Chapter 6
As soon as I finished speaking, the other end of the line went completely silent.
Right after that, Luna's panicked voice burst out. "Mom, what's wrong? Don't scare me. What happened? Is it Dad? Did he..."
"Don't ask, Luna. You'll understand when you get here," I said, cutting her off and hanging up before she could say another word.
I knew my daughter.
She was smart, decisive, and never hesitated to act.
There was no way she'd sit around worrying. She'd drop everything and rush home as fast as she could.
Sure enough, less than a minute later, my phone pinged with a flight booking notification.
It was the earliest flight home from Lemnoawn, leaving in two hours.
Richard stared at the message on my phone, looking utterly devastated.
His eyes were bloodshot as he rushed over and grabbed my wrist. "Helen, what are you trying to do? Are you really set on turning this family upside down?"
His grip was strong, making my wrist throb with pain.
But I didn't resist.
I looked up at him quietly, my expression steady and calm.
There was no trace of the gentle, patient wife I used to be, only fifty years of cold, bitter hatred staring back at him.
"Turning this family upside down?" I let out a laugh, quiet but cutting, sharp as an ice pick. "Richard, you've got it all wrong.
"I'm not the one who wrecked this family. You are.
"You're the one who kept bringing other women into our lives, who dragged that bastard home and forced me to raise him, who turned our marriage into a joke."
"Me?" I stared straight into his eyes, enunciating every word. "I'm helping you clean out all the garbage you've been hiding, one piece at a time."
For fifty years, this was my first time openly declaring war.
Richard was floored by the icy glare in my eyes and the sharpness of my words.
He stared at me, utterly bewildered, as if I were someone he'd never known, almost monstrous.
In his memory, Helen was always the gentle, submissive wife who endured everything he did, never uttering a word of protest.
He never imagined that beneath that meek facade, there was a razor-sharp blade waiting to strike.
"Y-You..." Richard sputtered, stuck on the word, unable to string a single sentence together.
David quietly stepped over and pried Richard's hand off my wrist.
"Dad, calm down," David said, his voice still cold as ice. "Mom's right. You did this to yourself."
He stood next to me, taking up a protective stance like a shield.
This family had been completely torn apart, split into two opposing camps.
Me and David stood together, united against Richard, leaving him utterly isolated and helpless.
Richard stared at us, his gaze shifting from shock to hopeless despair.
He knew he'd lost his son forever.
And his last hope, the daughter he cherished most, was already rushing home.
What was waiting for him was nothing but Luna's look of pure contempt and a total split between them.
The two kids he'd always bragged about, now, had both turned into his judges.
"No, I can't let Luna find out," Richard muttered, stumbling backward, completely lost. "She can't know. She'll hate me. She'll never forgive me."
He suddenly turned to me, his eyes full of desperate pleading. "Helen, I was wrong. I really was wrong. I'll do anything you want. Please, don't tell Luna, okay?
"We can't destroy the image she has of us in her heart."
"We?" I sneered.
What a joke.
Even now, he wanted to pull me in so he could keep up that pathetic fatherly image of his.
I didn't answer him.
I picked up a photo frame from the coffee table.
Inside was a picture of Luna on her college graduation day.
She was wearing her cap and gown, beaming, proudly holding onto Richard's arm.
And Richard, looking sharp in his suit, was bursting with pride and love, his face openly showing it all.
That used to be the warmest moment in this family.
But now, it felt bitterly ironic.
I gently brushed my finger over Luna's face in the photo, my voice barely more than a whisper. "Richard, do you realize?
"Luna is great in every way, except for one thing. She can't tolerate the tiniest bit of injustice, especially when it comes to your flaws."
Richard trembled violently.
He knew better than anyone that Luna's admiration for him ran deep, but it was as fragile as glass.
Once that perfect image was shattered, the hatred that followed would be enough to tear everything apart.
He'd spent his whole life living for other people's respect, and his kids were treating him like some kind of hero.
He couldn't begin to imagine what he'd do with himself if all of that disappeared.
Honestly, that would hurt him more than death ever could.
Richard finally stopped pretending, his voice now full of threat. "Helen, don't push me. If you drive me to the edge, nobody wins."
"Is that so?" I set the photo frame down and stared him straight in the eye, fearless. "I'm actually curious now that you're a retired old man with no power, what are you really capable of?
"Richard, I've waited fifty years for this moment.
"I've got three knives ready for you. My son is the first, and my daughter is the second.
"Now, both knives are pressed against your throat."
My voice stayed calm, but it chilled the whole living room to the bone.
Richard stared me down, his forehead tight with anger, veins standing out.
He wanted to lash out, but didn't dare.
Because he knew every word I said was the truth.
He had no leverage left, nothing to use against me.
And I had a grip on all his weaknesses.
The doorbell went off suddenly.
The three of us stopped in our tracks.
Who'd show up at this hour?
David walked over, peered through the peephole, and his expression darkened immediately.
He looked back at me, then at Richard. "It's Linda's son."
Richard's face went white as a sheet.
I sneered to myself.
How convenient.
It looked like my third knife had delivered itself right to my doorstep.