Evening had fallen.
After a busy afternoon at the orphanage, hauling supplies, mowing the lawn...
Sephirot sat on a bench and massaged his shoulders; this kind of housework was honestly more exhausting than slaying demons.
He and Patty headed to the office, intending to bid the nun farewell.
However, they discovered the couple who had brought them there hadn't left yet; instead, they were in the middle of a heated argument with Sister Abigail inside the office.
The husband, John, was insisting on adopting Esther and taking her home today, but the nun's stance was one of firm refusal.
Following Sephirot's warning, she had made a point to verify Esther's background information that afternoon.
The results had sent a chill down her spine.
Not only were there no past records of Esther to be found on the website, but when she called the Russian orphanage mentioned in the file, they had no record of such a person ever being there.
"I said I'm taking her! I can complete all the paperwork after the fact!"
John pounded the desk impatiently.
"John, calm down, the nun has her own difficulties..."
His wife, Kate, stood to the side, trying to reason with him softly.
"This isn't your call to make!"
John whipped his head around, snapping mercilessly, "If you hadn't spent all your time drinking, nearly killing our child, who knows? Maybe the third child died in your womb because of the alcohol in your system, too!"
Those words were like a knife plunged deep into Kate.
Her face turned deathly pale; she covered her mouth as tears burst from her eyes.
Standing outside the door, Patty couldn't take it anymore.
She shoved the ajar door open and demanded angrily, "What the hell are you talking about, you bastard?!"
John turned around and shot the young girl a cold look.
"This is family business. It's not a little brat's place to butt in."
At that moment, Esther, who had been standing quietly in the corner, let a flicker of malice cross her lowered face.
Her disguise was clearly perfect; who exactly had tipped them off?!
Sister Abigail looked at the group on the verge of a blowout and said, "I've already called the police."
"Once the police arrive and clear up the suspicious points in her file, if everything is confirmed to be fine, you can process the adoption procedures at any time."
"But for now, no one is taking her."
Hearing this, Esther's pupils contracted slightly.
Once the police got involved and conducted bone age and fingerprint comparisons, the secret she had hidden for years would be completely exposed; she would be dragged back to that mental hospital!
She had to find a way to break the deadlock, throw the situation into chaos, and escape.
Esther's gaze swept across the office, finally locking onto Sephirot standing in the doorway as a plan formed in her mind.
It was this strange man; after he spoke a few words to the nun this afternoon, her attitude toward Esther had shifted a full hundred and eighty degrees.
In that case, don't blame me for being ruthless! She quietly retreated half a step, her hand finding a sharp box cutter on the desk before hiding it within her sleeve.
Then, Esther acted as if she were terrified by John's angry display; like a startled fawn, she slowly backed toward the door, only to "accidentally" collide with Sephirot.
While everyone's attention was focused on the argument between the couple, Kate and John,
Esther did not hesitate to drive the blade deep into her own forearm!
"Ah!"
A scream of terror drew everyone's gaze as blood stained her sleeve and dripped onto the floor.
Using the momentum of her fall, she tossed the bloody box cutter at Sephirot's feet.
Clutching her bleeding arm, she pointed at Sephirot in fear, large tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Don't kill me... please don't kill me! Daddy John, save me!"
"He threatened me... he said if I went with you, he'd kill me."
This sudden turn of events stunned everyone present.
Patty's eyes widened; she had noticed Esther moving moments ago.
Watching this realistic performance now, she was instantly overtaken by rage: "What are you talking about?! You clearly did that to your–"
Halfway through her sentence, Sephirot pressed down on her wrist.
Sephirot shook his head at her; he wanted to see what kind of tricks Esther could actually pull off.
John saw Esther falling to the ground injured, her innocent eyes watery as she looked at him.
A surge of intense protectiveness rushed to his head; as if possessed by some external force, he swung a fist and charged at Sephirot.
"You scumbag!"
Sephirot showed no mercy, meeting him with a heavy punch.
Thump!
John's eyes bulged as he clutched his stomach in agony, collapsing to the floor and twitching like a boiled river shrimp.
"Calm down, sir,"
Sephirot said tonelessly, looking down at him.
Sister Abigail frantically dug a first-aid kit out of a drawer and ran forward to bandage Esther's wound.
She looked at the box cutter on the floor, then at the expressionless Sephirot: "Mr. Sephirot, what is the meaning of this...?"
She did suspect there might be a misunderstanding, but the evidence before her eyes made it hard not to waver.
After all, how could a little girl who looked so pure and fragile be so malicious as to wound herself with a knife just to frame someone else?
Looking terrified, Esther stole a glance at Sephirot from the corner of her eye, the corners of her mouth curling up imperceptibly.
*Adults were always blindly sympathetic toward the weak; as long as she acted pathetic enough, all fingers would naturally point at this goddamn man.*
Seeing Esther's supposedly flawless performance, Sephirot didn't bother to explain. Instead, he walked forward and, in front of everyone, grabbed Esther by the collar and hoisted her up.
"Ah! What are you doing?! Let her go!"
The nun cried out, trying to intervene.
Ignoring the shouts of the crowd, Sephirot stared coldly into Esther's triumphant eyes.
"Your acting is truly clumsy."
He raised his hand and delivered a slap to Esther's face.
Slap!
Esther's face immediately began to swell, and the dental braces she used for her disguise were sent flying.
Instead of showing fear, a flash of malicious satisfaction at her plan succeeding flickered in her eyes.
*Go ahead, hit me. The harder you hit, the more your guilt is sealed.*
*When the police arrive, the charges of intentional assault plus child abuse will be enough to keep you in prison for years.*
John, having recovered slightly on the floor, saw Esther being hit and cursed: "Damn you! You actually laid hands on a child!"
"A child?"
Sephirot threw Esther back to the floor with a scoff and pointed to the surveillance camera in the corner of the office.
"Everyone, this isn't some low-budget movie. We live in a society ruled by law; evidence is what matters."
Esther followed the direction of his finger. The cold smirk on her lips instantly froze, and her face turned as pale as a sheet of paper.
John didn't notice Esther's loss of nerve at all. He struggled to his feet, looking at Sephirot with a venomous expression and gritting his teeth:
"Fine! Check the cameras! Sister, save the recording immediately! I'm calling the police; I'm going to sue you, you maniac!"
(Translated by yourtl.app)