A cruel fate

The prosecutor banged on her desk and stood up immediately. “Objection your honor, this attorney here is trying to force a false confession from my client.” 

“You are warned, attorney!” the judge said and Mr Hiller backed off.

Mrs Owen looked at her daughter from the witness stand and let out a reassuring smile. She then mouthed at her “It's going to be ok”

Meanwhile, Mr Hiller let out a throaty chuckle and just when he opened his mouth to say something, he suddenly coughed out blood.

“What's wrong...” he couldn't complete his statement before he collapsed heavily on the floor as he kept spitting out blood.

Sofia and her mother rushed to him and held his head. Placing his head on her thighs, Sofia screamed “Somebody should call the ambulance!” 

                     •END OF FLASHBACK•

In a gritted teeth, Sofia voiced out frostily, “I'm going to make sure that you and your entire generation are going to pay for every ounce of pain you and my family go through.” 

An hour passed and the clock struck 8:30. Glancing at her wristwatch Sofia made her way inside the company.

Here she was again, at the same company which rejected her yesterday. Sophia didn't really think that they could reject her so bluntly. 

But again that was the Logan's family, they were people of high standards and she seemed not to have fit in, after she wasn't even from a noble family.

Taking a deep breath, Sophia made her way further into the company. She approached the secretary in charge and submitted her credentials.

After they were done with everything, Sophia thanked her and turned around heading for the exit. However the moment she took the route to the exit, Sofia saw a small figure running towards her at great speed.

Dazed with a wide smile on her face, Sophia simply just stood there, staring at the small figure like she was watching an opera. 

The small figure reminded her of herself when she was still a child. Then the world was a very simple place to be as everyone who loved her was around. 

She still remembered when she was seven and her parents would take her on a picnic and then the zoo to take so many pictures of animals.

However, at that moment, the latter fell flat on the ground causing Sophia to jerk off her wonderful pasts and rush to her side.

“Are you alright? Why would you run like that? Have you forgotten that you're a girl and not an hero?!” Sophia's voice sounded as a wind that blew past the latter's ear. 

Prior to this, Ava has always been picky and easily irritated by the touch of someone. But right now that seemed to have not been the case. 

She was neither picky or willing to push the young woman away... instead she wanted more of her scolding. It was weird but in a right way. 

Sofia was so engrossed in the latter's legs that she didn't notice any of the stars from the little girl. Sticking her right hand out, Ava reached for the woman's face.

  Sofia on the other hand felt something oddly cold on her skin. Looking up to the latter in front of her she gently put down her hands. Looking at the latter's sparkling eyes, Sophia felt a sense of warmth in her heart. At the same time a beautiful smile appeared on her face as she said. “You don't seem to have any injuries. I need to get going now.” 

“Really?” Ava exclaimed in surprise “But I really fell hard though” 

Ava seemed to have enjoyed the company of the lady and was sad that she was going to leave so soon. Just then Sophia turned around to leave but Ava was quick to stop her.

“What is your name?” 

“My name?” Sophia asked as though she didn't hear well in the first place. Letting a small smile she replied “My name is Sophia” with which she walked away in a hurry.

“Sophia” Ava repeated the name with a wide smile visible on her lips, before running along.

Few steps away from the company, Sophia's phone began to ring and she halted on her track before bringing it out of her bag. She saw Stephen's name flashing on the screen, so she quickly swiped to the answer button and placed the phone on her ear.

“Hello Stephen, did something happen...” 

Before she could continue, Stephen's panicked voice could be heard from the other end of the call. “Mom fell off the stairs and now she is bleeding, could you come home right? I'm scared Sophia.” 

Sophia felt the world collapse, the color on her face drained completely. In a few seconds, she turned into a mad woman and ran to the road side immediately and hailed a cab.

While it was not a long journey to her way home, Sophia still felt like it was an eternity. She kept fidgeting in her seat on her way home.

The car finally arrived at a small building, right after it parked itself at the entrance of the house. Sophia quickly paid the driver off and jumped down from the vehicle.

When she entered the house, she had forgotten to take off her shoes earlier but seeing that the house was a bit sandy whenever she took a step, Sophia hissed loudly and pulled off her shoes.

Seeing that the house was oddly quieter than usual, Sophia didn't hesitate to voice out “Stephen? Stephen?!” 

She ran into their mother's room and found Stephen crying as he applied pressure on their mother's bleeding forehead. When he saw Sophia, his eyes glistened in excitement and he cleaned his tears.

“Mom, are you ok?” Sophia rushed to her mother's side and laid her properly on the bed. Meanwhile without anyone telling Stephen to do anything, he quickly rushed to the bathroom and brought the necessities.

It took close to an hour for Sophia to get through with the cleaning. Luckily her mother didn't completely pass out so she was fine. 

Looking at the other end of the bed, was Stephen as he slept soundly beside his mother. The sight was something to behold and it somehow reminded her of the past.

Standing up from where she was seated, Sophia carried the bloody bowl of water and the other things to the bathroom. After that, she returned to her seat and held her mother's hand.

“Mom” Sophia's voice went lower than before “I almost had a heart attack when I heard that you fell off the stairs. So can you please stop hurting yourself?” 

Sophia's voice was as calm as usual. She felt the sudden urge to cry but she couldn't. In fact she didn't know how to.

 Ever since the accident happened and her mother became blind, Sophia suddenly lost all her tears as they vanished into thin air. Since then Vivian wasn't able to cry no matter how hard she had tried.

All of a sudden, a notification popped up on her phone. Sophia checked only to see a message that wrote: You still have about three thousand dollars left to pay up your outstanding loan.

Letting out a tired sigh, she rested her head on the bed and placed her mother's hand on her head before closing her eyes.