Chapter 14: Realization

Sara dodged just in time to avoid the cup being thrown at her.

She raised her head to see Derek, Anna and Tara gathered in the living room. Derek looked angry while Anna seemed to be comforting him. The white lotus had a pretentious look on her face.

"So you still know how to come back?!" Derek pointed his finger at her. "How dare you go out and cause trouble? Your sister took pity on you and decided to bring you to such a classy event but yet you ruined it with your mouth! What can you do if Madam Wei decides to take revenge on you because of your stupidity?"

Sara stared at the broken pieces of porcelain around her. "Did you just throw a cup at me?"

"You bastard! I'm talking about your stupid actions!"

"Did you throw a cup at me?"

"Has your jealousy reached such a level?" Derek yelled.

Sara smiled slowly. "I don't like to repeat myself a third time."

For some reason Derek couldn't help but shiver. "And what if I did?" At the thought that he was actually scared of this daughter of his for a minute, his anger grew. "I'll do it again!" With that he grabbed another cup and threw it over.

Sara dodged with lightening speed, the reached out to grab the vase on the table and threw it straight at Tara's feet.

"Ahhhhh!" The vase exploded and a few pieces grazed her body. Tara was so frightened she fell on the floor in a daze causing a few more pieces of glass to stab into her. Small cuts appeared on her arms and feet's.

"Tara!" Derek screamed in fear. "How could you?!" He yelled at Sara.

"Mr Zhen." Sara walked towards him slowly. "You seem to be forgetting that I'm no longer your daughter. That means you have no right to question me, hit me or scold me."

"I am your father! I raised you for seventeen years!" Derek slapped the chair.

Sara smiled darkly. She leaned over the chair he was sitting and said slowly. "Father? You pushed your daughter to her death!"

"Impossible! Aren't you well and alive now?" Derek sputtered. He looked into his daughter's black eyes and felt fear. Real terror.

"No. I'm dead. Dead from your dear daughter's framing, dead from your scoldings and beatings, dead from your lack of love and trust, dead from every thing. I have nothing to live for now." Tears filled her eyes but Sara consciously willed them not to fall.

Derek fell into a daze. Those beautiful eyes used to be so bright... But now all he could remember were dim eyes filled with tears.

"So if you try to hurt me again, I can only protect myself by hurting your daughter. After all I have no one to stand up for me." Sara pretended to choke.

"Sara..." Anna watched her run upstairs and immediately ran after her.

Tara clenched her fists on the floor. She had clearly been injured just now but those people didn't even notice! She bit her lips smd looked at Derek. "Dad.... My legs hurt." She sounded pitiful.

Derek was shocked. "Someone call the doctor!"

Upstairs, Anna followed Sara into her room. "Sara...."

The girl suddenly turned around and buried herself in her arms.

"Why? Why do I have to be blamed everytime? It was clearly Tara who did all those things but why am I the one blamed everytime? Is it because I'm not your biological daughter? You must have known Tara was your daughter long ago! Because I have no family, so you decided to make me a scapegoat for your own daughter?"

"No, no. " Anna shook her head. "That can never be darling!"

"Then why are you bullying me?" Sara wailed, aggrieved. Her face went red from crying and she couldn't breathe. "All I needed was a little trust but you refused me. Now I'm trying to stay away from you, why can't you all leave me alone?"

She began choking.

"Sara!" Anna panicked. "Someone get me water!" She screamed. She only calmed down when she saw her daughter drink the water. The little girl went on sobbing until she fell asleep in her arms. Anna laid her back gently on the bed. As she stood up to leave she saw the picture album on the table. She couldn't resist and reached out to open it. She stared at the images of her daughter right from birth. The happy memories filled her head, hearing her baby's first cry, the first time breastfeeding. How could she unlove a daughter she had loved for seventeen years? Even if her biological daughter was back, she still felt biased.

"Madam." Aunt Liu stood outside Sara's room. Anna saw her red eyes and panicked. "What's wrong?"

"It's..." Aunt Liu began to cry. Anna walked outside quickly and saw the old helper holding something in her hand. "What is..." She choked.

Aunty Liu held up the sparkling blue tiara encrusted with diamonds in her hands. "Madam do you remember?"

Anna felt her heart clench. Her mind returned to a year before. Her daughter's bright eyes appeared in her mind. It was her daughter's 16 birthday and Derek had specially bought a beautiful tiara for her. Anna had felt a bit jealous because she also wanted one. Nobody except her daughter had picked up on her emotions.

'We can only buy one tiara? But I also want mom to have one!

'I've decided! I'll save all my spending money and use it to buy one just like that for you!

"What will we do with a tiara? Wear it on my wedding day! We'll be matching brides!'

Everyone including the servants had laughed at her, causing the little princess to throw a tantrum. They all had to coax her before she agreed to go down for her banquet. Anna recalled those memories and couldn't help but smile. She held the tiara lovingly. Her hands felt a rough patch and she looked at the inside. Engraved were her daughter and her initials with the word 'forever'

'Mom promise to be with me forever, alright? I feel weird these days. Like everything I have will slip away from me.' They stood under the fireworks during the New Year celebrations. Her daughter's red eyes had fear in them. She was terrified.

'You are my only family. All my classmates mock me for being a mummy's girl but I don't care! I'll pick you over everyone else. You will do the same, right?'

'Yes, I trust you! You'll trust me too right? Don't ever leave me.'

'If you guys leave me, I will...I will...I will die!'

'Pinky promise okay?'

Remembering their conversations, Anna fell to the ground and cried. She cried so badly. Even the servants couldn't help but shed a tear.

What went wrong? Anna wondered. How did she and her daughter end up this way? And yet, yet, even during all this, her little girl still held into her promise. And what did she do? She joined in breaking her baby!

She remembered her daughter's red eyes.

'I never did all those things! Why does no one believe me?'

'It's not like they say! Mom, trust me! I'll never do something like that!'

'Why does everyone hate me?'

'I'll rather die than live like this!'

"Madam it's alright." Aunt Liu was the one who raised Sara so she felt things just as strongly as Anna. "Atleast we have a chance to turn things around. Little Sara is still here."

No. Anna thought. She couldn't feel her daughter anymore. She felt like her daughter was barely there. It was killing her.

"We can't wake up Little Miss." Aunty Liu went in to check on Sara. "Madam! Little Miss is burning up!"

Anna rushed into the room and touched her daughter's head. "Call the family doctor!"

And so Tara could only watch as the doctor was stopped from treating her wounds because the 'Little Miss' was having a fever. Her eyes darkened. That damn slut! Why didn't she just die?

"How did her fever reach 39 degrees? Thankfully, I happened to bring along my medications if not..." Doctor Lu shook his head.

Anna was worried. "Is she okay?"

"Just let her stay in bed a few days." The doctor waved. "I'll sleep here tonight so I can watch over her." Doctor Lu spoke worriedly.

"Then I'll have to trouble you." Anna was grateful. "Aunty Liu, please show Doctor Lu to his room."

After the maids left, Anna sat by her daughter's bed. Her mind seemed to have been cleared. All these incidents started happening when Sara brought her friend home. Anna didn't want to, but she couldn't help but feel suspicious of that 'biological' How did this girl end up 'coincidentally' being Sara's friend? Even pushing out all of Sara's former friends? And how did everyone end up hating Sara? Her daughter was raised to be willful yes, but that was all she was. She just liked to stand up for her friends. But how did she become a vicious, wicked and evil girl in just a year after hanging out with Tara?

Anna's eyes flashed. She picked her cellphone.

"Hello? Is this Ming Chao? Yes, it's Mrs Zhen. I'll like to investigate someone."