CHAPTER 36: JUSTICE

SORCHA'S POV

"Your possible charges are conspiracy to commit murder, principal by inducement for murder, falsification of documents when you faked Audrey Ballard's death, and defamation. You'll face murder and tampering with evidence charges in Australia as well for the murder of Grace Abadiño."

Nanatili akong tahimik sa tabi ng kapatid ko. He's been explaining everything to Daze's parents, and they keep denying every single one of them. They even brought their Australian lawyer, who started out aggressive but is now probably contemplating what this case will leave in his nearly impressive track record.

Not one question has been asked of them since they arrived. Everything that is falling from my brother's mouth is a statement.

"This is absurd! Where's Zeon?" Nang hindi sumagot si Kuya Nevan sa tanong ng babae ay namula sa galit ang mukha niya. "Bring my son here! He won't let this happen to his parents. To his own mother!"

"It's not just his decision to make. Even if he doesn't file a lawsuit against you for trying to ruin his career by defaming him, the family of the victims will not back down."

The woman laughed haughtily at my brother's words. "That Aubrey is the one at fault. We didn't tell her to murder anyone for us. Let's say that we did want to ruin our son's reputation, which is preposterous. What does murder have to do with it? We weren't even here. At si Grace? That woman was a thief."

"Ma'am," pigil sa kaniya ng sarili niyang lawyer. "Let's take a moment to reassess."

"Reassess about what? We're not guilty of anything!" She stabbed a finger in my brother's direction, who didn't even flinch. "You can show them the footage. Grace left the house alone."

Nilingon ako ng kapatid ko at tinanguhan ako. Ipinatong ko sa lamesa ang folder na hawak ko at iniharap ko iyon sa kanila. Both Daze's parents made a noise of disgust when they saw the picture of Grace Abadiño's body, which was in the process of advanced decomposition.

"She left the house alone, and that can be proven. You're correct about that," I said, speaking for the first time. "If you left it at that, it would have been a little less difficult to defend yourselves. However, you panicked. You thought that the authorities might check the travel mug you gave Grace before she left with her car and find something in there. It's highly unlikely that she'll poison herself while driving. It will look odd. So you looked for her and found her in the middle of nowhere. She was already dead. You took the mug and pushed the car into the water."

Florence Henderson's face was full of indignation. "Poisoned? Don't be ridiculous. She probably crashed her car. Look at the state of the car. She was running because she stole a lot from us."

"And yet not one of those that she supposedly stole was found in the car with her." Nilingon ko sandali ang lawyer ng babae na mariing napapikit. None of them is prepared for this. He had no time to brief his clients because, before they arrived, Grace Abadiño was still in the water.

They didn't know that the body had been found. They came here with the confidence that Grace Abadiño would not be found. But Dagger has already reached out to authorities in Australia the moment that another murder became a variable in the case. They've been looking for Grace Abadiño ever since, and when Daze's parents' plane landed, that's when we received all the information that we needed.

"As you can see, Grace Abadiño's body is in a state of advanced decomposition. However, it is not impossible to test the body." Inilipat ko ang page at itinuro ko ang dulo niyon. "She's positive for strychnine poisoning. Something you took from Ballard's book because it's the same poison used to Vanessa Santana."

"Then it's her who did it," Daze's father said through gritted teeth.

"How? She teleported to Australia to bypass customs?" I tried not to let satisfaction show on my face when his face lost color. Inilipat ko ulit ang pahina ng file at kita ko kung paanong parehas na sila ngayon na mag-asawa na namutla. The picture was grainy, but there's no mistaking the two people in it. "The dashcam was submerged in water for a long time, making it challenging to extract data, but it wasn't impossible."

Kuya Nevan regarded them both with a look. "You'll face your charges in Australia. When you finish there, you'll serve the remaining time here."

They have a lot of energy, denying everything for hours, but I could see that their mind is in a different place right now. They're probably already calculating the number of years they will need to spend in prison. If they're not, they should.

They know that there's no way they will not be charged for life imprisonment, which has a non-parole period of twenty to thirty years. Probably more. Ilang taon na sila bago matapos iyon? Even if they complete that, they will need to face their other charges, which happened here in the Philippines.

"You're right about one thing." Nang tumingin sila sa akin ay partikular kong sinalubong ang mga mata ng ina ni Daze. She's his mother. She carried him for nine months. She birthed him. And yet he wasn't as important as money in her life. "You were right. This is absurd. It's so stupid that it's hard for me to wrap my head around it. Defamation would have been a better crime. But murder of two innocent women just to cover it up so you could both save face?"

Napatayo sa kinauupuan niya ang ina ni Daze. I could see panic vibrating around her body. "Aubrey was the one who convinced us!"

"Mrs. Henderson!" bellowed the anxiety-ridden lawyer.

He probably wanted to stop the woman from saying anything more that would incriminate her and his husband, but it was already too late.

"You should have learned your lesson. You already lost a son because you were so hungry for money. You've driven him to his death. Pero hindi pa rin kayo natapos. You lost Daze the moment that his brother took his own life because of the both of you. You haven't driven Daze to his death, but you're forcing what's left of him, still recognizing the both of you as his parents, to wither and die."

Napuno ng komosyon ang secure interview room nang basta na lang akong dinaluhong ng babae. She tried to scratch me on the face with his claw-like nails, perfect for the monster that she is, but my brother was quick to stop her, so her target missed. The lawyer, on the other hand, grabbed Daze's father, who moved not to help contain his wife but to attack my brother.

Pabalibag na bumukas ang pintuan at sa isang iglap ay nakapasok si Daze sa loob at itinayo ako. His eyes were focused on me, as if I were the only one in the room. His jaw tightened when he saw the red marks on my neck down to my collarbone, where his mother's nails landed instead of my face.

"Zeon! Son!" Florence, maybe for the first time in her life, looked desperate. "Are you going to let this happen to us? You're going to let your parents go to prison?"

Daze gently touches the marks on my skin. I've seen him at his lowest point, I've seen him jealous, I've seen him happy... and yet I don't think I ever saw him this angry. I could feel it in the air, I could feel it circling around him. There was no mistaking the wrath vibrating through every bit of his bone.

"Let this happen to you?" He turned to his parents, and he looked at them coldly. "I didn't do anything to you. You both did this to yourselves."

"How... how could you say that?" Florence Henderson put a hand on her chest. "I'm your mother!"

"When? Now that you need me?"

"Don't talk to your mother that way, Darien Zeon Henderson!" Daze's father, Eugene Henderson, roared.

"This is how I talk to criminals who have the guts to ask me for help." Walang pag-aalinlangan kay Daze nang harapin niya ang ama niya. "You won't get anything from me."

"I should have known that it was a mistake to have you. Both of you and your brother are useless," Florence Henderson whispered.

I automatically reach for Daze's hand, not to stop him from whatever he wishes to do, but to offer him strength if ever he needs it.

"And maybe it was a mistake that we were given to you. God knows that if we had a choice, we would never choose to have you both as our parents." Daze's hand tightened on mine. "You should have been content making my life hell. You didn't need to kill them. Sana ako na lang ang sinaktan niyo. Sana ako na lang ang pinarusahan niyo. At least, the cursed blood running through me is also the same blood running through yours. Hindi na sana kayo nandamay pa ng ibang tao."

Daze took a step forward toward his parents. Just a step closer. "In the sorry day that the drugs and alcohol dry out of your system while you're in prison, I hope that you look back on the life you had and realize what you really lost. I had my brother. I had my grandparents. I have people in my life that I care about. While the two of you are alone, because in the end, you'll even lose everything you hold dear. Your fame, your vices, and each other. I won't put myself in that equation because from the very start, you never really had me. It was always just me and Kuya Grant."

After he said those words, he pulled me outside the room, ignoring the screams behind us. He didn't look back. Not even a glance.

The Dawson let us through to exit another door. Nang makalabas kami ay sa pagkagulat ko ay nakita ko ang mga magulang ni Vanessa. The man has his arms around his wife, who seems to be crying. They probably came out of the room where they brought Aubrey Ballard for her last questioning before she's transferred to the authorities.

I felt Daze still as Vanessa Santana's parents walked towards us. I know Daze is preparing himself. I know that he'll take whatever lash they give him. But I can't find it in me to just watch.

I made a move to put myself in front of him, but Daze stopped me from doing so. Sa halip ay bahagya niya akong hinila para ikubli sa likod ng malaki niyang katawan.

With his jaw clenched, he looked down. "I'm sorry," he whispered to the older man and woman. "I'm sorry. She didn't... Vanessa didn't deserve this. It was my fault. It should have been me instead. It was my parents who did it. I should have been the one who..."

I could feel my heart drowning with his. Nagsisikip ang dibdib ko habang pinapanood ko an lalaki na pilit nilalabanan ang emosyon na gumugumon sa kaniya. I want to swim to the surface, to breathe, and yet I couldn't do that like I've been anchored to the sea floors with him.

The woman crossed the distance to get to Daze and she reluctantly raised her arms. Her hesitation lasted for a second before she finally wrapped her tiny arms around the man. "Hindi mo kasalanan. Hindi mo desisyon ang mga nangyari. N-Nakuha na namin ang katarungan para sa anak namin. Hindi... hindi mo kailangan na parusahan ang sarili mo dahil magbabayad na ang mga totoong may kasalanan."

I can't remember the last time I cried, and yet at this moment, I could feel tears clouding my vision as I watched Daze hunch over to the woman while his own tears were freely falling from his eyes.

"Her life was short, but during those times, you were one of the people that made her happy." Marahang tinapik niya ang mukha ni Daze. "You need to be happy too. Our Vanessa will want that for you."

_______________________End of Chapter 36.