Chapter 7 - A dreary breakfast table

Marilyn cuts the call. "Stupid Amelia!"

She looks down at her hand. The hand which he had held the day before. "Do I like him....? There's no way..."

...

The next morning

Marilyn gets off her bed, sleepily rubbing her eyes. 'Damn that fallen angel! I wasn't able to sleep properly! Why does he have to act so mysteriously?'

"Yawn... Well, I'm not one to talk..." She smiles self-depreciatingly.

'Ah, I have to hurry up! It's Monday today...' She quickly washes and dresses up. She walks down the steps into the dining room and takes a seat.

"Good Morning, Grandfather." She greets him with a smile.

"Good Morning, Mari. How was your date yesterday?" Mr. McGrath takes a seat at the head of the table and looks up at her.

"It went well." Marilyn simply smiles politely as she says only that.

Mr. McGrath sighs. "...Do you hate it?" He mumbles.

Marilyn suddenly looks up. "Sorry? What did you say? Hate what?"

"Am I forcing you, dear? Am I sticking my nose too far into your business? Do hate being Marilyn? Do you hate the fact that I want you to marry? Do you hate.... me?" He lowers his head and stares at the carving on the dining table. 'When will our breakfast be here....? My thoughts all turn negative when it's silent like this....'

Marilyn stays silent for a bit as she observes Mr. McGrath. 'He's self-destructing again...' She smiles.

"Grandfather."

He twitches a bit but silently stares at the dining table.

"Grandfather! Look at me!" She says with a firm tone.

He slowly raises his head. 'If she tells me that she hates me... I'll probably die...(T-T)'

"Grandfather... I do not hate you at all. I'm very grateful for what you've done for me. I don't hate marrying. In fact, Michael is a very good person. I'm not the kind of a person who looks for romance so I would be happy to find a reliable partner. I am not unhappy... It's just that they are all good people with happy lives... I'm worried that being with someone like me would be too pitiful... I'm... I'm not supposed to be in their lives. I shouldn't have met with him."

"Marilyn!" Mr. McGrath suddenly shouts.

"Yes?" She looks up at him to find him glaring at her.

"Sigh... I don't know what to say when you become like this... Why... do you hate yourself so much?"

"Kenneth! Don't forget you're looking at a murderer." She says.

She rarely called him by name. The fact that she did now meant that she was very serious.

"Marilyn! It's not your fault that happened! They didn-"

"I killed them. With my own hands." She says, shutting him up.

The atmosphere becomes so heavy you could probably cut it with a knife. The breakfast arrives and both of them sit staring at the food without taking a bite.

"I apologize. My presence will spoil your appetite." Marilyn says as she stands up. "I shall take my leave."

Mr. McGrath stares at her leaving silhouette as he sighs. 'Just what can I say to that kid....'

...

At her office, in Heathrow Tech

Marilyn dazedly skims through the reports she was to cross-check as her assistant Zoe looked at her worriedly.

While reading, she comes across the word 'hostility' and smiles sadly.

'Ah, I shouldn't have talked about my parents today. It makes me remember all those things...'

.....

She stares deeply into the woman's eyes. "Please, Momma! Please....?"

"No!" Her mother adamantly refuses.

"Momma!" She sadly cries out. Unable to shake her mother's resolve, she turns to her father. "Poppy! Poppy! Please? It's just an amusement park! I've never been to one! It's okay to go out for a few hours, right? Just this one time...."

"Sky!" Her mother glares at her. "How many times have I told you that you can't go out! It's dangerous!"

"I've never gone out, though! Can we at least go out for a picnic? Please, Poppy?"

Her father laughs. "Just how old are you Ms. Mitchell? Calling me Poppy at the age of 11 doesn't sound cute, Sky. I'll take you to the park, okay?"

"But, dear-" Her mother suddenly stands up from the couch.

"It's fine." Her father interrupts. "It's just for a while. Let's all go out together. She's never even been outside. She deserves at least this much." He smiles.

"Dear! What if something happens?!" Her mother protested.

"It's just this once. Everything will be fine."

She looked at her father and then her mother who was now sighing helplessly. "Yay!"

Three hours later, she sat on the ground with eyes wide open and blood dripping down her hands and two cold corpses lying next to her as policemen tried to pull her off the ground and drag her away. She couldn't believe what she had just done. She couldn't-

.....

"-ident? President?" She awoke to her assistant shaking her. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh?" Marilyn looks down at her stinging palm and sees blood dripping from a cut formed by breaking the pen in her hands. "Oh." She looks up at her assistant. "I'm fine. Thank you, Zoe. No need to wor-"

Suddenly, the world started spinning and she hit the ground, blacking out.