EMOTION DOWN POUR

Those words sounded like thunder to Jessie's ears. Did her daughter Linda really say those words to her? And her husband sat there and said nothing until Linda was done with insulting her? "I hope you don't regret this someday." Jessie whispers to her daughter.

"The only I will regret is coming to this world through you!" Linda says loudly.

"What?" Jessie asks in shock.

"I wonder if God is making me pay for all the sins I committed in my previous life, because if not, why will he make you of all people be my mother?"

"Linda!" Paul call and stands. "That's enough, do not talk to your mother that way. No matter what, she is still your mother, you can never change that fact."

"So now you are trying to pretend like you weren't in on this together all along? You can try to caution her now after you sat there and watched her hurl insults at me?" Jessie asks loudly holding tears in her eyes.

"I wish you can just see how pitiful and helpless you are." Linda whispers.

"You idiot!" Jessie yells and slaps her daughter so hard, then breathe heavily afterwards.

Linda holds her face with a lot of pain and anger mixed with tears in her eyes. "Did this make you feel better?" She asks her mom.

"Do not utter any more statement there. If not, you will not find it funny." Jessie warns again grinding her teeth.

"Jessie, don't be like this." Paul says and moves closer to the mother of his child. "Don't be like this to our daughter."

"Get out!" she yells and pushes him to the bed annoyingly.

"Father!" Linda calls loudly and rushes to her father, helping him stand in his feet again. "Are you okay?"

"Yes I am." Paul nods and faces Jessie again. "What is all these for?"

"How dare you question me in my own house?" Jessie asks again. "Who are you to question me in my own house?" She yells.

"Your house?" Linda asks and laughs. "You inherited it from grandfather." She stops and clears her throat. "Only God knows if you killed him to inherit all his properties too."

"Linda! Keep quiet right now." Paul cautions sincerely. "You are saying too much."

"Let me be father!" She replies. "A killer should be regarded and treated as one. Why is there an exemption to her?"

"You are saying you killed my own father?" Jessie asks with her voice trembling.

"We never can say, you were the only one there with him when he passed away. Grand father was hale and healthy until you went to pay him the mysterious visit when none of his maids and house workers were around and he died."

"You call me a killer? How about you? You killed someone at age thirteen!" Jessie tries to defend herself even though she knows she is wrong. "And I saved you by covering it up for you."

"At least I killed someone by mistake, I am not like you who kills for pleasure." Linda fires back.

"Kill for pleasure?" Jessie asks with tears rushing out her eyes. "Did you know how much Peter mean to me?! I was with him for good two years yet he dumped me for one good for nothing!!! The Heartrose hospital is what it is right now because of my innovations!!!!" She says loudly panting up and down. "Even with the trauma I experienced as a child, I believed all his terrible lies and had ectopic pregnancy for him!!! Then you expect me not to kill him? No." She shakes her head. "Even if I could rewind time, I will choose to kill him again and again."

"Let's go." Paul holds his daughter's hands and takes her out of the room.

Jessie falls to her bed and weeps profusely, no one really understands her pains. Right from start, she avoided anything serious with Peter because of the trauma she experienced as a child with her parents. But instead, she decided to trust her lover and give him her all in all, and he dumped her.

Linda and her father sits in her room in the bed very close to each other, both fixed their gaze on the small painting in the room. They try to fathom all she poured out in there, ectopic pregnancy? Childhood trauma? But Jessie had never mentioned it or talked about to someone else.

"Did you hear all your mother said in there?" Paul asks still looking at the frame.

"Of course I did." Linda nods. "But that is still no excuse."

"Why do you say so?" He asks again.

"There is no good reason for doing something wrong." Linda whispers and faces her father.

"Your mom needs help, I mean emotional and mental help." Paul sighs. "But she wouldn't talk to anyone." He faces his daughter too.

"Father, my mom is not humane, she is a monster, a terrible one." Linda whispers. "She had killed four different people all in the name of wanting to take revenge."

"Do you think we should try to move closer to her, maybe we can change her." Paul says hopefully.

"We can't change that woman. She is different, I am sure you know the kind of person she is. Even if we change her, will that bring back those dead people? We don't even know if Ella is alive or not."

"Should we try to find Ella ourselves?" Paul asks.

"No I don't want to." Linda rejects politely. "I still feel bad for those things that I did to her in the past. Also, I don't think she is alive."

Paul exhales deeply. "I think it is our fate to live our lives like this."

"Let's just make sure you get better as soon as possible." Linda whispers with a smile.

He returns the smile and says. "So, will you promise me that you would stop bullying Ella in school?" He asks.

She understands perfectly that her father's memory is gone again. She smiles again and says. "Yes, I will stop bullying her."