Taking the Blame

My parents’ adoptive daughter took three kids hiking with her, and they ended up dead. They wanted me to take the blame for her. My father forced me to kneel before the families of the victims and crushed my calf with his hiking pole. “These were the legs she used to take your kids hiking. I’ll make sure she never gets to hike again.” My mother legally disowned me. “Jenny will be breaking hiking records one day. I won’t let anyone bring up her shameful sister when that happens! She’s sacrificed so much for you all these years, and it’s time you paid her back.” My boyfriend promised me, “Jenny has nothing. She would not survive if she had to endure all this, but at least you have me. I’ll be here for you no matter what happens. They’re just angry, but they won’t send you to jail. You can come home once everything settles down.” To defend the reputation of my adoptive sister, he and my parents worked together to falsify evidence and send me to jail. “It’s to protect you,” they promised, “so the families don’t take revenge on you.” They did not know I had already given up on them. Chapter 1 The lights flashed in my eyes. I stared at the empty door and calmly walked toward a home that was not truly mine. The video of Jenny White breaking the hiking record played on the mall's big screen. In the video, my parents and Jared stood excitedly, cheering for her. None of them seemed to remember that I would be released today. After almost three hours of walking, I finally saw Jared. He rushed over. Upon seeing my limp, he went to support my arm. “Charlie! What happened to your leg? Did they do something to you inside?” The concern in his tone and expression felt ironic. “Weren’t you the one who sent me to jail before my leg healed to protect Jenny’s reputation?” My legs never got the treatment they needed. I would never be able to hike again. Jared avoided my gaze awkwardly. “We only did that because we were worried the victim’s family would take revenge on you. I don’t mind that you have a limp. I’ll take care of you.” Not wanting to waste my energy on him, I opened the car door, only to see Jenny sitting inside. “What is she doing here?” Jared quickly closed the door. “Our friends wanted to go celebrate and congratulate Jenny for her award. I think you'd better not go.” “Not go? The murderer herself will be there, so why can’t I join?” Jared glanced at Jenny nervously. After he was sure she had not heard what I said, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then, he turned to reprimand me. “Jenny’s very affected by what happened. Why do you have to bring it up? Do you want her to feel worse? “Call a taxi to take you home. We wasted a lot of time looking for you, and Jenny and I still have a celebration to attend.” With that, Jared left quickly, forgetting that I did not have even a single cent on me. It took another hour of walking before I got home, and my feet were starting to cramp. Before I opened the door, I heard someone talking on the other side. Chapter 2 “Yeah, it was a good decision to adopt Jenny. I don’t know what I would’ve done if she wasn’t with us! “Don’t even remind me about Charlie. I haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep since she killed these kids. Jenny’s been so devastated too! She keeps asking to take her sister’s place in jail.” I knocked on the door. Mom opened it, and her smile vanished when she realized it was me. “What are you doing here? Stay outside for a bit. We’re hosting guests today, and I don’t want you ruining everyone’s good time,” she said ruthlessly. After she closed the door, I heard her explaining, “Don’t worry about it. It was just the garbage collector.” I was finally allowed back into the house at nightfall, only to be slapped by my father. “You knew today was an important day for Jenny! How could you come by and drag everyone’s mood down? You couldn’t stay at the prison for just another day? You’re the reason everyone’s making fun of us now!” My mother looked me up and down, then quickly hid Jenny’s trophy away in fear that I would somehow ruin it. “You chose to come back today, didn’t you? Isn’t it enough that Jenny had a bad childhood? Why must you still pick on her? Why couldn’t they have given you a few more years in jail?” I was no stranger to these words. They had been frequent ever since Jenny was adopted. I glared back. “Did you forget the truth while you were lying to everyone? Jenny is the real murderer here!” Something dropped behind me. My parents rushed over to console Jenny. “Ignore her, Jenny. What happened was an accident. It wasn’t your fault. “If Charlie had told you how dangerous it was earlier, you wouldn’t have risked your life to bring those three kids there. I know Charlie hid it from you on purpose. It’s not the first time she’s had it out for you! “Get over here and apologize to Jenny now!” Jared was displeased. “That was mean, Charlie!” Jenny grabbed his arm as he walked toward me and looked at him sadly. “Mom, Dad, Jared… It’s okay. The first thing she saw when she got out of jail was me winning the award. I can understand why she’s so angry. But Charlie, I got that award through my own hard work. I don’t need your help. “If it makes you feel better, you can have the trophy. I can leave the house too, if that’s what you want.” Jenny grabbed the trophy out of my mother’s hands and threw it on the floor. Then, she rushed out of the house. “Jenny!” Jared pushed me aside and ran out after her. Shards of the broken trophy cut into my skin as I fell onto them, and I sucked in a cold breath. Just as I got to my feet, my father kicked the back of my knees, forcing me to kneel on the shards. Pain shot up my spine. Red quickly stained the floor, but my parents ignored it. A bottle of glue was dropped in front of me. “You can get up after you finish piecing it back together, or we’ll pretend we never had a daughter.” I was strangely calm. They had never been on my side since they brought Jenny home. She was sent to an orphanage after her parents were arrested for their crimes. Her good grades and sweet words enticed my parents to adopt her out of all the other orphans they sponsored. Chapter 3 In the beginning, I felt sorry for my adoptive sister too. That was, until she sliced my arm with a knife and poured glue over my wound during her second night with us. When my parents returned, she ran to them and sobbed. “I’m sorry! Charlie’s arm got hurt, and I wanted to help her treat them. It’s all my fault. I understand if she wants to beat me up! Please don’t scold her.” The wound on my arm burned. I raised it to explain, but they did not believe me at all. They were certain that I accidentally hurt myself while trying to hurt Jenny. Ever since that day, any conflict between me and Jenny was automatically assumed to be my fault. It reached the point where, even when they went on a road trip with Jenny and the brakes malfunctioned, they were certain I must have done something to the car. I climbed up from the floor to try to treat my new wounds, only to hear my parents talking in their room. “So what if she pieces the trophy back together? We went too easy on her. “Fixing the trophy is just an excuse. I just don’t want her to interrupt Jenny and Jared’s time together. Do you want him and Charlie to get married?” “Of course not! I want her to rot in jail! All she’s ever done is make Jenny sad!” Any hope I had left for this family disappeared. I returned to my room—which was now Jenny’s—to gather whatever papers I had before I served my time. As I was gathering everything, I saw a familiar video on my phone. It was a vlog from one of the mountains I had hiked years ago, but it was posted on Jenny’s account. I was all wrapped up and unrecognisable. The video had raked up a lot of likes. [I can’t believe Jenny hiked such a dangerous mountain so many years ago! I expected nothing less from my favourite vlogger!] [It’s a shame she has such a terrible sister. I can’t believe she took three kids hiking just because she was jealous of Jenny!] [That’s three whole lives she stole! How can she sleep at night?] They dug up my details quickly, and everyone was soon calling for my downfall online. Among some of the comments were a few logical voices. [Could it be some sort of misunderstanding? I remember some hiker saying that they saw Jenny bring the three kids up the mountain, not her sister.] [I know Charlie. She’s very professional, and she’s never taken anyone to hike with her, let alone a kid.] Two familiar accounts appeared quickly, commenting under these supportive users. [I’m Jenny and Charlie’s father. I can confirm that Charlie was the one who took the three kids hiking, and she did it to frame Jenny. She did not expect such a severe outcome. I am embarrassed and ashamed to call myself her father. We should’ve aborted her before she was born.] [I’m Jenny’s mother. Charlie only managed to hike that mountain after she snuck a peek at Jenny’s research. She’s always been like this, thinking everything that belongs to Jenny is hers!] … I no longer knew how to feel, watching my parents twist the truth to clear Jenny’s name. Chapter 4 What hurt the most was Jared’s behaviour. Since my parents stopped standing up for me, he became the person I trusted and cared about the most. I told him everything, and he was the only person I had ever sent this video to. Back then, Jared was just an amateur hiker who had gotten caught in a sudden storm. He would have died had I not risked my life to save him. Since that incident, Jared never left my side. He would look at me as if I had hung the stars in the sky, hoping I would accept his love. “Be my girlfriend, Charlie! I won’t stop pestering you until you do! “I can see that you’re going through a lot. Let me share your burden.” Seeing his consistent efforts, I accepted him and told him everything that was happening at home. In the beginning, he would comfort me and promise me a future with a family and a home of our own. However, somewhere down the line, he started getting closer to Jenny. I realized too late. Before I could confront Jared, he and my parents forced me to be Jenny’s scapegoat. The video killed whatever remaining shreds of love I had for him. Jared returned at night. When he saw my injuries, he rushed over worriedly. “What happened? Come on. I’ll take you to the hospital.” I shrugged him off coolly. “Why does she have the video?” Jared paled. “Jenny wasn’t doing very well mentally in the beginning. You don’t know what that trophy means to her. I only sent it to her because I didn’t want her to hurt or kill herself. You can’t hike anymore, so it probably doesn’t mean anything to you anyway.” “How are you so sure it means nothing to me?” Only then did Jared look remorseful. He came to stand in front of me and held my shoulders. He explained gently, “I didn’t think too much about it at the time. We can go to whatever mountain you want, okay? I’ll film a new video for you.” Looking into his eyes, I felt conflicted, and my mind was a mess. Then, my parents suddenly rushed inside. “Jared! Jenny’s hurt!” Jared let go of me and rushed out, while my parents glared at me for doing nothing. “You don’t even care if something’s happened to your sister, do you? I already know you’re behind this.” They ran out too. As I prepared for bed, I received a call from Jared. He was silent for a long while before he finally spoke grimly. “Come over, Charlie. They found new evidence on the case. I think it might prove your innocence.” I did not fully believe him, but the chance was too important to ignore, so I rushed to the location he had sent. When Jared saw me, he averted his gaze and bit his lip nervously. I was about to ask him what was going on when my father hit my good leg with his hiking pole. I fell to my knees, and I heard my calf bone crack. I shuddered at the pain. Chapter 5 A few familiar faces approached, and I heard my mother’s voice from beside me. “I admit that we hid the truth from you. Charlie wanted to beat Jenny. That’s why she took your children hiking.” My body grew cold. History was repeating itself. Jared knelt in front of me with concern and whispered, “These families forgave you because they thought it was an accident, but with the new evidence and stories surfacing online, they’re angry and came here to ask for an explanation. “They couldn’t find you, so they found Jenny instead. I was worried something would happen to Jenny, so I…” My vision blurred, and I smiled at him. “So you want me to take the blame for Jenny again?” “Enough! How dare you! You were the one who killed those kids! What does that have to do with Jenny?!” My father hit my back with the hiking pole. My mother cradled Jenny against her chest and glared at me. “These are the consequences of your own actions. I won’t let you drag Jenny down with you! I’ll never forgive you if this triggers her bad memories and sets Jenny’s healing journey back!” Jared dabbed at my cold sweat and took my hands. “Just let them take their anger out on you, then we can start a new life! I’ll never leave you alone, I promise. I’ll be with you this whole time.” My father threw his hiking pole at me. “None of this would’ve happened if you weren’t obsessed with hurting your own sister!” My mother held Jenny close and screamed, “Do you know how much Jenny’s suffered all these years because of you?! She’s finally gotten her chance to start a new and hopeful life! Why are you so determined to ruin it for her?!” ‘Starting a new and hopeful life? What about me? Do I have to live as a murderer for the rest of my life instead?’ I asked myself. My parents looked unsure when they met my incredulous gaze, and Jared’s eyes grew red. “Let’s get married after this, Charlie.” Jenny glared at me resentfully, then closed her eyes and ‘fainted’ in my mother’s arms. “Jenny!” Jared whipped his head backward. Hesitation and conflict swirled behind his eyes at the sight of Jenny fainting. “Jared! You’re the only one who can stop Jenny from hurting herself! Come with us to the hospital!” “But…” Jared looked at me instinctively. After a moment’s struggle, he tightened his grip around my hand. “They just want to know the truth about what happened. They won’t hurt you. I’ll be back before you know it. Jenny needs me now, and I can’t let anything happen to her.” I watched Jared and my parents rush away and closed my eyes hopelessly. When I opened them next, all that was left was cold indifference. With a smile, I looked at the families of the three victims and asked, “Do you want to know the truth about what happened?”