Love versus Justice

Chapter 11 - When a Woman Decides

    Thank God Laila was able to calm down. After an hour of silently crying in Mandy’s arms, she was able to let out her bottled emotions for years. She never mentioned it to anyone but her Achilles heel is her dad. To other people including Jordan, it appears that she hates the memory of her dad. That’s why she never mentioned him to anyone. What they don’t know is that she doesn’t even dare to mention it because it was too painful. The choice she made is too painful, and she hates going back to it over and over again.

    Moments before her dad died, nobody knows that she received a call. Yes, her dad called her, telling her that he loves her so much and that no matter what happens to him, she should carry on. She should continue living normally. He made her promise not to dig the cause of his death and get involved in a dangerous play.

    That was too painful. Yes, she obeyed him but at the back of her mind, she is dying of guilt. She knows that she is not doing what a daughter is supposed to do. It’s true that her dad made her promise that she wouldn’t get herself involved but to herself, she cannot carry on living like this, living like a zombie. She has to do something to appease her guilt.

    What she saw in her father’s treasure box did not only reveal a lot about Vice-President Morris Parker’s death. Along with those collections also reminded her of their precious memory as a father and daughter. There, she saw lots and lots of pictures of them together ever since she was young until she grew up.

    She never knew her mother. She grew up with her dad alone, but she never lacked anything because her dad fulfilled a mother’s role to her. Her dad never remarried just to raise her up and focus on her. Her father treasured her so much as if she was the only riches he had in the world while she was just okay with the idea of not doing anything to give justice to his death. She did nothing for twenty years while in fact, she is already matured enough to fight.

    Her conscience bothered her last night. That’s one of the reasons why she wasn’t able to sleep. Aside from the fact that she is scared of what she discovered, she spent lots of time crying while reminiscing her dad and feeling guilty about her inaction.

    Maybe dad could forgive me. In the first place, he was the one who made me promise not to dig out anything related to his death, she thought. However, at the back of her mind, there is this tinge of guilt bothering her. You are not young anymore. You are matured enough to fight for your dad. With this in mind, she stood up again, went near and Mandy and spoke statements that would change her life forever.

    “Mandy, I’m fighting with you. I’ve decided to continue this fight with you.”