Chapter 11: Villains are made, not born.
All these people smiling in the photo were people Fil treated with great care. They were the people she let in her heart and life, doing everything for them with genuine heart and intentions.
How could they smile in this photo, knowing what Vincent was doing would devastate her? How could they tolerate such a thing without any regard for her? Just like Vincent, wasn't she also their friend?
"Haha..." A weak laugh escaped her quivering lips, overwhelmed by this revelation.
All Fil could feel was shock and confusion. She couldn't even cry. Even when she was on the verge of screaming, she could only stare at the photo as if etching their smiles in her mind.
"And here I was... almost crippled by my conscience for letting my emotions get the better of me," she murmured, almost laughing out loud. "Yet these people didn't seem to lose a wink of sleep after tolerating such behaviors. Goodness. I feel like a clown."
Jackson, who was standing by her side, only observed her quietly. He had his arms crossed under his chest, not afraid or bothered if Vincent suddenly came out of the shower. He only caught a glimpse of the photo, and he didn't need to stare longer to wonder what it was.
'What a pitiful soul,'he whispered in his mind, keeping his eyes on Fil's side profile. 'Surrounded by such horrible people.'
Jackson drew his lips into a thin line, snapping his eyes at the bathroom. The faint shower slowed down until it stopped running. At any minute, Vincent would get out of the bathroom and see the two of them.
'Will she confront him?'he wondered, shifting his eyes back to Fil. 'What a bothersome woman.'
A shallow breath slipped past his lips, took a step, and snatched the phone from her. Without saying a word, he put the message on unread and tossed it back to bed.
"What are you..." Fil trailed off as he suddenly grabbed her wrist, picked up her phone underneath the blanket, and then dragged her out of the bedroom.