WELL, SHIT. Josy stood in the middle of her father's office, her fingers tightly gripping a stack of papers as her eyes grew wide with need for explanation as Debbie walked towards her with slow, almost threatening steps.

Josy swallowed the lump in her throat the closer her sister came, but her legs weren't working as they should. She still stood frozen on the marble tiles, clutching the papers against her chest. With her arms wrapped tightly around them, she was able to prevent Debbie from taking them away from her.

Why did she have to forget about the time, damn it?

"What do you have there?" There was a snarl in Debbie's words, her brown eyes shimmering with skepticism. "And what the hell are you doing in Dad's office? I thought you had to use the bathroom?"

"Iᅳ I, uhm", Josy was at a loss of words and couldn't come up with a good excuse, until she finally got annoyed with herself for even trying. The uncertain look in her eyes turned cold, her chest heaving with anger. "Maybe I should ask you what this is?"

Now it was Josy who closed the distance between herself and Debbie, reached for the files again and waved it in front of her sister's face. "And then you're stupid enough to keep the original medical record?" The redhead shook her head, snorting. "I really thought you were smarter."

"Josy." Debbie's voice held a warning and with a quick flick of her wrist she tried to reach for the papers, but Josy pulled her hand back just in time and just glared right back at her. "It's better for you if you just give me this, okay? It's better for everyone!"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Josy backed away as Debbie darted forward, so many times until they were both circling the table, their eyes always locked. "This file proves how absolutely callous and cold-blooded you two are. The accident, who was responsible for it, huh?"

"You don't want to know the whole truth, believe me." Debbie got visibly nervous, her breath quickening. "We only wanted the best for you. Actually, we just wanted to put you out of your miseryᅳ it was never planned for you to survive the accident."

"You risked not only hurting me, but also my daughter, your niece." Josy shook her head vigorously, deeply hurt by her family's betrayal. "This kind of shit is unforgivable, Debbie."

"Don't be ridiculous, Josy." Debbie stopped in her tracks when she saw Arthur step into the doorway, Josy's back still facing the door. "We can talk about anything, okay?"

"No, talking is over. You should've made sure to really get me out of the way." Josy's usually friendly eyes darkened, her protective instinct towards Happy and Esmee kicking in. "Because I will do everything in my power to make you pay for what you did to my husband, my daughter and me."

"You won't", Arthur stepped forward with a click of his tongue, slowly circling his daughter like a predator circling his prey. "You will understand at some point that we only wanted to protect you. And until then, you will not leave this house again."

Josy swept around when she heard the unfazed voice of her father, whose presence she had not even noticed because of her blind rage. But she wasn't going to let him see the fear that was creeping up her spine. If Arthur O'Connell wanted something, he would get it. So Josy had a good reason to be afraid.

"I'll never understand how someone can be a lying bastard as you are", she spat when she was now face to face with her father, having to look up at him a little. Nothing but hatred and contempt shone in her green lenses while a soft hum left his throat.

"Do what you have to do, kill me if you want", with a soft thud the medical file landed on the glass table. "I took pictures of it and already sent them to a few people. I may not be like you, but I'm not stupid either. They'll know it was you and her if they find my dead body."

"You didn't!" Debbie was the first to run around the table and slap Josy across the face. But the redhead taking it like a champ angered the brunette even more. "You're a little traitor, nothing more than a useless thing that could've been prevented with a condom."

"Deborah!" Arthur's stern voice bounced off the walls, the back of his hand colliding with Debbie's cheek only a moment later. "She's still your sister and we wanted her just like we wanted you!"

"Did you just hit me?" Pouting like a five-year-old child, Debbie stared at her father while cupping her burning cheek, pointing a finger at Josy. "Because of her?!"

An almost amused chuckle fell over Josy's lips at the little drama that was taking place in front of her. The situation was so fucked up that it could hardly be trueᅳ and yet it was.

"Awe shit, are you hurt now because you weren't Daddy's only little princess?", the redhead mocked her sister as she reached for her high heels that stood next to her father's desk. "Don't worry, I don't plan on spending another second with that pervert and someone like you."

Josy wasn't blind and naive. Unlike Debbie, she had noticed her father's disgusting looks all evening long. But the little touches in between had been even worse, his dirty hands always near private parts. For that alone she should put the guy behind bars.

"You're not going anywhere." Arthur's hot breath brushed her pale face, his breath reeking of champagne. "You're staying with us, sweetheart."

Josy sucked in a sharp breath as he buried a hand in her hair and pulled her closer, all amusement left his icy blue eyes and was replaced by severity and coldness. "Debbie, prepare her old room, make it as comfortable as possible", he ordered his older daughter without taking his eyes off Josy.

"Oh, first you hit me and now I have to do your shitty work?" the older O'Connell asked with a snort, a red mark now on her cheek. "I'm done here, take care of her yourself!"

Arthur's free hand grabbed Debbie's upper arm as she tried to storm past him, his firm grip so tight that it made the woman whimper. "We're both stuck in this mess just because you couldn't do that one job you had properly. So please, for fucks sake, do what I tell you", Arthur growled threateningly before he loosened his rough grip. "Now."

"Debbie..please..", Josy begged through clenched teeth, her scalp slowly aching from the dominant grip on her hair. "You can still do the right thing."

"Nice try, little sister", the brunette spat contemptuously, jealousy that she didn't seem to be her father's number one alone clearly showing. "You're not getting out of here alive just to ruin our lives and destroy everything Dad and I have built, I'll make sure of that."

And with that, as angry as Debbie still was at Arthur, the brunette stormed out of the office, leaving father and daughter alone.

ᅳ

SUMMER SLIPPED OUT through the back door of the burger restaurant and into the fresh night air. Her cell, ready to be used, in her hand. Josy had told her about the party at her father's house and also about her plan to look for evidence there in a quiet moment.

The brunette was still shocked at how far Arthur and Debbie had gone. Sure, the famous lawyer had always been corrupt and ambitious, his career and wealth always came first. The only thing that always made him seem down to earth was his family, all the trips he had taken with his daughters and his then wife until the O'Connells finally divorced.

But Summer would never have expected him to do something like that and yet she had never doubted Josy's words after she had told her story. The fact that her best friend had a husband and even a daughter in Charming was pretty crazy but Summer couldn't be happier for Josy now that everything had been cleared up. And after the DNA test came back positive a few days ago and proved that Esmee was indeed Josy's daughter, there was absolutely no doubt about Josy's story.

Summer only hoped that Arthur and Debbie would get their punishment for what they had done not only to Josy but also to her family in Charming. Something so unscrupulous and cold-hearted had to be punished.

The brunette was all the more worried now because she still hadn't received a call from her friend. After Josy sent the pictures, there was suddenly no reply from the redhead, and she didn't read her messages either.

The young woman nervously squared her shoulders, her feet tired from the long shift that seemed to drag on forever. Josy had given her her husband's number in case of an emergency, and that was exactly who Summer would call now.

After she had dialed the number, she heard the dial tone exactly twice until a raspy, gruff voice answered. "Yeah?"

"Uh, hi, Summer here", the brunette cleared her throat, rubbing her temple awkwardly with the side of her hand. "Josy gave me your number so I can call you in case something goes wrong."

"What happened?!" Summer flinched slightly at the bark on the other end of the line, the clear concern in the man's voice making her sigh. "Where's Josy?"

"She was at her father's party and took advantage of a quiet moment to look for evidence. She sent me pictures of her medical file, the right one", Summer trailed off, swallowing softly as she leaned against the cool stone wall behind her and kicked a stone across the asphalt with the tip of her white sneaker. "She hasn't answered any messages or calls since then. I don't know ifᅳ"

"I'm on my way", was all that came back before the line died.

Somewhat perplexed, Summer lowered the phone from her ear and shook her head with a sigh, but his reaction only showed that the man really cared about Josy. After all, the trip from Charming to Roseville took quite a whileᅳ and Summer really hoped that he would be here in time.

Without wasting another minute, she went back inside to finish her tasks as quickly as possible so that she could leave soon too and head to Arthur's house herself to check on Josy.

word count; about 1.8k

ᅳ

authors note; kind of a short chapter compared to my others but it felt right to end it here! We're slowly coming to an end of this story and I'm also close to finishing another one (SKIN AND BONES), which means that I'll start a new one soon. 🤎

To my question that I already posted on my timeline but wanna ask here too; Is there any important topic you'd like me to bring more awareness to? I always try to add an important topic to each of my story and I'd like to add one to my new Happy story, too. The female OC will struggle with Lupus (suggested by one of my readers), but if there's anything you'd like to be added, just leave a comment! 🥰