Around dinnertime, a frantic pounding on the door shattered the quiet in our home.
When we opened the door, the parents of the three boys were standing outside.
"Patrick, have you seen our three brats?" Mrs. Burke, Gregory's mother, asked. "My phone calls won't go through!"
"The CEA is tomorrow! Where on earth did they run off to at such a critical time?" Mr. McFadden, Jeremy's father, asked, stamping his feet in frustration and craning his neck to peer into our house.
Dad stood in the doorway like a solid wall, his expression icy.
"They're not here."
The coldness in his voice made them freeze.
Mrs. Trudeau, Wendell's mom, pushed her way forward and stared directly at me.
"Abby, you're usually glued to their sides. Do you know where they went?"
I didn't even look up.
"I really don't know, Mrs. Trudeau," I answered, my voice flat.
My indifference immediately made them realize that something was off.
Mrs. McFadden frowned, looked me over suspiciously, then turned to my parents. "Patrick, did those three brats upset Abby?"
Their anxious expressions only made my stomach churn.
In my past life, after I'd lost my innocence to those thugs, I'd been in such deep despair that I'd jumped off a building.
To protect their sons' futures, these three sets of parents not only cut ties with my family at lightning speed, but they even threw all the blame on me.
Mrs. Trudeau had even slandered me in the hospital hallway. "It was Abigail herself who behaved shamelessly and ran around seducing delinquents. What does any of that have to do with my son?"
I'd already told my parents every single detail about this.
Mom's expression turned livid.
"Upset or not, Abby isn't responsible for babysitting your children!" she snapped icily.
Mrs. Burke's temper instantly exploded. She shoved her finger in Mom's face and shrieked, "What are you saying? Abby is the daughter-in-law that all three of our families agreed upon years ago! We watched her grow up!"
"Abby, as our future daughter-in-law, it's your responsibility to watch over them!" she continued, shamelessly guilt-tripping me. "Now that they're missing, you should hurry and go find them!"
Mr. McFadden chimed in as well, playing the good cop.
"Exactly, Abby. You've always been the most sensible one. Hurry up and bring them back. This concerns their future—the rest of their lives. Can you really take responsibility if something happens?"
Their sheer audacity was revolting. I was just about to speak when Dad stepped forward.
"Bullshit!" he snapped. "What 'future daughter-in-law'? You actually took a childhood joke seriously? My daughter is a good, respectable young woman! You think your three idiot sons, who run around with some delinquent girl, are worthy of her?"
He pointed out the door and roared, "Get out! And stay away from us from now on!"
Then he slammed the door shut, completely cutting off the shocked expressions and harsh curses of the parents outside.
Silence filled the house.
"I never realized they were this kind of people."
Mom turned around and pulled me into a hug, tears streaming down her face.
"Poor Abby… Just how much did you suffer in that last life…"
She stroked my face, her voice catching but sounding resolute. "This time, your dad and I will protect you no matter what. We won't let those three monsters come near you again!"
I hugged her back, a wave of warmth filling my heart.
"It's all in the past now, Mom," I said, wiping her tears away, smiling.
I met her eyes with the same determination. "This time, we're all going to be okay."
After comforting my parents, I returned to my room. I randomly picked out a foreign-language classic novel and quietly began reading.
When the time ticked to 11:00 pm, my phone suddenly lit up. It was Gregory calling.
The moment I answered, deafening dance music mixed with shrill screaming blasted through the speakers.
His words were slurred, and his tone was full of mockery.
"Do you hear that, Abigail? This is what a real coming-of-age party is really like!"
Jeremy chimed in from the side. "Things are insanely awesome out here without an old mother hen like you nagging us!"
"Alright, just let her have it for awhile," Wendell's cold voice cut in. "Don't ruin Lucille's fun."
Expressionless, I hung up. A few seconds later, several photos arrived in my messaging app. They were in a private room at the nightclub, with the trio surrounding Lucille. Empty liquor bottles littered the table.
The caption read, "A night without the buzzkill. Perfect."
I smirked at the photos. Then I looked at the clock again. The hand ticked slowly as time passed.
Suddenly, my phone lit up again and began vibrating frantically. The caller ID showed that it was Jeremy.
I stared at the screen coldly, listening to the shrill ringtone. This time, I declined the call without hesitation.
But the next second, calls from Wendell and Gregory started flooding in. The screen kept flashing, and the relentless ringing of incoming calls pierced the air, one after another, like a death knell.
Even through the phone, I could practically feel the hellish despair and panic they were going through right now.
Judging by the time, the trap Lucille had set up with the thugs had probably sprung. Right now, those three guys were likely pinned under the boots of those very thugs, forced to take scandalous photos.
My lips curled into a smirk. I held down the power button and shut off my phone.
The room fell into complete darkness and silence.
This "old mother hen" wasn't going to save them this time around. Good luck to them.
