The Girl Who Cried Abuse

“My parents want me to go home after taking the SATs, Aunt June.”

Kristen McLaughlin, my niece, wore a pained look on her face. She turned to look at my daughter, Gabrielle Drake, and said, “But I want to stay with Gabby. We won’t have many chances to see each other after I start college.”

I nearly cursed out loud after I heard these familiar words.

These were the very same pretty words Kristen had used in the previous timeline after she finished her SATs.

In reality, she just did not want to go home and suffer the poor treatment awaiting her there.

My brother and sister-in-law, Caleb and Harmony, much preferred their younger son. They had said early on that Kristen had to go home and work on the farm after she finished her SATs. They wanted her to make money for Kinsley to get a game console.

In the previous timeline, I had been soft-hearted. I was worried that Kristen would have it very bad back home, so I gave Caleb and Harmony 5,000 dollars of my own money to keep Kristen with me. She remained in my house and lived comfortably.

But what had happened, then?

In her essay, she wrote that I had abused her, drawing the ire of netizens who did not know the truth.

Given a second chance, I decided to go against my usual behavior and said, “Kristen, I think you should go home.”

I patted her on the shoulder and said warmly, “Didn’t you just say that you won’t have as many chances to see us after starting college? It’ll be the same with your parents. You’ll be starting college soon, so you should go home and spend some time with them. They’re working very hard to pay for your schooling. You should be a bit more considerate of them.”

Kristen was stunned. She must never have never expected such a response.

After all, I had always doted on her in the past.

As long as she whined a bit to me, I would certainly not let her go home and suffer.

Yet, her tactic was not working on that day.

I opened the front passenger door for Gabrielle to get into the car.

It was only then that Kristen came back to herself.

She finally showed her true colors.

She grabbed me by the arm and confronted me viciously. “My parents paid you for my living expenses! I haven’t even spent it all. How could you ask me to go home?”

What living expenses? I nearly laughed out loud when I heard that.

I took out my phone and opened my bank statement. I showed it to her.

“Your parents sent me a grand total of 300 dollars. That was your freshman year of high school. They never gave me a single cent after that. Everything you needed for the past three years, your food and clothes, that all cost me money. I was the one who paid for it all.”

Kristen’s face went white in a second. Her mouth opened, but she said nothing.

Just then, the bus that would take her back to her hometown arrived.

Without giving her the chance to retaliate, I pushed her onto the bus.

“Enough. The bus is here, so you should go home. Have a safe trip home. Once you get back, you should try and get along with your parents.”

On the step of the bus, she looked at me, her eyes red-rimmed and lower lip trembling.

I avoided her gaze.

Had she not written that she did not want to live in my household and endure my scorn?

I would fulfill that wish of hers and send her back to her parents.

It was an hour’s drive to get home.

While waiting at some traffic lights, I turned to Gabrielle and asked gently, “What do you want to do after finishing your SATs, Gabby? Is there anything you want? You should let loose after finishing those exams.”

Gabrielle was a little taken aback. She shot a glance at me and asked, “Will I… have to be like Kristen?”

My heart squeezed painfully at that thought.

In the previous timeline, I had told Gabrielle every day to be nicer to Kristen as life on a farm was not easy.

In the end, Gabrielle became a compromising and validation-seeking sort of girl.

It had even caused her to lose her life.

I had to make things up to her.

“Kristen has her parents to care for her.”

I held Gabrielle’s hand and promised solemnly, “I’m your mother. My priority is caring for you.”

Gabrielle immediately started tearing up at that, possibly because she had not heard something like that from me in ages.