Chapter 6
“Crystal, let’s play a game.”
Those words haunted her childhood.
As the middle child, Crystal was always overlooked.
After her younger brother Elroy Drouin was born, her parents‘ attention shifted entirely to him. So she was left in Allison’s care.
At the time, Allison was a rebellious teenager. She felt stuck babysitting when she should have been out living her life.
Frustrated and unable to defy their parents, Allison took her anger out on Crystal. She scolded and hit her.
“Allison, stop it!” Crystal cried, desperate. “I’ll tell Mom and Dad if you keep this up!” She was too little to fight back.
Allison just flashed that unsettling smile.
“Crystal, let’s play a game.”
Then she grabbed one of Crystal’s toys, grinned wickedly, and smashed. it against her own head.
“This game’s called ‘Who Do Mom and Dad Believe“?” Allison smiled, blood running down her forehead. “Let’s see who they’ll side with when we both tell them our stories.”
With that, Allison dropped the toy and burst into tears, covering her head with her hands. “Crystal, stop! You can’t hit me with your toy. It
Chapter 6
hurts…”
Terrified, young Crystal froze in place.
The result was always the same. Their parents believed Allison, and Crystal was left to face the punishment.
Allison’s success only made her bolder, and she hurt Crystal in secret. Then, with her face bloodied, Allison would run to their parents, crying and blaming Crystal.
This twisted “game” had been Allison’s favorite as a kid.
She stopped playing it as they got older.
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But now, years later, Allison was at it again.
The only difference was that she was pregnant.
A sharp scream echoed through the house as Allison fell, tumbling down the stairs and landing in a heap at the bottom. She was bleeding a lot.
Jerome rushed over, his face darkening as he saw Allison lying in a pool of blood.
He shot Crystal a look full of malice but said nothing.
Then he scooped Allison into his arms and rushed to the hospital.
His anger could wait; saving Allison was what mattered at the moment.
A while later, Crystal showed up at the hospital.
Joan and Margret had dragged her there, hitting her along the way.
“Jerome, you said Allison lost a lot of blood and needs a transfusion, right?” Joan asked, looking worried. As she spoke, she dragged Crystal to the doctor, yanking her ear with one hand.
“If Allison needs blood, take it from her. They’ve got the same blood type.
“She pushed Allison, so let her do it. Take as much as Allison needs.”
The hospital’s blood bank had plenty of supply, but Joan wouldn’t back down.
