behavior with me and Hailey suddenly change?
"How come you never told me?" mom asked dad in surprise.
"I thought he was just playing around. I didn't knew he was so serious for 'revenge' that he would actually kill Hailey," dad replied.
"Has he told you the reason why he killed Hailey yet?" mom questioned me.
"No. That's the reason we had to involve Chicago officers too. He's always escaping whenever we try to catch him," I stated.
"But he wants revenge for what?" mom asked us.
"I don't know. Do you seem to have any clue, Hannah?"
"Nope," I replied.
"I still have a doubt though," dad continued. "If Mark killed Hailey, why was she found near the construction site of a nowhere road? Did he kill her then dragged her to that place or something?"
Mom thought for a while, before she replied, "Maybe he hit Hailey with his car while she was crossing the road and then put her near the site and escaped."
"But then they would file for a case then and there and not leave it as a construction site accident," I said.
We all were silent for a while, thinking about this matter. Suddenly I noticed a changed mood around us as mom and dad looked at me with guilt and regret in their eyes.
I know where this is heading to.
Dad started, "We... We're sorry, Hannah. We hurt you so much. We-"
"I thought I told you not to say sorry and expect me to forgive you," I nearly yelled at them.
Mom said, "I know dear, but we really are sorry. We were stupid back then-"
"You realized? Then good. I'm glad you did. Now, I think it will be better to move on, don't you think?" I tried my best not to glare at them.
Dad said, "I think we must clear our misunderstandings first. We really cared for you, Hannah-"
I cut him off, "I think having a recap of my terrible past due to your 'stupidness' is waste. And you say you cared for me? If you really cared for me, you would never leave me to die in the middle of darkness, that was what my life had been surrounded with. You left me for myself during my hardest days whereas you should've been there for me.
"But I think I was the stupid one here, till the last moment I thought you would accept me back and we'll live as a happy family. If you had stopped me from going to 'Australia' back then, or even at least give me your blessings and sent me with a 'little' love and affection then I would've a change of heart and I would readily forgive you. But... you... you quite did the opposite of my expectations that time.
"What did I ever do to the both of you, huh? Mark planned to kill Hailey, her death is all his fault. Why did you blame me and make me hate myself so much? Why did you reject me, when you should've received me with open arms? Why would you slap me if you thought I was the one misbehaving? I sure as hell didn't deserve any of it. You- you don't deserve to be even talking to me. You've made me hate my life so much that I don't even care now if I am killed."
I felt a little at peace giving them a piece of my mind. I hope they realize it now... I hope.
Mom said, "I know we hurt you a lot. We didn't used to think properly. We were so drowned in depression that we thought it would be good if we let it out on you."
I was shocked at this. They thought it was good to hurt me because they were depressed? Wasn't I their daughter as well? Wasn't I more affected by Hailey's death than them?
I felt my eyes getting watery as I gave them a sarcastic smile and said, "You wouldn't have cared if it was me who died, isn't it? You wouldn't have yourselves drown in depression, right?"
They kept quiet, and I widened my eyes. Please, a little 'No, you're wrong' will also work.
When they didn't speak at all, I quietly wiped the tear I didn't realize had fallen down my cheek and yelled, "Leave!"
"We're sorry," mom whispered quietly before dad nodded. I turned my face away from them and I heard them mumble their goodbyes before leaving, just like that.
Yeah, you loved me and cared for me, mom and dad. Fake one, may I add as a prefix.
I just sat down there, with tears falling down my cheek. So badly I wanted to have parents, their love, their affection. What did I know that those parents don't even care about me.
My only aim in my past was getting them back. But I couldn't, and then I came here. And now, I don't think I'll still be able to get them back.
I just removed all the thoughts from my mind and went to my room and laid down on my bed. I closed my eyes and tried to relax myself.
After about half an hour I got a new message and I checked from whom was it.
Officer Matthew
I met your parents. They're here. I heard the story from your father's point of view too. Now that we have more information and more officers, it's easy to catch him.
'It's easy to catch him' was easy to say, and I've been hearing it from the start, but no progress. I know the job of being a cop is hard, but what is taking them so long to catch a single human? I simply replied him with a thumbs up emoji and kept my phone aside.
Then after a few minutes I got another message from Officer Matt.
Officer Matthew
Are you ready to forgive them?
I didn't hesitate to reply.
Me
Never
I know I may seem a bit mean here, but whenever I think of forgiving them... All I get reminded is of my past. They say forgive and forget, and even if I forgive them, I still won't be able to forget. So it's better not to say anything and not to let them get the idea that I've forgiven them so that they try to get back my trust and control over my life.
And with what they did today, I've totally changed my mind. I wasn't their daughter at all. They had only one daughter, Hailey. They took care of Hannah just because for Hailey's sake.
Life, I wish you loved me.
Then I got a call from Alice. Why would Alice call me at this time? I received anyway.
"Hello?"
I suddenly heard a crash and a scream from the other side. I automatically stood up and widened my eyes at the sound.
"Alice?"
"A-Ann. Please.... Help-"
---
Hello! Here's an update, hurrapple! Hehe, um...
I hope you liked this chapter. I had to crack open the deeper parts of my brain in order to get an idea of how Hannah should confront her parents.
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~Apple.