The roar had stunned everyone at the scene, startling every single person for how hoarse and rough the sound that erupted from the crowd was. It sounded as though it was coming from a beast that was ready to fight for its life. Followed by the voice, a person found her way out of the crowd. The figure barely looked human. The figure that darted out had no resemblance to humans nor phantoms. The clothes on her were ragged and tainted to the point that one could barely tell its original color. The clothes were filled with patches, leaving little to no space on the fabric that was untouched. The person was holding a long, thick wood stick and stood before Sabrina.
Because of the close proximity, Sabrina was able to see everything about the person. Her hair was all tangled up in little knots of dirt and soil, covering half of her face and showing only her two hazy eyes, which were glaring at the old Master Shaw.
"Shaw, you try touching a hair on my daughter and I will tear your granddaughter into shreds!"
Behind her, Sabrina called out to her in a trembling voice. "Mom...is that you? Mom?"
The stray woman originally had her back facing Sabrina as she stood protectively before her. But the moment when Sabrina called her "Mom", her shoulders immediately stiffened.
"Mom! It has to be you, right? Mom!" Sabrina grabbed onto the woman's shoulders hysterically. The woman remained unmoving, not daring to look at her. She bowed her head in silence.
Sabrina ran in front of her and looked directly at the woman's face that was tainted with dirt to the point that her original skin color was completely covered, and sobbed uncontrollably. "Mom, you are my mom right?"
Tears scrolled down the woman's hazy eyes.
"Mom..." Sabrina ran into the arms of the filthy-looking woman and the stick that the woman was holding fell onto the ground.
"Mom...I'm sorry, Mom, I'm sorry!" Sabrina started to explain in tears, her tone filled with guilt. "I'm sorry, Mom, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I...I had stuck to what I should do back in school and studied architecture. I studied hard, hoping that I could improve our lives together so that we won't have to stay under someone else's roof any longer. But I never thought that just when my second year of college started, I would..."
"Mom, I didn't kill anyone. Do you believe me, Mom? I was framed by Lincoln and Jade. I didn't know that Lincoln is actually my biological father. You never told me. No one told me, not even Lincoln himself. For the eight years I've spent with the Lynn Family, he has always treated me like a charity case. When those two framed me and sent me to prison and I was too young t o fight back, I just thought of it as my way of repaying them for raising me! But...I never thought that Lincoln would come find me in prison one day. He got me out a s a guarantor for one day just so that I could go serve some guy who was dying. I didn't want to! But he told me that you were dying, that you were laying on the hospital bed waiting for the money to get immediate medical attention. I had no choice but to agree. But after I did as I was told and slept with that dying man, Lincoln told me that you had passed away. I'm sorry, Mom, I wasn't able to come and arrange your funeral. I later found out that I was pregnant..." Sabrina's voice was trembling with pain and despair, so much so that even passersby couldn't bear to listen to her. Even the two police officers who came to investigate were blinking back their tears.
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