The Guilty Defence

Chapter 11

🎧 Cradles - Sub Urban 🎧

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"A few years ago, before your father got killed."

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Flashback: 12 July 2009

"What?! So, you're saying you aren't cheating on me? Then who was that guy who texted you earlier then huh?" Sim Minjun yelled, a hint of betrayal and annoyance in his voice as he stared at his wife in a sense of hatred.

"He's just a colleague from work! I don't know what's going on at work today!" she replied in disbelief, knowing that he's drunk.

"Bullshit!" he swore, "you could've just ignored him or put him on mute, but no, you just decided to reply back constantly. Did you forget that you have a husband? You bitch-"

In a matter of seconds, a loud slap could be heard, and suddenly silence coated the kitchen for a few minutes.

"Block him? You don't even know who he is! Stop being so overprotective and narcissistic! He's my boss' secretary!"

Listening quietly on the top of the staircase, Jake sat there, his phone in his hands shakily recording the whole argument while silently wiping his tears from his cheeks: this has been going on for weeks now, constant arguments, accusations, screaming, punching. It's as if his parents didn't even love each other anymore, the lack of trust broke them in half as if it was a cracker, breakable but unmendable.

Jake knew that his dad had anger issues, he would break anything that he would see in sight. But when he was drunk, it was a hundred times worse. The sudden shattering sound of glass broke Jake from his train of thoughts, quickly looking back at the kitchen and saw pieces of glass scattered on the floor.

"And why do you have his number?" he shouted, clearly not in his right state of mind at the moment, his fists clenched tightly together by his sides and his knuckles turning pale white while holding a bottle of wine in one hand.

"To let me know whether the boss needed me! He's barely on his phone, how does that count as cheating?!" Eunjee yelled out in frustration, trying to bring her point across to him.

Suddenly, her body came in contact with the ground, amidst the pooling blood around her, Eunjee battled to retain consciousness. Tremors wracked her body as it instinctively prepared for fight or flight. Each shallow breath was a desperate attempt to secure the scarce oxygen, her determination to survive palpable in every strained gasp.

"M-Minjun..." she breathes out, her body turning pale as a ghost every growing second as she fought to survive, before suddenly going limp.

Breathing heavily, Jake quickly ran down the stairs and grabbed his dad's shirt by the collar and shakes him aggressively, who was just standing there as if he was in a trance, as if he was sleepwalking and this was just a nightmare.

But this was real, and it hit Jake like a truck, it was like he was in a car crash, refusing to believe that he just lost his mum at the age of 14 who got killed by his own father.

"Dad! What the fuck did you just do?!" Jake yelled at him in disbelief, not caring if he just swore at him and broke down into tears, completely shattered by what just happened.

Minjun just stood there, staring at his dead wife lying on the kitchen floor lifeless, tears slowly falling down his face in realisation of what he's just done.

Out of nowhere, an agonising and yearning cry was heard, his heart felt as if it was ripped to shreds, like a ripped piece of paper making it impossible to piece back together.