Karma Doesn't Exists!

Ava knew Arya was up to something from the moment she saw her early in the dining room. Not only had her daughter arrived early, but also dressed up like the lady she should be.

The dessert was being served at the table as Arya had gotten the courage to finally speak. It was a one-size portion mini-Opera cake. Chef and patissier Dubois had added his own little creativity and added little gold flakes to the cakes of Kanon and Arya.

"Isn't this cake lovely?" Kanon grabbed her pastry fork and had a bite. "Mhm… it's so delicious." She was trying to lighten the mood a bit, so whatever Arya wanted to tell their mother would go swifter.

"Kanon, stop doing that, you look like a pig who hasn't eaten since God knows when!" Ava reprimanded, still ignoring Arya's comment about needing to talk with her.

Eason, not having a sweet tooth, and not wanting to be in the same table or space as Ava, coughed, "I will leave first, excuse me. If you girls need anything, I will be in my study."

"Good night, Father," both girls said in unison knowing that they would not see Eason till the next day.

Ava continued eating small pieces of her cake. Arya was playing with it, and Kanon was trying not to "hog" it as Ava had described it.

"Mother, there is something that I really want to talk about with you."

Ava dropped her pastry fork on the plate. "So, how much?"

"How much what?"

"What did you do? How much do I need to pay to cover up your mistake?"

Arya clenched her hands that were under the table. Her nails were digging into the palm of her hands making her feel pain, but it was that or Arya punching her mother.

"I don't need you to cover up anything. I want to talk with you about creating an anonymous charity foundation," Arya tried to make the words coming out of her mouth sweet, and not full of anger.

Ava immediately scoffed, "A what? Anonymous charity foundation? Did you become stupid overnight or what? Why would I let you create that? No one would know that the Ling family is the one behind it. What prestige is that going to bring to our family?"

"Not everything is about name and prestige, Mother." Arya glared at Ava as she said those words a bit more aggressively.

Kanon put her hand in Arya's left leg, reminding her to keep calm.

"So, what is it about? If it's anonymous, the only ones benefitting from it are the poor people."

"Aren't you scared that karma will one day befall us because we just care about ourselves?" Arya snapped. She thought maybe she deserved to die that day in such a horrible way. She had not noticed it, but now, that her twenty-two years old self, had been as vain and cruel as her mother.

"Maybe the elders saying is true, and karma will fall upon us at the end of our lives. Don't you want to at least do something good, so your ending won't be a bad one?"

Kanon's face paled. Arya was right, the Ling family was an active member in charity events, especially Ava, but the other truth was that each time they appeared on it, the spotlight was on them and on how much they had donated. It was never about the cause. But telling the truth to their mother was just complete craziness. Ava would not deal with it nicely.

Ava hit the table with the palm of her hands as she stood up and raised her voice, "You ungrateful child! What are you calling me? Vain? Superficial? You also wish me to die soon or what?"

Arya then stood up to be at the same eye level as her mother. Kanon tried to pull down Arya again but failed, "I'm just speaking the truth. Karma exists even if you don't want to believe it. I just think an anonymous charity foundation is going to help us."

Ava then went around the table to reach Arya's seat and slapped her on the left cheek while grabbing her by her long hair, "Listen to me, you ungrateful child. If karma exists, I wouldn't have been where I am right now. The world is not a place where you do good and good will be rewarded to you. You do good, and people will think of you as a fool. The world is a place where you can only survive if you are willing to snatch what you want with your hands. So, don't come again to me with those silly ideas of yours."

Ava then released Arya's locks of hair and retreated from the dining room.

"Ari… are you okay? Why did you provoke Mother like that? Do you have a death wish?"

Arya felt anger and shame at the same time. She felt anger because her mother was just a fool. She was going to end up like her in the future, and she felt shame because she had become in her past life just like what she is currently despising the most without noticing.

"So, maybe I did hurt many people without knowing," Arya's mind filled with guilt.

"Sorry, Kanon, I want to go back to my room. Good night," Arya said as she also disappeared from the dining room, leaving Kanon there all alone thinking just when did their family become so dysfunctional.