The moment she saw Mary, Cherry flinched and took two steps back, fighting the urge to run back to her room and hide. She''s insane, she thought. What is this lunatic doing here so early?


    And why wasn''t Hannah in the living room?


    “Did Hannah go to work today? If so, maybe I don''t have to go down," Cherry thought, feeling a wave of relief.


    "Sorry to disappoint you, but I didn''t go to work. I''ve taken some time off. Thepany isn''t busy, so I have plenty of time to y with you. Aren''t you thrilled?"


    Hannah''s yful voice suddenly came from behind her, startling Cherry so much that she spun around, lost her footing, and tumbled down the stairs.


    The loud crash caught Mary''s attention in the living room.


    She got up to investigate and saw Cherry and Hannah.


    Seeing the two of them, Mary''s expression darkened. "Since we''re all here, let''s sit down and talk this through."


    Knowing she couldn''t escape and had to face this, Cherry subconsciously nced around, searching for Gary.


    But no matter where she looked, he was nowhere to be found.


    “Don''t bother looking. Gary left a long time ago. He knew something was going to happen today, so he made sure to be far away. Gary doesn''t love you at all. When troublees, he just wants to save himself and doesn''t care about his little sister. Oh, you poor thing."


    Hannah, seeing who she was looking for, teased her sarcastically.


    "Don''t you dare talk about Gary like that! He must have had something important to do. You''re just trying to drive a wedge between us!"


    Hannah ignored herpletely, walked straight to the sofa, sat down, and looked up at Mary.


    Things had gone too far for pleasantries. Hannah couldn''t be bothered with pretending, so she cut straight to the chase.


    "Did you threaten Cherry to be your spy, to eavesdrop on me and report everything back to you?"


    Mary knew they were past the point of civility, but she was still shocked by how bluntly Hannah asked the question.


    “Hannah, you''re not divorced yet. I am still your mother-inw!"


    "Don''t pull the family card with me."


    ...


    ...


    Hannah''s words plunged the living room into a dead silence.


    Mary''s face turned livid with anger, and she red at Hannah, grinding her teeth.


    "Let''s not waste time with


    meaningless chatter. You didn''t


    answer the question: did your coerce her, or did she approach you


    Just as Mary was about to answer, Cherry blurted out.


    "It was your ex-mother-inw! She threatened me, intimidated me into being her spy to watch you! Otherwise, why would I ever do. something like that? This is your busmess, it has nothing to do with me. Why would I get involved, right?"


    Mary looked at Cherry in


    astonishment, then let out a colet


    angryugh. “Oh, Cherry, Cherry Have you never heard of the record function on a phone?"


    "I can''t believe you can lie so brazenly. Today, I''m going to make you regret it."