“Natalie, do you think they’ll really break Steven’s legs? My parents value his life over their own, so they’ll definitely lose their minds if anything happens to him!”
Natalie gave me a pat on the shoulder as she comforted me, “I think he should be fine. I mean, what else can they do if your family doesn’t pay up? Kill him? Don’t worry, Anna. Your parents aren’t dumb, so I’m sure they’ll know to call the police if those men try to hurt him.”
What Natalie said made sense, and I felt a lot better after hearing it.
“It’s getting late, you should get some sleep. I’ll wait and see if my mom calls again. She said those men would be collecting the money in an hour, so I’m really scared that something bad might happen.”
“Nah, I’m not tired. Besides, I can’t possibly fall asleep knowing how anxious you are. I’ll wait here with you,” Natalie said as she sat down beside me and put an arm around my shoulder.
Time ticked by, and two hours soon came to pass with no call nor text from Mom whatsoever. I felt somewhat uneasy as I glanced at the time on my phone.
Why hasn’t Mom called me yet? Did those men really let them off the hook so easily?
“Why hasn’t my mom called? It’s been so long now…” I mumbled to myself worriedly as I gripped the phone tightly in my sweaty palms.
“Maybe you should try calling her to find out what’s going on over there. Who knows, maybe those men left after realizing they wouldn’t be getting any money!”
Natalie grew anxious as well when she saw me panicking.
I nodded and dialed my mom’s number on the phone, but it just kept ringing until I got to her voicemail.
That gave me a bad feeling in my gut, so I tried calling her a second time.
The call got through right as I thought it would go to voicemail again, and I could hear Mom’s voice on the other line.
“Hello, Mom! How are things over there? Did those men leave?” I asked anxiously before she could say anything.
The next thing I knew, Mom was wailing loudly into the phone.
“What’s wrong, Mom? What happened? Talk to me!”
Mom went silent for a brief moment all of a sudden, and the bad feeling in my gut intensified as I waited in suspense.
“They broke your brother’s legs, and it’s all your fault! Are you happy now, you f*cking ingrate? You’re no longer my daughter!”
My heart felt like it was being squeezed by an iron grip when I heard Steven’s legs were broken.
Oh, god… My parents must be devastated!
“Mom, how is Steven right now? Is he okay?” I asked frantically after regaining my composure, but Mom hung up on me without saying a word.
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