Chapter 709 - Seven Hundred And Nine: Deborah -2 (1/2)

The third point of view:

Deborah learned from a young age that having hope was cruel. Believing in the impossible to happen was the same as drinking poison and hoping that it doesn't kill you.

So she gave up on faith from then on and crushed the dream that her father would come for her - because it would never happen. Moreover, why would her father come for an ugly pig like her - so they called her.

So she stayed with her mother and step-father hoping that someday they would change their attitude towards her. As if fate finally smiled her way, her younger sister liked her, no, loved her. As little as she was, she would defend Decorah fiercely from the bullies - including their own parents.

Thanks to the love showered upon her by her sister, Deborah was able to breathe. Her dear sister was a good manipulator and a great actress and through her tears, she forced their parents to provide Deborah's needs as a growing lad that they neglected for a long time now.

Opal was her sister's name and in Sanskrit origin meant ”jewel”. In Deborah's eyes, her sister was a jewel sent to her from heaven. But then, good things never last long. One day while she had been playing with Opal, as usual, her dear sister fainted and was rushed to the hospital.

Deborah could never forget how frightened she had been while her sister remained in the emergency room. She conjured numerous sceneries in her head where the doctor would come out and announce that her sister was dead.

However, none of that happened yet the result wasn't promising either. According to the doctor, Opal had Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) - a hole in the heart - and needed surgery because of the hole and the location. Aside from that, she was at greater risk for developing endocarditis, an infection of the inner surface of the heart caused by bacteria in the bloodstream.

Unfortunately, there was no money for surgery. After their father lost his job, his mother became the breadwinner of the family and her father since then made no effort to find one.

Her mother tried her best to gather enough money for the surgery and even had to borrow money from friends and neighbors while her father went about drinking and wallowing in self-pity.

Thanks to Opal's illness, it took much of her mother's time and attention and she was seen less and less at home and that was when it began.

One night, her step-father came back home drunk as usual. Deborah was in the kitchen preparing dinner for the both of them when he staggered into their living room and she had to leave everything she was doing to help him to his room.

Deborah winced because he reeked of alcohol and his breath stinks. But then something happened, the instant she put her arm around her father to steady and help him on his feet, the man groped her and she let go of him immediately.

He fell to the ground while Deborah was mortified by what happened. Perhaps, because it was the first time such a thing happened, she surmised that it was a mistake and didn't think much about it.

However, that was the beginning of her misery.

The next few days that followed made Deborah increasingly aware of her step-father. While they passed each other, he would mistakenly brush his arm across her body and would pretend that nothing happened. From that day, he would make suggestive remarks about her body that were quite sensitive - something that had never happened before.

Call it her sixth sense or something but Deborah knew she was endangered. She began to sleep with her door locked and made sure to limit her encounters with her father - she cooked on time and ensured dinner was ready before he came back home.

Her father must have discovered her tactics because one day, he came home on time and she had no choice but to serve him his meal. As soon as she was done setting the table, her father reached out and pulled her to his laps.

”Why are you being so grumpy?” He laughed while she struggled to be free from him.

”Don't tell me you've not done it. I see the way that the boys on our street have been staring at you lately,” He said while touching her breast.