Her Flaws

Epilogue

I never disclosed the abusive behaviour of my father in my trials and prosecution. I didn't want him to end up behind the bars. No matter how I feel towards him, but he is the man my mom loves, I never wanted to hurt my mom anymore and I didn't want to become a worse child. Does that make me a bad daughter still?
The fine was not too much and I could afford it. But I chose my sentence to punish myself and take off the guilt. It was tough. The thing that worried me the most was that people don't hire ex convicts. How am I supposed to earn my living?
There are a few options left after conviction. I am a girl, it was even harder. I had decided that after I get released, I will ask college to issue me the duplicate of my degree that I couldn't collect on my graduation day. After that, I would think what to do.
Hailey visited me every week with new books for me. Mom was ill, so she came rarely. Dad never visited, of course, I was a disappointment to him and his family name. I didn't feel sad about it. It was fine. It wasn't something that I did not expect. Gwenchanh-a.
Even Ashley visited me once with Anier. I felt great to see them. Anier was doing fine at the orphanage. I didn't see Mr. Clarke at the law court during my final judgment, and he never visited me too. It made me thoughtful sometimes. That's all. That's my story.
"Oh, thank you Ms. Smith." she said.
"What was your name again?" I asked.
"Miralyn. I'm the internee of Mr. Jiovanni. He asked me to interview you." she said with a bright smile.
"I see." I said.
"I also collected your diary that you used to write when you were in high school. I will hand it over to Mr. Jiovanni. He will merge the story and interview and get it published next week." she said. She was a dark haired girl, hardly a year younger than me. As she told, she was the internee of Nef.
"Oh, and Mr. Jiovanni asked me to tell you that he will visit you tomorrow after your release." she said.
"Thank you Miralyn!" I said calmly.
"I heard your full story and at first I felt like you're a coward. But now I realise, that you're a strong woman Ms. Smith. I admire you," she continued, "but I will get going now, the time is over. Hope to see you again after you're free tomorrow."

May 14, 2021
I will get released today.

I got released and met my family and Ashley. I met Nef and we had a small party. It was the happiest day of my life.
"Do you know anything about Sheridan?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's going abroad next week. And he's also thinking about selling the guest house." Nef said.
"Really?" I asked.
"You didn't know? He didn't visit you?" he asked rather shockingly.
"Nah. I saw him last time at the bus stop when he dropped us both. The day I turned myself in." I said.
"Strange." he said.
I went to the guest house the same day. Nothing was changed. It was just a time of ten months that I spent in prison but it felt like I had spent thousand years there. I entered the guest house and everyone was shocked to see me. Len came and hugged me. Maricur came forward too and greeted me.
"Is Mr. Clarke in his office?" I asked Len.
"What is this unusual noise?" Sheridan came out of his office mumbling. And he looked at me and paused for a second. He came forward to hug me but I slowly pushed him away.
"Let's talk inside." I said.
We both went inside his office.
"You didn't even bother to visit me once?" I asked very politely.
"It's not like that..." he tried to make excuse.
"You should be honest. Because it doesn't make any difference." I said still being the same calm.
"Do you wanna grab a coffee at the cafe?" he asked trying to change the subject of discussion.
"You're going abroad next week?" I asked ignoring his proposal.
"Yes..." he said.
"And you want to sell this guest house?" I asked without any change of expressions.
"No I don't want to sell it. I need a trustworthy person to run it in my absence. I talked to Len about it but she said she couldn't take a huge responsibility. And I don't have the heart to sell it but if I don't find anyone, I will have to sell it." he said.
"I see. Well, I will take my leave now. Take care Sheridan!" I said stepping out of his office.
I was sitting at the bus stop planning where to go.
"Aceso!" I looked behind, Sheridan came running after me.
"Oh? Oo?" I said unintentionally.
"I want to talk to you. Let's go back to the guest house." he said still breathing hardly.
"Talk here." I said.
"Will you take care of the guest house after I'm gone? I didn't think of it before.." he said sitting beside me.
"You never came to see me and never wanted to see me, but now you need me so you're here? I know you did a lot, and I'm still thankful. But I felt like you pitied me and never considered me a friend." I said being truthful.
"I'm sorry..." he said.
I had my ego but deep down I knew I would never get such a good offer again. And I wanted to accept it. I had to. I couldn't kick the fate and sleep on roads later.
"Alright. Let's head back!" I said with a cheerful smile.
Sheridan left the guest house to me and went to Canada for further studies. He got settled there after the completion of his studies and married a Canadian woman. We often video call him from the guest house lounge and see his twin kids jumping and screaming here and there behind him. He never returned to Philippines. I became an equal shareholder. And Sheridan and I worked on 50-50 basis.
Nephi got married to Miralyn, his internee and I can say, they lived happily ever after. Nef adopted Anier and the couple raised her well.
And what about me? I became the Co-CEO of the Clarke's Guest House and an independent respected woman. I turned the guest house into a hotel in only a period of seven years. But I never forgot to continue the focus of Sheridan to provide room for people who aren't rich. And I realised that I fulfilled my dream of becoming a businesswoman. Fate is an unpredictable thing.
Today, I'm thirty years and a few days old. I have no regrets from the past and I have a good life. I don't want anyone to love me. I have friends but I don't expect anything from anyone, so I don't have to fear betrayal. Yeah, I loved Sheridan, may be I still do, but because of that, my life never stopped. I don't ever want to get married until I find a person who understands my every complicated whorl. I still stand by my statement. I'm happy. I'm satisfied. What else a person needs?
I stopped caring about if I'm a bad daughter. I stopped struggling to prove myself love-worthy. I was running before a useless thing. Why do I have to prove anything to anyone? I learned to love myself. I am enough. I'm hoping to see good things ahead. I'm waiting what fate brings me next. You just have to struggle and survive for a happy ending. Is giving up on life a good choice?