Chapter 5
My sudden movement caught the teacher’s attention. He frowned and told me to sit down.2
But I threw my phone aside and lunged at Jesmira. “It was you, wasn’t it?! You’re trying to destroy my family!“”
I grabbed her by the collar, my voice fierce. “What did you do to us?“”
Jesmira cried out, putting on a show of shock and innocence. “Jenna, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Chaos broke out. Classmates and teachers rushed over to intervene, pulling me off her and throwing me to the floor. “Jenna, calm down!“.
“Have you lost your mind?”
They crowded around Jesmira, checking if she was okay.
*Jesmira, are you hurt?”
Does Jenna have rabies or something? Why did she suddenly snap like that?”
Just then, the dean appeared at our classroom door, looking flustered. “Jenna, come quickly! Something’s happened at your house. Your family’s here to get you!”
I jumped up in alarm, heart pounding, not wanting to waste a single moment.&
But Jesmira stayed perfectly calm, her arms crossed as she watched everything unfold like it was none of her business. Her cold detachment made my blood boilE
When I arrived home, my parents and sister were already there, all of them looking shaken and helpless.
My father suddenly slapped himself across the face and broke down crying. “It’s all my fault! I trusted the wrong person, our company collapsed overnight!”
Shocked, I asked, “What? Didn’t we cut ties with Zellner?”
He lowered his head, avoiding my eyes.
My mother answered instead, her voice trembling with suppressed fury. “We did. But your father got greedy. Zellner found someone else to approach us through and he fell for it again.”
Then, without warning, she lashed out, slapping him repeatedly. “She told you it was a bad idea, but you didn’t listen! Now look at us! Are you trying to ruin this entire family?”
“I know, I was wrong!” my father sobbed, collapsing to the floor and clinging to her legs.8
My sister stood frozen in the corner, tears running down her cheeks.
My mother’s voice cracked with pain as she looked at him and said slowly. Because of your greed, the business is in ruins. The employees who’ve stayed with us for decades won’t get a dime.!!
“And your youngest daughter… her surgery is coming up. We promised to send her abroad for the best treatment and now… we can’t even afford it. What do you expect us to do?”
As my mother spoke, she broke down, covering her face as tears streamed down. The whole family wept together and I was overwhelmed by a storm of emotions.
Just then, a message from Jesmira popped up on my phone. [Jenna, feeling hopeless? Good. From now on, your life’s only going downhill.]
