20

"How are you right now?"

Ethelyn had just returned from her company. She had heard from the psychiatrist treating her daughter that she had been traumatized by a boy. Immediately many questions arose in her mind. Especially who made her daughter like that. She sat beside Diora and rubbed her back.

"...I'm fine," Claia answered without even looking at Ethelyn.

"Tell me who hurt you?" asked Ethelyn.

"I don't want anything anymore now. Maybe the path I have to take is the same as the last path I took at that time. Although on the other hand, little by little I can get my revenge, those bad memories always haunt me so I can't do anything but cry," Claia said.

"Revenge on who? And what kind of bad memories? Tell me Diora!" commanded Ethelyn.

"It's useless. Mama won't believe it," Claia replied.

Ethelyn fell silent. Many thoughts were running through her mind. Without saying anything else, she stood up and walked away from her daughter.

"Madam," Ira called.

Ethelyn came out of her daughter's room. She advised Ira, "Stay here with my daughter!"

"Okay, madam."

Ethelyn was pacing in her room. She also said in her heart, "Did he make it like that? If that's true, then I...I..."

Etehlyn thought of Jethro. She took out her cell phone to call Diora's boyfriend.

Ethelyn

What have you done to my daughter to make her like that?

Jethro

If I had known, I would have told, aunt. I'm looking for the reason myself. At school earlier, Diora broke up with me suddenly. She also changed a little. She is no longer friends with Sienna and Joana.

Ethelyn

Break up? Does that mean you two are no longer in a relationship?

Jethro

Yes aunt

Ethelyn

Isn't that the most logical reason? It must be because you have done something to him that's why she broke up with you. Tell me, Jethro! What have you done to him?

Jethro

I could have sworn Aunty, I didn't do anything. Please believe me. I will find the culprit and finish him off.

Ethelyn is even more emotional hearing Jethro's words. She couldn't believe her daughter's boyfriend.

Ethelyn

Don't try to run away from me!

She just disconnected their phone. Then she called Diora's homeroom teacher.

Ethelyn got new information. Diora's homeroom teacher said that several children reported that their daughter was pulled by a boy in front of the school. She struggled but no one helped him. Ethelyn asked who was the boy who had treated her daughter badly but Diora's homeroom teacher answered she was not told his name, the children said he was Diora's boyfriend and Diora was used to being pulled like that for not obeying. They said it was not some kind of coercive action. Because Diora was used to rebelling against her boyfriend. But after Diora's homeroom teacher heard about Diora's condition is apprehensive from Ethelyn, she thought something was wrong.

Ethelyn moved her eyes all over the room. She knew her daughter could fight with her physical strength. Can't she fight that guy? Her daughter is very smart. At least she could do something to get away from that guy's clutches.

"That boy...is he Jethro?" thought Ethelyn.

Then Ethelyn was told information about her daughter's zero test score. Of course, she was very .

surprised to hear that.

Ethelyn

Impossible. My daughter is very smart. So far, it's always been perfect. It's impossible for him to suddenly score 0. And what did you say? My daughter even answered some questions with answers that confused you.

After thanking homeroom teacher Diora for the information, Ethelyn hung up the phone. She immediately checked into her daughter's room. Claia and Ira who were talking about Diora's boyfriends immediately stopped their conversation and turned to Ethelyn who was looking for something in her daughter's bag. Ethelyn took out a piece of paper that she thought was her daughter's test. How surprised she was when she saw the number 0 in red.

"Diora, since when did your grades become 0 like this? Haven't you always gotten perfect scores? Are the tests too hard for you?"

The sharp question and piercing gaze of Diora's mother made Claia look the other way. Even though a few moments ago he had just been worried about his condition by Ethelyn. So, why now does Diora's mother seem to want to sue her to be responsible for the mistakes she made?

"Yes ma'am, this test is too difficult so I can't do it," Claia replied.

"This isn't your usual self." Ethelyn drew closer until she was standing in front of her daughter.

"You broke up with Jethro, suddenly you are said to have experienced traumatization, you said you can take revenge little by little, this is for me right, Diora?"

Claia finally looked at her mother Diora's face when she heard her last question which immediately made her confused. What's for this woman?

"You want revenge on your mother in a subtle way, right?" she asked.

"..."

I was so confused, Claia looked at Ira thinking that she would accept the answer from her maid. But Ira kept her head down.

"What do you mean, mom?"

Ethelyn crumpled the paper in her right hand. "Listen to me Diora. Who have you grown this big because of? You live in my house. You go to school because I pay for it. You never work! Have you ever thought about your parents who have always worked hard for you as long as their husband left them? Have you ever thought of my happiness!"

Claia furrowed her brows. Why did Diora's mother say all that to her? Why did she seem to demand that she repay all his kindness? Why is the situation suddenly like this?

"Mama, I…I don't understand," Claia said.

"What happened?" she asked. She thought something had happened to him. Perhaps Diora's mother heard from someone else about her daughter.

Ethelyn's eyes welled up with tears.

"Diora, actually how bad is your relationship with your mother?" thought Claia.

Ethelyn did not answer a single word to her daughter's question. Amid the confusion that gripped Claia, Diora's mother finally came out of Diora's room after throwing Diora's crumpled test paper into Diora's lap. That action immediately made Claia slightly worried. She thought, most likely Diora's mother took issue with her test scores.

"She seemed to say, I've done everything for you, so you have to be a useful child. One example is getting a perfect score. So because today I didn't get a perfect score, Diora's mother said it all," Claia thought.

Claia lowered her head. Thinking of the fact that she was now in Diora's body, she regretted it even more. Before the burden on her shoulders had disappeared, the burden had fallen on him again. She became more and more regretful that she had killed himself.

"But I don't want to regret it. When I was in my original body, I always gave up and didn't want to work hard. Now, it seems as if circumstances are forcing me to do otherwise. Deep inside, I hate studying. On the other hand, I'm thinking about Linus again," Claia thought. After that, she took a deep breath.

"When I think of Linus and when those bad memories come back to me, I always despair. Once again, I want to end my life. Maybe if I kill myself again, I will move into my own body or someone else's body again. If I return to my original body, then I will still be relieved because I can meet my parents. Even though…I have to think about how to deal with the photo if the photo has been spread. If it moves into another person's body again, I hope my life isn't as bad as this," Claia thought.

Claia felt currently being torn to pieces but at the same time, she was forced to work hard.

"To divert my mind which is filled with confusion, I will study first," thought Claia.

"Sis Ira, have you seen me study or not?" she asked.

"Yes, miss. Oftentimes. Every time you study, you often tell me to bring snacks for you."

Claia paused. She got up and approached Diora's study table. She stared at the pile of books and laptop. She took one of Diora's books and looked through it.

"This is the first time Miss has scored zero. I also really didn't expect it," said Ira.

"I'm sorry miss, I didn't mean to insult-"

"It's okay Sis Ira. I really can't do the problem. I'm the daughter of a conglomerate, so I have to be smart so I don't embarrass my mother, okay?"

Ira didn't know what to say. The lady's words showed that she was sad. If she had to say something, she had to say a comforting line.

"Oh yes, miss, do you still like to study with the initial J?"

"J? Jethro you mean?"

"No. Miss never told me his name right? But Miss said you're always studying with him. He was always ranked second below Miss who always came first."

Claia remembered that she once found a list of champions at Diora's school. She immediately looked for it. After getting it, she slightly widened her eyes. Rank one, Diora. Two, Jeremy.