320: The afterparty IV

The afterparty IV

Thinking deeply about it, Paula had nothing to hate toward Heaven or her father. Those two had been nothing but kind to her. They welcomed Paula when Paula's parents didn't want her and treated her with love and care.  1

They were Paula's family. 

Therefore, knowing what she had done and that this feeling of inferiority overtook her tonight brought unimaginable guilt into her heart. She didn't want to do it. She didn't want to hate Heaven, but… Paula felt helpless. 

If they really love her, then they would understand why she did what she did, right?

Paula sat beside the man she called father for years, holding his slightly wrinkly and chubby hands tenderly. Tears continuously flowed from her eyes, flooding her face until her sniffles synched along with the mechanical heart rate monitor. 

'You will not hate me for it, right?' she asked in her heart, squeezing the man's hand mildly. 'Dad, please tell me it's okay. I feel like I'm about to go crazy.'

Perhaps, she thought, that the drug had something to do with her heightened emotion. She couldn't stop crying and no matter how she twisted her reasoning, she knew it was wrong. Thus, her tears wouldn't stop. 

"Why is my girl crying?" Suddenly, a weak and hoarse voice pierced the consistent sniffles in the air. "Tell me who made my little princess cry, and I'd get up here to teach them a lesson."

Paula slowly raised her hand, only to see the old man smiling at her. She bit her tongue at his welcoming smile, unwilling to let go of his hand. 

"Dad," she breathed out, lips quivering. "What am I going to do? I did something really bad."

The old man blinked ever so tenderly. "Were you hurt?"

"A bit, but I'm scared," Paula expressed her heart out. "I'm scared that in my attempt to pursue my dream, I'll lose you, Dad."

"My girl…" the man chuckled weakly, raising his hand to cup her cheek. "There's nothing you can do to make me leave you alone. Unless you don't want me in your life anymore, but even then, I won't stop being your dad."

Tears blurred Paula's vision, holding the gentle hand that was cupping her cheek. When things were too much, this man had always been her beacon of hope. He was the only person whom she felt safe with, someone who would protect her even when he was plagued with sickness and his age catching up with him. His existence was proof that even if the entire world hate her, he would take her side. 

"Paula." After a while, the man called her name in the same gentle tone.

"Yes, Dad?" she sniffed hard, wiping her tears to see him clearly. 

"Where's your sister?" 

"She's… she's still at the afterparty." Paula stuttered, hiding the sudden nervousness with a smile. "She bagged the best actress award. As expected of her."

"Hehe. Yes, I watch the whole thing." The man chuckled, his face brimming with pride. "I got so excited I had a heart attack. Haha!"

"Dad." Paula frowned. "That's not something you should joke about."

"Did she hear about what happened?"

Paula pressed her lips into a thin line before she answered with a quiet, "No."

"That's good." The man heaved a sigh of relief. "She'll be very worried if she heard that his old man had a heart attack out of excitement when they called her name."

"So don't joke about that anymore." Another sigh slipped past Paula's lips.

The man let out a few chuckles, squeezing Paula's hand mildly. He slowly set his eyes on the ceiling, keeping his short smile. 

"Paula, take care of your sister," the man expressed in a sentimental tone. "Heaven can be very stubborn. She has a very big heart that sometimes, I am worried about her. Although I didn't want her to be in the entertainment industry, I am proud that she is doing well with her chosen career."

"I heard people in showbiz were sometimes bad news," he continued, setting his eyes back to Paula. "So, always look after your sister. People might take advantage of her, and that worries me."

There was a moment of silence between the two of them as they kept eye contact. For some reason, the relieved smile on her face gradually disappeared, as she had a different understanding of his remarks. 

"Dad," she called quietly. "How about me? Are you still proud of me, even when my career isn't as well as hers?"

"Of course. I'm always proud of you girls, no matter what."

"Then why do I have to always look after her?"

The man's brows rose, confused. "What?"

"I understand that you often tell that to me before, but she's already old enough to take care of herself now," she explained, trying to make sense out of her twisted thoughts. "Why is it that when you're talking to her, all you say are words of encouragement? But when you're talking to me, all I hear is that I need to look after her or things like that?"

"Paula, I don't understand." The man furrowed his already furrowed brows. "That's not true, and you know that."

"No, it was the truth." Paula shook her head. "Did you take me in because you need someone to look after your daughter?"

"Paula, what are you talking about?" the man tried to sit up, baffled at her sudden shift in mood.

Just now, Paula was crying, and then she calmed down, only to spit out ridiculous allegations. What was going on with this girl? Just as the question rose in the man's head, he finally got a whiff of the smell of alcohol.

"Paula, have you been drinking?" he asked in disbelief.

"Why?" Paula blinked ever so tenderly. "What is it to you if I drank some wine? I'm still here. I rushed here when I heard what happened, but Heaven… where is she?"

A ridiculing laugh came out of her mouth, clicking her tongue continuously as she assessed the man's face. "Right, you don't know what your little angel is doing while her dad almost died."

"Paula." This time, his face turned grim at how Paula was not acting like herself. However, he didn't fathom the next words she was about to say so carelessly. 

"You don't know Heaven, Dad. If you only know she is having the time of her life, having sex with multiple men as we speak, you will know just how disgusting she is," she revealed with a psychotic grin before cradling his hand. "Dad, Heaven is corrupted. Can't you see? I am the one who is here. I am the one who really loves you and is willing to take care of you. Why can't everyone just see that?"

His lips slowly parted as his eyes dilated, watching her shift moods again. She was smiling back at him again, holding his hand to her face as if she just didn't say anything out of character.

"Paula…" The man's breath hitched as his heart rate slowly increased. "Have you been doing drugs?"

The affectionate smile on her face instantly died, making his heart rate rise. 

"What did you say?" she deadpanned. "How did you know that I put that in her drink?"

"Paula… what did you… what did you do to her?"

Her eyes didn't blink as she stared at the man dead in the eye. "No," she said after a few seconds, shaking her head while grinding her teeth. 

"That cannot be." She set her eyes back on him, catching his hand crawl to the call button to alert the nurses.

Paula, out of panic, jumped onto him and caught his arm, eyes bloodshot, as if her vision had just turned black. 

"What do you think you're doing, huh?" Paula hissed through her gritted teeth. "You're not calling any media to ruin me. No. They blackmailed me. I didn't want to do it, but I was forced to —"

"Paula Shen."

When the man called him once more, Paula froze for a moment. She slowly set her unblinking wide eyes underneath her, only to catch the monster his eyes were mirroring. 

"A demon," she whispered, grabbing the blanket over the man and putting it over his face, trying to stop the demon from coming out of his eyes without knowing she was smothering him to death. 

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

"No, no, you can't come out." Paula breathed out, putting more pressure on his face until he stopped struggling. 

Beep…

When another minute had passed, Paula blinked, only to jump away. The life in her eyes gradually returned and slowly, realization sank in as if someone doused her with a bucket of cold water. 

"No," she breathed out, gazing at the monitor with shaking eyes. "No, no. Dad!" 

Paula immediately rushed back to his side, pulling down the sheet that was covering his face. Seeing that his face had slightly turned purple, her brain went blank. She pulled down the sheet and called for help, but it was too late, pronouncing him dead the same night.

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