𝗥𝗘𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗦, 𝙅𝙊𝙃𝙉 𝘽 ¹.

𝙭𝙭. 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩

( 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙔. )
▬▬▬∘◦ ☆ ◦∘▬▬▬

IT WASN'T EASY FOR Jaylene to cope with the fact that Marleen Harrington wasn't actually dead. In fact, she even thought about looking through the medicine cabinet to search for the oxycodone that was being stored inside of a prescription bottle, but instead, she went to the last person she wanted to speak to.

When she dropped Sarah off that day, she went straight home and unexpectedly wrapped her arms around the man who had been lying to her this entire time. The man who was unable to hold himself accountable for his own actions.

Henderson was shocked at first, but when the wave of shock left his system, he immediately realized that something was wrong. Instead of questioning her, he allowed his daughter to sob into his chest, soaking the button up shirt that he wore.

Despite everything she'd discovered about him within the past couple of days, he hadn't abandoned her like her mother did. Marleen could've come back for her, but she chose not to put any sort of effort into it. Not only did she despise the blonde haired woman who had fled the island almost twelve years ago, but she also despised Mark and Florence Harrington with a burning passion. They had been lying to her this entire time, and they'd been the main reason as to why her mother was torn away from her at such a young age.

Her heart felt like it had been ripped from her chest and repeatedly stomped on until it was nothing but small bits. She felt stupid for believing a single word that her grandparents had told her. It's like they saw nothing but a complete idiot whenever they looked at her.

"Hey, kid. Talk to me." Henderson broke the silence, keeping the protective grip around Jaylene's body as she continued bawling her eyes out, unable to stop the tears from falling. He was still shocked with the sudden embrace he'd been pulled into, considering the fact that she was still pissed at him, but he was more worried about the fact that his daughter was loudly sobbing into his shoulder.

Jaylene kept her face buried into his shoulder as she shook her head, indicating that she didn't wanna talk about what had triggered her sudden meltdown. And she didn't want him finding out either. Not for a while at least. It's not like Mark Harrington deserved her trust anyone, so when she was finally ready to hit everyone with the truth about Marleen Harrington, she would, but for now, she'd decided to keep her mouth shut.

And because Henderson knew that he was in no position to question her, he respected her decision, allowing her to let out every single tear that she could possibly shed.

｡･:*:ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹

THE NEXT DAY wasn't as awkward as Jaylene originally thought it would be. After crying her eyes out in her fathers arms, she kept herself locked up in her room all day, throwing all of Marleen's items into a pile so that she could dispose of them whenever given the chance. A good part of her kept telling herself that she was fine, that the truth about her mother didn't affect her, but the other part knew that she was completely heartbroken.