The White Snake - ENGLISH VERSION

Chapter 5: The victim and the criminal.

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Alya was sound asleep in a fetal position under the covers of her bed after having cried for hours due to the most recent incidents that had practically ruined her dream of being a journalist before she had even begun. That wasn't the only tragedy, though. Her entire life seemed to be in turmoil at the moment due to the consequences she was dealing with from her blindness. She had lost her once invaluable friendship with Marinette when she believed in Lila more than her. She hadn't even been considerate towards the three accused crimes that had gotten Marinette an expulsion. She had never once doubted Lila's innocence, as, in her mind, she had been hoping for the guilty one of every crime to be Chloé. Yet, everything exploded in her face at once after Lila's lies were uncovered, and Marinette's statement was proven to be true that Lila Rossi "lied as much as she breathes." Her parents' disappointment at discovering her poor behavior regarding Marinette hit her next that earned her severe punishment. The repercussion of her blind idolatry of Lila's lies led to prohibition from using her devices, including her computer, internet on her cell phone, and she was banned from more dates with her boyfriend, Nino, until further notice. She was also responsible for taking care of her twin sisters until they were twelve years old and could not have someone cover for her without parental permission. Furthermore, she not only had to delete her previous pride and joy of the Ladyblog, but along with her other blogs after the avalanche of negative criticism about her poor "attempt" to perform as a reporter. She was heavily criticized for her lack of awareness for not doing the bare minimum of checking the sources of her interviews and the information that she posted on the internet.

Meanwhile, Nora was fuming from her ears. A couple of reporters had been continuously harassing Alya by standing at their front door, and she dealt with them by kicking them out.

-Even if Alya messed up, I'm not going to allow worms to trouble her like that, only to tell the news and report- but the fighter's grumble was interrupted when her cell phone rang-. Hello?

-Nora, please go get your sisters to school -Replied her mother's voice, and the anguished tone of her mother alerted the athlete-. What happened, mom? -she questioned angrily.

-Some children have bothered the twins, and well, they called me to pick them up from school, but I can't go because of my work... And especially with how things are now... -her mother barely spoke, with a weak voice that squeezed the heart of her eldest daughter.

-Don't worry, I'll take care of it. See you at dinner, mom, and take care of yourself -after her mother had said goodbye too, Nora hung up and then scratched her head in frustration-. UGH! How long is this whole affair going to continue?- then, Nora went to her sister's room, knocking on the door-. Alya! I'm going to look for the twins. If something happens, let me know, okay?

-Okay...-the ex-blogger replied dryly, and Nora let out an annoyed sigh.

-See you soon -the athlete declared as she left their home, not knowing that Alya had overheard her conversation with their mother, and if she hadn't already felt terrible before, now she wanted to die.

She didn't need to be a genius to understand that the consequences of her mistakes were now affecting her younger sisters. It was most likely that several children would be, or already had bothered them simply because they were sisters of Alya Cesaire, the worst blogger in all of Paris and a spreader of Lila Rossi's lies and fraud. They were paying the price of a crime that wasn't their responsibility. And with those thoughts haunting her, she returned to her bed, wishing that things wouldn't get worse.

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Meanwhile, in the Dupain-Cheng's home, the sentimonster had been guarding the cocoon, patiently waiting for time to pass. There were only two days left, merely forty-eight hours more until Heroes Day, and so far, everything was going smoothly. Marinette's classmates, Chloe, her parents, the former director Damocles, and Lila, were punished for their crimes, yet some details were incomplete. Still, everything was going according to plan, so she was enjoying some peace for the moment. She had been reading a compilation of short stories written by a gentleman named Charles Perrault when one of the stories caught her attention and thus becoming an inspiration to definitively punish a particular liar, almost, for life.