408 A night of twists

Giselle had no choice but to take Jenna's words to convince herself.

After Jenna had dropped Giselle at home, Giselle wearily walked back inside. Before separating, Giselle requested Jenna to let her know if Lillian responded to her. Jenna promised to inform.

It was slowly getting dark late in the night, with lights dimming after several rounds of celebrations. Except for a few abodes, the rest of the neighborhood had gone to sleep, for it'd be dawn in a matter of time.

Giselle opened the door without making a sound. As soon as she stepped into the living room, she got startled by her sister Gigi's presence. The elder sister was in the living room alone and watching the television in the dark without a source of light.

Giselle yelped from the horror and turned on the lights in the living room.

"Would you look at the time now?" Gigi welcomed the light and her sister.

"Jeez, you scared me there! Where's Lia?" Giselle replied right away.

Gigi, blinded by the bright lights now, had to hide before getting used to them.

"Poor child stubbornly waited for her mother's return until midnight. We knew you would be late, so mom put her to sleep."

"Hmm," Giselle observed to fall on the couch. She loosened her coats and scarfs before sinking into the cushions for comfort and peace of mind.

"Why are you back so early?" Gigi questioned, knowingly sounding sarcastic.

"Gigi, please, I am not in the mood!"

"Wow, someone's not in the mood, huh?"

"Yes!"

Gigi was only trying to tease but seeing Giselle looking blanched genuinely surprised her.

"What happened?" she asked in dread.

Giselle sighed heavily, yet she didn't answer her sister's question. Rather she was in her own world worrying about Lillian and her disappearance at the party.

"I am asking you- Giselle!" Gigi raised her voice to keep getting the silent treatment.

Just as Gigi volunteered to continue pestering Giselle, Melanie entered the living room to startle her daughters.

"You're back, Giselle!" she uttered to reveal her presence.

Both the ladies reacted with a sudden jerk. Giselle gave a modest reply. She inquired about Lia and apologized for returning late.

"That's alright!" Melanie replied to study her daughter's downcast face.

"How is that Lillian girl?" she boldly asked upon assuming what could be the cause of her daughter's sadness.

The ladies appeared startled again from Melanie's sharp assessment. Giselle took a moment and answered that Lillian was doing good. Returning to an awkward silence, Giselle may have responded to save Lillian's good name, but Melanie disregarded Lillian's well-being to continue her inspection.

"Did something happen at the party? You look in distress?"

"Thanks, mom, that's what I keep asking her, and she isn't answering me."

With Gigi ranting on, Giselle continued to ignore them for the time being. She couldn't be bothered by their interest in Lillian when Giselle herself couldn't reach her. The more time passed now, the more worried Giselle grew. Her consciousness slowly scraped the cynical sway.

"I'm asking you, Giselle!" Melanie demanded in the midst.

Giselle fought hard to speak, and rather than saying that Lillian had disappeared on her at the last moment, she revealed that Lillian confessed to her and that she accepted her love. She knew she had to tell her parents about Lillian's confession.

"We decided to love each other finally, mom!" Giselle said it with a bitter smile that caused Melanie to fret.

"What?" Gigi raged by her side.

"Gigi-" Melanie shrieked as soft as she could at the dead night.

"Your father is sleeping. Don't shout!" she added strictly.

"No, he's not," Gigi returned.

"What?"

"He is hiding by the stairs. Dad, you can come out already. I can see your tall shadow towering by the corner," Gigi called out to an appearance of Eric.

"Dear, what are you doing here! I thought- you were sleeping," Melanie asked in alarm.

Eric's arrival only increased the tension in the room as the sisters exchanged glances anxiously.

"Sorry, Giselle. But, I can't let you see that girl!" Eric blurted directly to his daughter, ignoring to respond his wife or his eldest child.

Giselle looked bewildered from such strong rejection.

"She isn't good for you," Eric bitterly added.

Giselle could only try to react. She was so stunned that words barely left right from her mouth.

"That's right!" Gigi supported the decision.

"Mom?" Giselle ignored both to appeal to her mother.

Her plea drew attention as all three now faced Melanie for her final verdict.

"Your father and your sister are right. Lillian- she may be a nice girl, but I can't let you see her, Giselle," Melanie explained.

"Why? I mean- I am not asking-"

"I know you're not asking for our permission, and you're old enough to make your own decisions. But, we can't- we don't want you to spoil your life again."

"What do you mean spoil my life?" Giselle exclaimed.

"Giselle! Listen to your parents. Lillian is-"

Gigi was about to shout randomly but found herself biting her lips from finishing the rest of the argument.

"Why are you talking about Lillian like that?" You don't even know her that well. But you're all adamant in rejecting her-" Giselle realized as she spoke and found her sister to be very suspicious.

"You didn't tell them?" Giselle pointed her words at her sister.

Gigi flinched upon getting accused, but she wanted to try her best to convince her otherwise.

"I didn't!" she strongly vouched at first.

"Gigi?" Giselle had to yell her name again, and this time, her sister submitted.

"I did tell them!"

"Gigi? What!"

"No- I- Yes, but Giselle, they are your parents. They have right to know," Gigi tried to explain. Nevertheless, no matter how much she insisted on the importance of sharing the old secrets with their parents, Giselle was in no mood to forgive her sister or have the strength to face the situation. She was already tired from the party. Worrying about Lillian and not being able to reach her already stressed out Giselle. This was the last concern she wished to commit herself.

As the two sisters strove back and forth about spilling secrets without consent, Melanie had run out of patience. She stopped them with a single warning. It was hard at her age to still command her daughters from arguing.

"Stop it, you two!" Eric joined to give a hand.

While Gigi stopped fighting with her sister, Giselle continued to ignore and kept going at Gigi for her unforgivable betrayal.

"Why did you tell them?" she complained.

Gigi kept repeating that their parents had every right to know about Giselle's situation, but it only aggravated the other party.

"I said, stop it! Lia is still sleeping. Do you want to wake her up to see you two fighting?" Melanie stormed.

Giselle finally listened. Although she couldn't completely ignore criticizing, she did whisper to her sister, asking about the details she vomited to their parents behind her back.

Gigi didn't answer but simply remained silent in front of their mother. Giselle saw that no answer was coming from her sister, so she dropped it for later interrogation. Right now, her concern was to change her parent's opinion about Lillian Grey. She cannot let them continue to regard Lillian with a bad reputation.

"No matter what she told you, you can't judge Lillian!" Giselle exclaimed.

"Sure we can," Eric returned.

"Yes, we can! After all, we're worried that you might get hurt by that girl's- friend, what's his name, Diego," Melanie stubbornly added.

Giselle shot a cold glare at her sister.

Gigi's gaze lowered to admit her betrayal again, for Giselle believed that she wouldn't have vomited everything to their parents.

"Well, we still love each other, so it doesn't matter anymore. We're not little kids," Giselle claimed.

"Does that mean you are going to forget what happened to you?" Melanie inquired.

"No, I won't. I- I have to- I will tell her," Giselle vowed.

"When?" Eric intervened.

"I don't know! When it's the right time," Giselle replied.

"You're not waiting for the right time to propose to her? From what your sister told us, that boy threatened you, Giselle. Imagine what he could do now?"

Giselle couldn't reply to that and simply remained speechless. She did glance at her sister, coldly scowling at her constantly for causing this situation.

"You can stare all you want, but have you ever thought of mom and dad? All of a sudden, you told them that you wanted to leave. You weren't even showing any interest in studying abroad, and you hurried us to let you go. Yeah, I had to convince them for your sake, but they deserve to know what's going on with their daughter!"

"Gigi-" Melanie stopped.

Gigi's words weighed unexpressed emotions from the past years. It even moved her father to emotional distress. Giselle was not left alone at this moment. She realized how much her parents have had suffered from knowing what happened to her. They chose to remain quiet. She had hurt them and made them worry for her covertly.

Giselle remained speechless in guilt. She blamed herself for creating this atmosphere. Regardless, she also knew she couldn't run away anymore. Such new courage gave her the strength to persuade her parents this time.

"I know. I understand. That's why I won't run away anymore. I promise," Giselle uttered softly.

Melanie sighed heavily to demand that she'd meet Lillian Grey if Giselle wishes to be with her nonetheless. Her subtle sign of approval shocked both Eric and Gigi.

"Mom," Giselle finally looked at her in hope.

"I can see that you are still unable to forget her. I believe you. That's why I wish to meet that girl in person. That's all," Melanie finalized.

Gigi wanted to interfere, but Melanie outright told her to stop dragging this issue further.

"And you- stop bugging your sister and look at yourself!" Melanie's words aimed at her eldest child now.

"What about me, mom?"

"I know you're divorced but, that doesn't mean that it's the end. Get your life together so we can rest in peace without worrying about you two!" Melanie coldly answered to walk away. Eric sighed dejectedly to follow after bidding goodbye to his daughters.

Their mother's frustrated words left them thunderstruck.

Giselle reacted first. She looked at Gigi, staring at her with mixed emotions.

"Sorry, sister!" Gigi appealed.

"I didn't mean to tell your secrets. But your girlfriend kept visiting us every day after you left. It was hard to come up with lies every single day."

Giselle's gaze softened to hear the story.

"I did tell them Lillian was just a girl from school, who was interested in you, but- I think it was a few years later, one day you had called mom and talked to her for three hours straight. The next day, she invited me to brunch and asked if I was keeping anything about you as secret," Gigi explained.

Giselle finally understood what caused her sister to betray, which might be a bit too much to blame now.

Meanwhile, recalling the story made Gigi realize that her sister's strange conversation provoked her mother to investigate. She inquired right away.

Giselle's memory was dusty at first, but she slowly remembered the time when she had spoken to her mother for a long time.

"It was- I- was pregnant with Lia. It was a tough time, and I needed to talk to someone," Giselle revealed.

"And you called mom," Gigi finally understood.

"I'm sorry for telling them without your consent," she apologized.

"It happened. After all, no secrets can hide forever!" Giselle realized as well.

Gigi went on about how Giselle should have stayed and fought back at that guy instead of leaving to his weakling threat. If only Giselle had shared her troubles with her family, her parents would have been there to support her. Gigi still regretted seeing her sister leave, especially after they had started being close again. Despite Diego blackmailing her to leave Lillian, Giselle should have stubbornly stuck by her side.

Giselle wished she had the courage to do it, but it was the time where she was still discovering about herself. Growing up in a society where she was teased and looked at because of her preference, Giselle had no choice but to succumb to her fears.

"What are you going to do? Oops, Sorry! I was told to focus on my life now," Gigi admitted to back away.

"Don't take it badly!" Giselle comforted.

"I know! Alright, I'm going to sleep. I was only waiting for you to return. Goodnight, Giselle," Gigi asked her to take it easy before picking her blanket to head upstairs to her room.

"Goodnight."

"Oh- but I will say this- tell Lillian to be ready. Mom isn't easy to impress, so don't blow it this time," Gigi advised one last time to hear Giselle appreciating her kindness.

After Gigi left saying goodnight, Giselle sat alone in the living room. She thought to herself how adventurous the night had turned out for her; Starting from Lillian's confession to sharing her unspoken past with a stranger tonight. Although Shane isn't related to her personally, he was a confidant to Lillian Grey and now her boss, so telling him her troubles lifted the curse and relieved Giselle from struggling alone anymore. Now, she truly feels like she can withstand Diego and any of his threats if he shall throw them at her.

Giselle also felt partially relieved now that her family knew of her past. Everyone knows except Lillian Grey. Thinking about it made her feel guilty. She wondered if she should have told Lillian back there when she confessed. Giselle shook her head immediately to disagree. Underneath all that newfound courage, Giselle still feared how Lillian might take this. After all, she didn't want to bring disappointment right after admitting her love.

Thinking about the confession made Giselle blush. However, that joy disappeared when reality came into the picture. She worried about where Lillian might have gone, and part of her began to suspect if she could have met Diego by chance.

Giselle hoped it wasn't the case. She didn't have the strength to go to her room and sought refuge in their living room couch. She followed Gigi to watch television before falling asleep from exhaustion.