Chapter 3

The next morning, I took Maya to the hospital for a checkup.

The doctor said she was too young and malnourished, and she needed plenty of rest after the procedure.

Looking at her bony shoulders, I felt my heart ached.

Since I started working, I'd been busy nonstop outside, barely making it home a few times a year.

I thought my hard work would bring happiness to my family. But under Amelia's "care", my siblings had ended up in such a sorry state.

On the way home, I tried everything to cheer Maya up while figuring out how to ask her about what had really happened.

Before I could even come up with the right words, the other person involved in this mess showed up on his own.

Downstairs in the hallway, Amelia was grinning like a Cheshire cat, chatting away.

Right next to her, a guy sat slouched, puffing on a cigarette with an irritated look.

When we appeared, both of them became excited.

"Maya, look who's here," Amelia said, all excited, shoving the guy forward. I stepped in front, blocking their way.

I sized up the guy from head to toe, and a guess formed in my mind.

"Sienna, move out of the way. This is Henry Walker, the father of Maya's baby," Amelia said, grabbing Maya's arm to pull her toward the guy. But I pushed her back roughly.

I turned to look at Maya. Sure enough, she was trembling, tears streaming down her face.

"Are you the one who took advantage of my sister?" I asked, holding back my anger.

"Oh, come on. It's none of your business. It's just a couple's thing," Amelia said, giving me a coquettish shove.

I ignored her and slipped my phone into Maya's hand.

Henry flicked his cigarette butt on the ground and sneered, "We were both into it. What's 'taking advantage' got to do with it?"

"Did you force her to have sex with you? Isn't that taking advantage?" I pressed on.

"If she wasn't throwing herself at me after class, why would I even look at her? Now she's playing the innocent virgin?" Henry shouted, looking like a total sleaze.

Maya was shaking with rage. "I didn't throw myself at you! I came to you after class because the teacher asked me to tutor you. I already told you that.

"And the first time you harassed me, I said no. But then, during gym class, you..."

By then, she was choking up, unable to get the words out. I quickly patted her back to calm her down.

Amelia chimed in again, "Oh, Maya, this is partly your fault, too. You should know your limits when helping classmates. It's easy to get misunderstood. Henry, don't be mad. Maya's just a little shy."

Henry nodded, looking pleased with Amelia's flattery. "Okay, enough small talk. I came to see how my baby's doing."

Seeing Amelia calm down a bit, I took a deep breath and shouted, "As a rapist, how dare you ask the victim such disgusting questions?

"You're a menace to society at such a young age. You're a born piece of trash. You're the heir to all the scum of the new era, huh?"

Henry's face turned red in anger. He swung his fist, ready to hit me.

I stepped back, stuck out my foot, and sent him falling to the ground. "Do you think you can throw a punch? I've wanted to beat you since you opened your mouth."

How could someone like this even get raised? Just looking at him made me sick.

"Sienna, what are you doing?" Amelia said, frowning at me. "Sure, Henry went too far. But doesn't Maya share some blame? You can't just..."

"Shut up! Maya didn't do a single thing wrong. How dare you say something so heartless?" I shouted.

I stomped on Henry's back, my eyes fixed on Amelia. "Your daughter got taken advantage of, and you're siding with the rapist? Do you even have a conscience?"

"I..." Amelia tried to say something.

But I interrupted her, "I sent you so much money to take care of Maya, but the doctor says she's been malnourished for ages. Where's the money? Did it all go down the toilet?

"You don't care about your daughter, but you're defending this scumbag? That's not being kind-hearted. That's being blind and stupid."

Then, I sneered and ground my right foot down hard. "Remember, you still owe me a beating. You'll pay for it later."

Just then, police sirens wailed in the distance, getting closer.

Two cops walked up, got a quick rundown, and cuffed Henry, shoving him into the squad car.

This scumbag should just go rot in jail.