Chapter 49

Valeria

Father stares at Mother. “Meryl?” His voice breaks. “Is she saying the truth?”

“NO! No! She is a horrible girl! She is lying!” Mother looks crazed.

I slowly shake my head. “I am not. You know I am not.”

Father stands, leaving Mother on the ground. “I know when you lie, Meryl.”

“Nooo!” Mother covers her face and begins to cry.

Father slowly lifts his face to look at me. He is breaking, and in that moment, I wish I had never told him.

“This is why she’s always hated me,” I tell him