2
Sean Parker didn’t know that my lowest point wasn’t now.
The year we graduated, we had agreed to move to the same city to start our careers. I was supposed to go back home briefly to pack my things before we left.
But as soon as I walked through the door, I witnessed a nightmarish scene.
My stepfather had pinned my mother to the ground, one hand pressing her head down, the other viciously swinging his fist.
Seeing me enter, he not only didn’t stop, but hit even harder.
“You worthless bitch! You’re just as cheap as that daughter of yours. You eat my food, drink my booze, but when it’s time to serve me you’re not willing? I’ll beat you to death!”
For a moment, my mother’s wails and my stepfather’s curses blended together, assaulting every nerve in my body.
I couldn’t take it anymore and rushed over to push him off.
But I was no match for him. Within seconds he got back up and slapped me hard across the face.
My mother struggled to her feet and clung to his leg. “Please, stop hitting her. The child will make money in the future.”
The mention of money only made the beast angrier. He shook off my mother and lunged at me, grabbing me by the throat.
In that moment, I felt like I was going to die.
On the brink of despair, my hand found a fruit knife on the table. Without thinking, I plunged it into his heart.
Just like that, at barely over 20 years old, I became a murderer.
The day I was waiting for my sentencing, I made a call to Sean Parker.
As soon as he picked up, he demanded to know why I had been so cold–hearted.
I wiped away the tears that had long since covered my face and spoke scornfully to him for the first time.
“Sean Parker, I’ll tell you the truth. In a couple days, I’m going abroad to live the good life.”
“Only an idiot would stay with a poor nobody like you.”
Those heartless words were enough to crush Sean Parker, who was penniless at the time.
His voice trembled as he warned me not to regret it. After that, we never contacted each other again.
Later, I was sentenced to five years for manslaughter. My mother hanged herself a week after my sentencing.
From that day on, I not only lost my mother, but also my freedom.
I regretted it, but it was too late.
Sean Parker was wonderful, so wonderful that no one else in the world could replace him.
6:33 PM
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As for me, the castle I had spent over 20 years building in my heart had already crumbled.
I was no longer worthy of him.
I would never be worthy again.
For a while after getting out of prison, no company was willing to hire me. I finally managed to find a job as a food delivery driver.
But when my criminal record was discovered, even the boss who had been kind to me suddenly turned cold: “You little brat, do you know how much trouble it would cause the company if this got out? Get lost, and stay far away!”
Who could have imagined that me, a graduate from a top university, would now be unqualified even to be a delivery driver?
Later, I could only rely on the skills I had learned in prison to do some small business, working from dawn to dusk just to barely make ends
meet.
The money Sean Parker threw at me today was almost equivalent to a month’s income for me.
But I didn’t want to accept it.
That money hitting my body hurt more than a slap to the face.
Before bed, I got a call from my college roommate Claire White.
She was the only friend I had contacted after getting out of prison.
“Thea, I invited Sean Parker to my wedding next month too. My dad is working with him now, so I really had no choice.”
“But you have to come, we promised each other back in college.”
I tidied up the money I hadn’t had a chance to refuse earlier and calmly replied: “It’s fine, I have something to return to him anyway.”
Once I returned it, I could let go too.
