Chapter 3

It was daytime, and Hope rushed to the bathroom to wash her face. Her eyes were a bit puffy, but not enough to make her dad worry.

It was obviously a burden on her mind, a burden that was killing her from inside.

She immediately went down to the living room only to see her parents arguing. As soon as Carl saw her, he cut Ashley off.

He didn't want their daughter to see them fight - even though she actually did.

"We'll talk about this later."

He whispered to Ashley as he was moving towards Hope.

"Good morning, sunshine, d-did you just woke up."

Yeah... her dad wasn't the best actor. But something that bothered Hope was the fact that her mom, instead of looking upset, she was happy.

Like she really wanted to fight with Carl.

"Yeah, I had the best sleep."

She replied to him with a smile on her face. It really pained her to smile in front of him now. She was practically lying to him - that's what she thought.

Everyone moved to the kitchen to eat their breakfast. It was dead-silent, and Carl seemed absent-minded.

Minutes after a phone started ringing. It was her mom's, she seemed excited but tried to hide it.

"I-i will go pick it up. It must be something important for someone to call at this hour. "

She was practically running to get to the phone. It was clear who called her at this time of day. Hope wanted to start a conversation, so she just picked a topic that was important.

"So dad... in a year, I will start middle school again. It's already the last year, do you think it will be harder?"

Her dad finally smiled.

"Oh come on, princess, not everything in life is easy, but I will tell you that. I will be by your side to always help you. I don't think you need help, though. You are a smart little cookie."

He ruffled her hair, and they both laughed. On the other hand, Ashley went upstairs to the bedroom.

"Honey, I told I would make the calls. Ugh, yeah, that man is such a burden, along with the kid. I started our plan this morning, we argued, but that brat interrupted us. I will call you later. Don't worry when that punk will start school. I will be gone. Bye for now, my love."

Ashley didn't love this family. She liked to fool around.

She made Calr think she loved him. She didn't have in mind the child.

It was just a game until Hope arrived in the world. She was the only reason that the family didn't fall out faster .

She finally decided to go downstairs, and she saw Hope and Carl laughing.

She didn't care about them. She now found a new lover, and they both plot against Hope and Carl.

She wanted to see them suffer since she always thought Hope as the root of her problem.

Her plan would actually succeed in a year when Hope would start her middle school.

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