Chapter 526 I Am Not So Vile
“I really wanted to thank you for Janette. If not for you, I would dread to imagine what else would have happened to her,” said Alicia in earnest while she sat beside me with my hand in hers.
She spoke to me in a very cordial manner which made me frown uncomfortably. To be honest, I did not like how distant that made me feel.
“It’s something that I ought to do, so think nothing of it. With everything that had happened to her, anyone else would have been equally sympathetic. What’s more, she’s my half-sister, so there was no way I could have stood by and done nothing.”
Without evoking much emotion, I looked her straight in the eyes as I spoke.
“Regarding Janette…” said Alicia apprehensively after she saw that I was quiet for some time.
“Actually, I have something that I wanted to discuss with you all as well. As this is no trivial matter, I was wondering if you would consider filing a police report.”
My initial plan was to seek an opportunity to broach this subject with her at a later time, but since I was already here today, I thought that I should bring this up and seek their input.
“This…”
Not expecting that I would table this suggestion, Alicia appeared perturbed. It did not seem that she would be open to this course of action.
“I don’t want to go to the police!”
Just as she was at a loss for how to answer me, Janette’s shrill cry shot out from the staircase.
With her face pasty and in an obvious state of agitation, she strode down the stairs and began to scream her head off at me.
“I won’t go file a report! I will not have this brought up with the police!
The sudden appearance of the irate Janette had me furrow my brows.
I understood her reservations as I knew how much this was going to affect her should there be more people to find out about that incident.
“Janette, I still think that it would be better for us to file a report because if we don’t notify the police and have those people arrested, who knows how much more harm they could cause to others. Am I right to say that you wouldn’t want other girls to suffer the same way as you did either?”
While it would not be in Janette’s personal interest to go to the police, I was only raising this suggestion in the hope that others may be spared from a similar fate. However, that was only me coming from a position of an outsider. I was aware that it might not be a concern that Janette may share in.
“What business is it of mine even if it happens to anyone else? So what if those men were all caught? Would it help restore my innocence?”
Janette’s sallow face was visibly livid, and her eyes glared at me with much contempt.
“You know as well as anyone that nothing can undo what had already happened. By suggesting that you do this, it’s in the hope that no one else would get hurt in the future.”
In spite of knowing that getting those people rounded up would be the prudent course of action, I was aware that I myself was not convincing enough, or perhaps, not being sensitive enough because I was not the one who had to go through that ordeal.
“You are doing this on purpose, aren’t you, Anna Garcia? You want the whole world to know about my shame, don’t you? You want to see to it that everyone knows about it, so that they may judge me until I’m driven to my death. Only then would you be satisfied, yes?”
Janette grew increasingly irascible and stabbed at me with her finger as she railed away.
Not expecting to be seen as being this wicked in her eyes, I was quite incensed when I heard this.
“I’m not so vile, all right? This is all for your own good. Don’t you want to see them punished for what they did to you? Surely you don’t wish to see them go scot-free so that they may continue to bring harm to other girls?”
Admittedly, I had not been very cognizant of her feelings but I was by no means the sort of person that she had accused me of being. Even if I did not like her, I was not so despicable as to want to ruin her reputation.
“That is exactly what’s going through your skanky little head. You simply could not wait to let the whole world know about my dirty past! All of this only happened because of you, Anna, so what right have you to come here and ask this of me?”
As she was consumed by her rage, my attempts at explaining myself were completely lost on her. Her frail body trembled vigorously, and her eyes were bloodshot.
“You shouldn’t speak to Anna like this, Janette. She’s only doing this with the best of intentions.”
Alicia regarded her and counseled her gently. Perhaps she had also felt that Janette had gone a little overboard.
Remembering how Janette stormed out the last time she spoke up for me, she was not going to speak that harshly to the former again, especially under these circumstances.
“The best of intentions? How would I have ended up this way, if not for her? Now, I don’t even dare to step out of the house because whenever I do, I dread having everyone’s eyes on me because I could sense that they are laughing at me!”
Emotionally, Janette was a little unhinged when she said that, and tears flowed from her puffy eyes.
I began to find her quite pitiful when I saw her behaving that way. Even though I was upset about the way she maligned me, I decided not to wrangle with her over it. After all, she was not in a good place at the moment.
“Okay. Calm down now, Janette. We won’t file a report if you don’t want to, all right?”
Alicia looked at Janette, heartbroken. When she saw her that way, she promptly got to her feet and went over to hold and comfort her.
This scene got my brows in a knot and I said no more.
Since this happened to Janette, the decision ultimately lay in her hands. All I could offer up was a proposal. It was not within my rights to choose on her behalf.
I held my silence, as did Janette. The only communication that went on between us was the hatred that festered in her eyes.
She had placed the blame for all this squarely on my shoulders and felt that I was solely at fault for getting her violated. This line of thinking of hers made me mad, but I was not going to get into it with her.
It was only after a considerable length of time did she regain her composure. Alicia helped wipe away her tears and spoke to her gently, “You haven’t had anything to eat yet today, have you, Janette? I’m sure you must be famished, so let me get them to prepare some of your favorite dishes.”
There was only kindliness and love in the way she regarded Janette. At this instant, she only had eyes for her youngest daughter and complete disregard for my presence.
“I should be getting a move on. It’s getting late and I’ve already stayed on long enough.”
Not one for being ignored like this, I thought it better to leave than to watch her shower her affections on Janette.
“Do stay over for dinner. That was the reason why I wanted to have you over, after all,” said Alicia hastily when she saw me getting to my feet.
“It’s fine. I should go as I have no appetite.”
