CCC : Chapter 25 "Valter"

“I beg your pardon?” the detective says to Jefferson. From what Jefferson just said, it makes everyone look surprised and confused at the same time. After looking at our reaction, Jefferson looks more relaxed than before, he even lays down on his chair with his right foot on his left knee. “Just call him.” He says with a mocking voice. At this moment, I have no idea which one of his words is true. But hearing that my family is involved in this accident, there is no doubt that they will be one of them. Him?! Is it my father behind all of this..?! The memories back then come through my head and the anger starts to pile up again inside of me. With that, I pull out my phone immediately to call my father. “Why do you call me when you’re at school? You’re skipping your class now?” My father says right after he picks up my phone. “Yes, I’m skipping my classes now because of you. Tell me the truth!” I say to him angrily. The detective gives me a signal to turn on the speaker on my phone so everyone in this room can hear what my father is going to say. “What nonsense are you talking about? Go back to class or you will know what is going to happen later.” He replies angrily too. “You want me to attend my classes when I’m in the middle of your criminal case in the police station?!” slamming the table in front of me because I can’t control my anger at this moment, knowing that he’s involved in this accident. Looking at my action, Jefferson whistles from his seat. “Oooh.. scary..” He says then scoffs. Sneg, who is beside me, takes a step forward to him like he’s ready to throw a punch on his face. But he manages to hold himself before the guards do. “What in the world are you talking about?! Are you insane?! Accusing me out of nowhere?!” My father replies, his voice raises even more than before. “Well! Then why don’t you and mother come here and explain yourself?!” I say to him and hang up the phone. After that, I let out a loud sigh with both of my hands on the table. Stam tries to calm me down by giving me a pat on my shoulder and whispers into my ear. “Calm down, Valter. You gotta put your emotions aside for now.” She says with a calm voice. “Yes, I know. But..” taking a deep breath and letting it out loudly “Can you imagine that they were involved in this? I lost two of my friends..” I say irritatedly while clenching my fist tightly. “Yeah, but please Valter, you can’t let your emotions take control of you now.” She says. With that, I respond to her with a nod and try my best to calm myself down. A few moments pass by, and finally my parents show up in the room. They look surprised when they look at Stam and Jefferson handcuffed. “Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Valter. Thank you for coming, please take a seat first.” the detective says and let my parents take a seat at the right side of the table. “What is with all of this? Why is she here? Why are we getting called here? Vilheimina explains! What have you done?!” My mother looks confused and panicked at the same time but she still has the time to put the blame on me. “Please calm down, Mrs. Valter.” The detective says to calm my mother down “This is not about your daughter. But this is about-” His words get cut off from my father. “Let me guess. This must be from that night accident, right?” He says then looks at me “Now you try to accuse me from doing such a thing? You really have lost your mind, huh?” He says while glaring at me. That makes everyone stay silent for a moment. “Look at you how broken you are now. Pathetic.” He scoffs, “That’s why you should just listen to my words.” He says mockingly. “Now, now, please let's speak one by one, okay? Have good manners.” The detective says while looking at my parents “Mr. Jefferson, now they are here. Could you speak up now and tell us everything?” “And her too.” My mother cuts off the detective while pointing at Stam. But that only makes the detective shooing her to stay quiet. “Alright. Before I speak, first I want to ask. Why this person in front of me,” Jefferson says while looking at Stam “Can be in that summer camp? This person is that famous, you know?” All eyes on Stam right now except me since I already know her reason. But I won’t stay silent if they start to put the blame on her. “I’m already free. What’s the problem with that?” Stam replies. “Hmm but.. Looking at these two..” Jefferson starts to put his chin up again and looks at me and Stam “Why do you guys seem close with each other?” He asks. “Her parents can explain it. They paid me to train her before her summer camp.” Stam answers calmly. Unexpectedly, my mother lets out a loud gasp and points her finger out to Stam. “She lied! We never hired a criminal like her for our daughter!” My mother says. “Agreed.” My father continues, “Even though we are strict parents, we will never put our daughter into a dangerous place like that.” He says. With that, I look at them with an unbelievable look that I’m really upset by what they just said. Without thinking and can’t hold my emotion anymore, I stand up from my seat and look at them with piercing eyes. “What did you say? Never put your daughter into a dangerous place?!” I say while raising my voice. “Should I show and tell everyone in this room about what you guys have done to me?!” Even though my mother already gives me a signal to stay quiet and sit down, I’m ignoring her order and start to roll up my sleeve. “Everyone! Please, calm down!” The detective shouts to calm us down. When I roll up halfway of my sleeves, the wound that my parents had given on me is now clearly seen. That makes the others who don’t know about this wound look surprised at how damaged my arm is. “Mr. and Mrs. Valter, is that true? All this time, the two of you are abusing your own daughter?” The detective turns his head to look at my parents. Both of them looked panicked after I exposed what they did to me. “If she didn’t do anything wrong, there is now way we are going to hit or punish her.” My father replies. Based on my perspective, he really tries to say it calmly even though I know that he is panicking inside. “As a strict parent, we just make her learn her lesson.” My mother answers and her voice sounds a bit trembling. “That’s not answering my question. The only answer is yes or no.” The detective says strictly to both of them. “Abuse in here means that you hurt your own children. For example, giving them a wound like that counted as child abuse.” That makes them close their mouths immediately and their eyes look at each other. “Well.. yes, but we hit her just to make sure she won’t make the same mistake again.” My father replies and his voice almost cracks up. “That’s enough then. I will investigate about the two of you about this child abuse later.” The detective says while writing down something on his note. “Wait, sir!” My mother suddenly stands up again and her voice sounds really panicked. “We didn’t do anything more than hurt a little of our child! Like we never ordered a criminal like her to be our daughter's coach!” while pointing to Stam. “Let’s see how ‘a little’ it looks like later, okay Mrs. Valter?” the detective replies calmly without looking at her “And about, ordering Mrs. Verle Stam as her coach, is it not true?” he finally looks back to my parents. “No!” Both of them answer simultaneously “We still have sympathy for our children!” my mother continues. The detective takes a glance over Stam for a second then looks back to my parents. “Can you prove it then?” the detective asks them again and they immediately take out their phone. “You can check everything in this phone, our house, or even do some research with our history accounts.” My father says confidently. The detective takes their phone and calls his group members to check out their phones. “How about you, Mrs. Stam? Can you prove yourself as well?” He asks Stam. “You can check my phone, sir. I got the mail and you can clearly see who it is.” She answers the detective question. The guard who is beside her proceeds to take out her phone and gives it to the detective. “Of course, she lied! Besides, why would we order a criminal if we already have one for our daughter!” My mother says mockingly to Stam. “Hmm.. but the truth says otherwise, huh?” The detective says and that makes my parents look at him surprised. He turns the front screen to our side so we can clearly see what he just found. It’s true, the mail is from my father’s account, Luis Valter. “Luis! Explain yourself!” my mother suddenly shouts to my father and stands up from her seat. Based on my father's expression, he seems very surprised by it too. “NO! I NEVER DO THAT! I WAS FRAMED!” he says with a panicked voice and stands up from his chair too, even makes the chair fall down. “Please, calm down both of you.” The detective says with a calm voice “Then can you explain what this is, Mr. Valter?” he asks. “Sir, please believe me! I swear to god I never did that!” My father says and this is my first time hearing him with a desperate voice. “I can’t believe you will do such a thing..” My mother says with her voice cracks up and her eyes look crystallized. Suddenly, someone slams the door open and a familiar voice comes from it. It’s my brother, Nicolaus Valter. Something is off right when he enters the room. Why does he make that kind expression? He looks.. happy..? “Sowrry.. I’m late, ladies and gentlemen!” He says with a cheerful voice. That makes everyone's eyes lock at him with their mouths open, looking at him confusedly. “What is this? Family conflict? Why didn't you invite me earlier?” he says and takes a seat next to Jefferson. “Nicolaus Valter! Where is your manners?!” My father says to him. “Mr. Nicolaus Valter, isn’t it?” The detective calls my brother “I’m sorry, please leave the room since you are not involved in this case.” “Are you really a detective? If so then you’re pretty dumb, you know? I bet you pay someone to let you get this job hahaha” My brother replies mockingly and laughs with Jefferson. The detective frowns his eyebrows and looks at him confusedly. “I beg your pardon?” he says. “If you’re smart enough, you will remember what a friend of mine here said in the beginning.” My brother puts his arm on Jefferson's shoulder. Her family is involved in this accident. Just call him. These sentences come through my mind when my brother says that. Him.. if it’s not my father then.. does that mean..? Looking at my parents' faces, they seem to have no clue about it. For the detective seems like he has the same thoughts as mine. “Come on~ It’s not that hard, right~” When my brother says the word ‘right’, he turns his head to look at me. “Sister?” That makes me come to realize it right now. “It’s you..?” I say and my voice sounds really small just now. “Ding dong! Correct! As expected from our Queen Valter!” He says cheerfully with his hands up and gives me claps. Something is dropping inside of me right now. More than anything, I think words can’t describe how much disappointment I feel right now. Looking at him with an unbelievable face. Seeing my response only makes him laugh loudly and leaves the others speechless. “Hahahaha! Look at all of your faces! This is so fun!” He says and laughs together with Jefferson. “Actually, sister, I never planned to.. You know.. Exposing our parents' behavior to you but you’re the one who exposes it! What a show!” He says mockingly while looking at me and my parents. My parents only stay silent at the moment and look at him the same as mine. “About that night accident, my target was actually just that youngman called Gofar Colombain, right?” he continues and his eyes focus on me. “And Jefferson's target is actually Quinne..” From what my brother keeps telling me, the guilt, disappointment, anger, frustration, everything that is the same with that starts to pile up again. Because of that, it makes my eyes become all teary and I believe the time I blink my eyes, the tears will come out. “Ouh yeah about the twins.. Uufff.. Actually that is out of our calculation, right?” He looks at Jefferson for a second, Jefferson nods, and looks back at me. “But good thing she’s alive, right? Heheh.” he still can laugh at this moment. When I hear the way he said ‘alive’, it only makes me more irritated and clench my fists even tighter. Stam, who is beside me, notices how I feel right now and she tries to calm me down by rubbing my hand under the table. “Jefferson targeted Quinne for his revenge because of what her mother did to him and his friends but for me to Colombain..” he raises his chin up “I just want him dead. That’s al-” his words get cut off. This time I thought his words got cut off because I stood up suddenly but it’s actually because of Sneg. It’s not only myself who is holding the emotions all this time, Sneg who is next to me already loses his patience. Since he is also the closest one to my brother, he can easily throw his punch to my brother's face. “HOW DARE YOU!” he shouts with full anger on it. Not only throwing a punch. When my brother falls down because of him, he approaches my brother, grabs his collar and continues to punch him. With that, the guards quickly hold Sneg, who is already furious with anger, to take him away from my brother. “Mr. Sneg! Calm down! Or else you will get punished as well!” The detective says But that only makes my brother laugh loudly again. “Hahaha, what a day!” He stands up with his nose and mouth already bleeding. The tears start coming out from my eyes without me trying to let it out. “Ahh.. don’t cry will you? Disgusting.” my brother says while looking at me “Alright then. I guess that’s enough explanation I have?” he says after finishing wiping his face. “Thank you, sister. You help me to get rid of these two even though that is not in my plan tho.!” he says while glancing over at my parents. “Say it, Nicolaus.” My father suddenly speaks up “Why would you do this to our family? We never treat you like your sister.” he says irritatedly. “You just answer your own question, dear father.” He replies immediately with a smirk on his face. My parents and I look at him with a surprised mixed with confused face at him. Why would he want them to treat him like me? Does he know how harsh they treat me? “What are you talking about? Aren’t you happy with the freedom we gave you?” My mother says with tears on her face. When I look at them, I can see how disappointed they are. Hearing what my mother says to him, only makes him click his tongue like he doesn’t like it. “Freedom? Is that really what I want?” he says with an irritated face. “At least that is how I show my love for you! Can’t you feel that I love you, that is why I treat you like that?! I can’t believe this!” My mother says and finally she breaks down on herself. This is my first time seeing her crying this hard in front of everyone. Even though she looks so desperate right now, something in myself still can’t accept the fact that she still treasure my brother more than myself. Based on what she just says, it only makes it like I’m still not good enough for her to be proud of me. “Bullshit!” He slams the table in front of him “If you really love me, then why her?! Just because she has a bit more potential than me, then you throw me away?!!” He says angrily. That makes both of my parents shocked by what my brother just says. Does he mean that he actually wants my place as..? “We never throw you away! We always give you what you want!” My mother replies and stands up from her seat, still with that desperate voice. The heir of Valter’s family? “Give what I want? Both of you never see me as the heir of this family. When I was five, both of you already agreed that she’s going to be the heiress!” He replies irritatedly while looking at both of them. With that, my mother slowly sits back on her seat and looks down to her feet. “What have I done..” she says with a very small voice. “And you.” my brother says while turning his head to look at me “I never want you to be born in the first place. Your presence only destroys this family.” One and only my brother that I always admired and loved before, now saying something that I never expected to happen. With that I only can stay silent on my seat and without noticing it again tears come out again. “Nicholaus, answer this question of mine.” My father suddenly breaks the silence “Why would you use my name to order her as your sister coach? While pointing at Stam. “That’s the plan.” he scoffs “Because of her, she learned how to be bold. Can you see her action? She is the one who exposes how abusive you two are to her. Not me.” That shocks everyone of how he planned it accurately. So all this time I’m just being used by him..? “Then the only motive you killed Colombain is really you just want him dead?” The detective finally speaks up again. His question makes me look back at my brother again. “Hmm.. can I say that another reason is because he is a new friend to my sister? And I really hate it if my sister has a lot of friends? Hahaha” he explains and laughs it of That only leaves the detective speechless again. You always want me to be alone this whole time? “I mean, when she grounded before, only the twins gave her a present to cheer her up. But this time there is a lot since she is friends with that Colombain hehe.” continues and chuckles. “Plus those presents really make her happy, you know?” You never want to see me happy? Even just a little bit? “That’s why, my only target is him and makes her regret that she is friends with him. Get it right? I just want to get rid of him from her life! Can you see how painful her face was that night?” He says mockingly at me. That last part of him makes me realize something that I have learned from Stam as well. Get rid of it. The tears on my face are already dry down and not showing anymore. That's right.. That’s not the only thing I have learned from Stam.. At this moment, it seems like I can relate to how Stam felt back then before her criminal actions. I just need to kill it.