Phoebe's POV
“Ow! I’m bleeding!” Fiona cried out, holding up her thumb where a piece of broken ceramic had nicked her.
Her husband stood up quickly, darting nervous glances between all of us, but he stayed silent.
The moment my parents and aunt heard her cry, they came rushing over in a panic.
When my aunt saw the tiny cut, she shrieked, “You heartless witch! Were you trying to kill her?!”
My mom’s face also twisted with rage. She grabbed a shard of broken porcelain from the floor and lunged at me.
Fearing she might hurt Raven, I quickly stepped in and caught her hand. But she slashed straight across my palm, cutting it wide open, and blood immediately streamed down my hand.
“You ungrateful brat!” she screamed. “How dare you lay a finger on Fiona? Can you afford to pay with your life?!”
My dad glared at me, too, barking, “Apologize to Fiona. Right now!”
I stared at both of them in disbelief. They didn’t even care about what actually happened.
“I’m not apologizing. I wasn’t the one who flipped the table,” I truthfully said.
But my aunt pointed at me and shouted, “Liar! Who else could it have been? My daughter is sweet and well-behaved. She’d never pull such a disgraceful stunt.”
I shot her a glare and retorted, “Oh, right. So being well-behaved means stealing someone else’s house now?”
My aunt’s face contorted with rage. She turned to my parents and said, “You mean to tell me… you didn’t tell her? I thought we agreed this was a sale. Why are you letting her blame us like we stole something?”
My parents looked awkward and said nothing.
So, I turned to them directly and asked, “That’s what I want to know, too. Are you ever going to explain the truth about that house?”
I had given them multiple chances to come clean. But they refused. And now, I was done holding back.
My mom’s face hardened, and she replied, “There’s nothing to explain. That house is gone. End of story.”
Raven couldn’t take it anymore. Furious, he stood up and warned, “That house is ours. If you don’t return it, we’ll call the police.”
My mom’s eyes narrowed, and she stormed over and slapped him across the face.
“You shameless bastard! Who the hell do you think you are? Who knows how many women you’ve slept with abroad? You look like you’re barely holding yourself together!”
Raven clenched his fists, his whole body shaking. He had never been treated like this before.
As such, I quickly stepped between them and shoved my mom away, shielding him.
“Mom, that’s enough! Apologize to Raven right now!”
My mom fell to the floor, furious, and started wailing and thrashing.
When she saw I didn’t rush to help her up, she got even more dramatic, banging her head against the wall while sobbing loudly, “You ungrateful daughter! I might as well die right here!”
But I wasn’t falling for it. I knew this routine: cry, scream, threaten suicide. She’d used it my whole life. But not this time.
At that moment, my aunt was also trembling with anger. She pointed at Raven and me and snarled, “If something happens to your mother, it’s on you two! You heartless monsters!”
Then she shoved me hard.
I lost my balance, stepped backward, and slipped on a round soda bottle. My body hit the ground hard, and pain shot through me as I clutched my belly in agony.
Even then, my aunt wouldn’t back off.
As such, furious, I pushed her away with all my strength, causing her head to hit the corner of the table, and blood immediately started dripping down her forehead.
“Ow! I’m bleeding!” she shrieked.
My dad rushed over and grabbed Fiona. “Hurry, take your mom to the hospital. Drive!”
Then he snatched my car keys from the table.
But I snapped, “Don’t you dare! I’m hurt too. I need to go to the hospital. You’re not taking my car!”
Yet, he turned around and slapped me across the face, hard. “Ungrateful wretch! They came here in a cab, and you have the only car. Are you seriously going to just stand there and let your mom die and your aunt bleed out? Will that make you happy?!”
As we were arguing, Fiona helped her mom up and started walking toward the door with her husband.
Seeing that, Raven rushed over to get my car keys back, but my parents blocked his path.
But my mom suddenly grabbed a broom and started beating Raven with it.
“You bastard! I’ll beat you to death! I’ll kill you!”
Out of respect, Raven didn’t fight back. He just curled up, taking the blows until he collapsed to the floor.
By then, the car was already gone.
I looked down and saw blood trickling down my leg. My heart dropped upon seeing that as I knew something was terribly wrong.
“I’m calling 911. Raven, hang in there!”
Just as I pulled out my phone, my mom snatched it from my hands.
“You still want to call the cops on your aunt? Keep dreaming! As long as we’re here, you’ll never get your way!”
She then slammed my phone to the ground, shattering it.
Furious, I glared at my cold and shameless parents and firmly declared, “I’m done. I’m cutting ties with both of you.”
