Page 61 of Mila: The Godfather

If I had tears left to shed, I would. I would for the little girl singing quietly in my arms. For our big sister, who is being used as a punching bag for daring to stand up to our father. For being brave and fearless.

Looking at the discarded fairytale book my little sister loves so much. The book she wanted someone to read to her before bedtime. That’s all she wanted. She doesn’t ask for much. She stays quiet and tries to blend in as if she already knows that’s her best chance to escape our heartless father. Escape his anger and his cruelty.

I stare at the book’s cover, where a pretty princess is wearing a yellow gown and a gold crown and is singing happily to the animals in the forest. She kind of looks like Mila with blue eyes and a gentle smile.

Looking away from the book, I stare at my baby sister, knowing the truth she is still too young to comprehend. One day, she will.

One day, she’ll wake up and realize fairytales aren’t real.

They are just stories.

There is no happily ever after.

At least, not for girls like us.

One day, her little heart will break, and I won’t be able to stop it.

Because one day came for me.

My heart broke the day my father directed his rage at my sisters, all because I disobeyed him.

I started this.

It was all my fault.

While my sisters long for their one day basking in the sun, I can’t wait for the day I am strong enough to put an end to their misery.

Happily ever afters in books are only achieved once the princess is free of their wicked stepmother, right?

In our case, it is our own father.

Our own blood.

The one person who should have shown us love and protected us. Instead, he was the one who showed us how to hurt and how to bleed for sins that weren’t our own.

One day won’t come as long as he is breathing.

As long as he still reigns.

There’s only one choice then.

One way to do it.

It’s quite simple, you see…

All I need to do is take down the heartless king.

Present

“One day. Okay? This is my one day, and I just want you to fight for yours instead of worrying about me.” The voice message ends, and what was left of my heart—a heart that only beats for my little sister— crumbles at my feet.

My baby sister.

My little sister is now in the hands of my enemies, and it’s all my fault. I should’ve done more to keep her safe, but what else could I have done? My need to keep her alive and safe had begun to dim her light. I saw it every day. How the little girl with stars in her eyes and so much goodness in her heart started to slowly fade away, hidden inside this cold mansion that never truly felt like a home.

More like a prison.

I failed her, and even when I thought things got better with the removal of our sperm donor from our lives. I tried my damnedest to shield her from the cruelty of this sick world, and it was all for nothing. I see it now.

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