Lilith
“Help!” I screamed desperately, flapping my arms above the surface of the water to keep myself afloat.
It was only a matter of time before I drowned.
“Deli…” I managed to call, but she was engrossed with her phone, capturing how I was drowning without a modicum of compassion.
Her cheeks flushed red, and my vision began to get blurry as the seconds went by. A wide grin appeared on her pale face as she stretched her hands, lowering the camera to focus on me sinking into the large body of water helplessly.
“Dad…Mr Parker, help!” I screamed when I took in a sharp breath before my head began to drop into the water.
The presence of the chlorine sank into my eyes, sending a stinging sensation.
I shut my eyes, stretching my neck with all my might to catch a bit of oxygen flowing in the air.
My dress was soaking, and a cold bit into my skin.
My hands stopped flapping furiously, and I relaxed into the water, memories flashing rapidly in my head.
From the distance, I saw my father’s mistress and my father, sipping tea from a small mug and chatting happily when I forced my eyes open as if my situation never bothered them.
Delilah pushed me into the pool before their eyes, yet they ignored me. If it had been the other way round, I would have been punished, or I would be knocked out, and the next place I would find myself is the four unfriendly corners of the jail.
It was like I didn’t exist.
Maybe I wasn’t his biological daughter.
How could he hate me this much to the extent of turning blind eyes when I was on a thin rope, dangling between life and death?
Was there something my mother didn’t tell me? Who was my real father?
The questions tripled the more I sank.
Soon, I could barely keep my head up.
The water formed a circle around my face, swallowing my hair, and my teeth began to clatter noisily.
I hugged my small frame, clasping my lips tight as I managed to think of ways to keep myself alive.
Droplets of sadness settled in my gut when I felt a light piece of flat paper float across my leg.
It didn’t bother me.
Delilah and her parents had already ridiculed me enough.
The money didn’t bother me. If I came out of this pool alive, I would prove to them that their money was nothing to me.
They had humiliated me enough.
I was done being used as their silly entertainment and harassment.
“Listen Lily,” my father’s voice pierced into my ears, making me cringe in disgust.
My heart surged in expectation. A tiny part in me still convinced myself that he would rescue me.
Maybe he was just acting tough.
His scent filled my nostrils, and I parted my eyes open to meet his cold, hostile ones.
He took his time, striding lazily across the …….. before stopping before me.
Heavily a bored sigh, he rolled his eyes, taking a sip from the mug before fixing his icy eyes on me.
I struggled beneath the water, trying to move closer to him as I tried to listen to his words.
“It’s a shame you really have to end this way,” he began his speech, smacking his lips before drinking the tea and letting out a satisfying moan.
“What the hell did you put in this thing?” He said, turning to Delilah with a smile.
“You like it, right?” She squealed, her cheeks turned cherry as she pouted her lips to make her appear cute.
Urgh!
Even the blind knew that I was more beautiful than her.
“Yes. It’s sweeter. Gosh, I love it,” he complimented, licking his lips in an annoying way.
His head tilted towards me, and I shot him with a disgusted look. “Now that’s how happy she makes me, unlike you.” His voice greeted cold as he spilled the last words.
“If you had given…me the chance…I would have made you happy…but you threw us away…” I stopped when my breath was caught in my throat.
“You can never make me happy. Not in this life,” he scowled, a deep frown resting on his face as he became terrifying.
“Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do wrong? What did my mum or my sister ever do to you to deserve this horrendous treatment!”
“You want to know?” He asked, smirking before looking at the mistress. “Do you think it’s time to let her know?”
Curiosity settled in my freezing body, sending my heartbeat to slow down.
Whatever they had to say, I know it was crucial.
“Sure thing. Tell her. Maybe these are the last words you will speak to her. She probably wouldn’t survive this anyway.”
My heart sank in bewilderment, and goosebumps blanketed my skin.
“So this is what you all talk about daily? Wishing I would die so you can erase me so badly from your lineage. What did we ever do to deserve this?” I fired with anger and resentment, tears blinding my vision.
“Oh, spare me the crocodile tears. No one will save you from there, and no one is buying your acts.”
“You disgust me!” I yelled, my voice dripping in anger and disappointment.
“You know who disgusts me? Your mother!”
A gasp tugged at my throat, and my eyes flew open in shock.
My mouth dropped, and curiosity clawed in me.
“My mother is a good person…”
“Sure. If a good person is who you call someone who seduces a man, traps him with the pregnancy because of his wealth. After using him to the top from being a maid, she became a boss’s wife, she hid her true character and acted like a nice person on the outside,” he blurted, twirling the content in the mug before gulping it down while I stared in confusion.
My brows drew together curiously as I tried to comprehend what he had said.
It can’t be my mother.
“Shs is a manipulative bitch that knows how to play her cards well and make people feel sorry for her while she achieves her aims.” The mistress completed, handing over a flask to my dad.
“Thanks, honey,” he mouthed, pecking her lightly on her cheeks before turning to me.
“I hope our simple explanation is enough.”
“I don’t…understand.” I stammered, my eyes darting around between the mistress and my father.
“She is so dumb. It irritates me!” the mistress spat, fuming in anger.
“Fine. Your mother was my maid, but she tried to find a way of escaping poverty so she seduced me, made me drunk and got knocked up. I was in love with the woman you called my mistress but I hadn’t shown her to my parents. When my parents found out that I Impregnated the maid, I was forced into marrying her. It didn’t take long before Delilah was conceived,” he explained, leaving me trembling with shock.
“So when she had cancer, I had to do away with her. I can’t have someone drowning all my money while I take care of her. It was my avenue to get rid of her. And I don’t feel sorry about it because I was never in love with her.”
“So this is the reason you hated me.”
“I just want you all out of my life. I warned you never to return here, but you never listened.”
“Delilah is your daughter? I thought she was your mistress’ daughter?”
Everything still seemed like a movie to me, including my dad’s confession.
He had his family all along.
“I ceased being your father from the day I sent your mum away. As I have always said, you all are dead to me and no matter what happens, you will remain dead to me. Delilah and my sweetheart remain the only heir to my assets,” he stated coldly, moving away from me as if I repulsed him.
My heart shattered into a billion fragments and the cold didn’t help.
The pain was like a billion knives twisted in my heart, ripping it until there was nothing left.
My tears mixed with the water as it flowed uncontrollably.
My eyes were swollen and red from crying.
Soon, my strength left me, making me drown in the pool.
The water slowly rose above my eyes to my nose.
I wasn’t going down without a fight.
Without thinking twice, I grabbed Delilah’s ankle, pulling her into the water with me before we completely sank to the bottom.
Good thing her parents’ backs were. turned to us.
Even if I didn’t survive it, it filled me with great pleasure that I hurt Delilah.
A loud screeching sound tore above the waters.
“That bitch pushed our daughter into that giant pool!” the mistress’ voice permeated the air as she panted.
“What?”
“Delilah can’t swim. She sank into the pool!” The mistress paraded dramatically.
A smile formed on my face as life was slipping away from me.
My heart beamed with excitement at the huge commotion that I had caused.
If I go down, she goes down with me.
If I die, she dies with me.
“I will so kill that bitch!”