Jane was just coming down the stairs when she spotted her big sis slam the door and head out. It wasn't hard to figure out what might've been the problem, especially as she spotted Dad seated at the dining table.
"Morning Dad, what's the matter with Anna?"
"Morning. Errr, I think it's cos I made breakfast" he replied not looking her in the eye.
"Daaddd, we both know this was never about making breakfast" replied Jane, who knew what the problem was.
"You know I put in the work to get that money" he replied, still refusing to look her in the eye
'And let me guess, you got the money working your usual job right"
With a reply not forthcoming, Jane pondered on whether she should just head back into her room. But her stomach chose that moment to let out a very embarrassing growl, hating herself for being weak willed, she sat down to eat breakfast.
Anna wasn't sure if she'd ever been this angry before. She wasn't even sure how she felt about her dad. Of course she loved him and wouldn't want anything to happen to him, but his choices were the reason why the family wasn't the happy place it used to be.
Their house used to be a place of laughter and joy, unlike these days where everything seemed forced. They couldn't even enjoy a meal together without tension. All of these wouldn't be happening if mum was still around.
Mum always had a smile on her face and she made sure everyone around her did the same. It wasn't just her actions, it was her whole aura. She somehow had that effect on everyone and there was always something joyful about her.
That was until the accident happened. They'd been on their way back from a dinner night when a car had continuously trailed behind them. At first they didn't think much about it, until her dad saw the faces of the people in the car and his driving suddenly became erratic. He eventually panicked and drove into a wall.
They'd all woken up in the hospital with varying degrees of minor injuries, but her mum's injuries were the most critical. What made the situation weird, was the fact that her dad refused to report to the police and even forbade them from doing so.
It took a lot of shouting before the truth eventually came out. Her dad was a conman and he done business with some shady individuals. Unfortunately there were disagreements on a particular deal and the other side felt they'd been cheated, hence why they'd been following them that night.
For the first time in her life Anna almost hated her dad, but reporting to the police would definitely implicate him. It was either keep her mouth shut or watch her father possibly go to jail. To make matters even worse, her mum eventually succumbed to her injuries.
They had to keep their dads secret, particularly as the consequences of such an action on them would be bad. Without any close relatives who would be willing to take them in, their dad going to jail would mean them moving into a foster home or worse even getting shuffled into separate homes.
It hadn't been easy keeping such a secret and living in the same house with her father, but Anna made sure she and Jane never told anyone. They'd eventually began to come to terms with their mum's death, until one day Anna discovered that her dad was still working his cons and still moving with his so called business associates. Things had immediately changed drastically at home.
The growl from Anna's stomach brought her out of reverie, reminding her that she needed to eat something. Searching inside her purse, she found some cash. It wasn't enough, but she knew how to manage.
Maxwell wasn't proud of himself, especially knowing he was responsible for what their home had turned into. Most of the time he couldn't even look his daughters in the eye, as he could see the judgment written all over them.
He'd tried to be both a good father and a loving husband and for awhile things were okay. That was until he lost his job and couldn't provide enough for his family. He'd met up with a few friends who claimed there were ways to make easy money with minimal risk.
The money was easy and there was wasn't much risk, but it kept his family afloat and Max didn't have a choice but to continue. That was until one of their deals didn't go as planned and his so called friends began to threaten him and later on his family. Which was why he'd panicked that night when they were on their way home from the family dinner and the resulting consequence was his wife's death.
It took a while for his daughters to forgive him, but still without a job to provide for his family, he had gone back to working as a conman again. Anna eventually found out and things went downhill again. He could tell from the way both his daughters looked at him at breakfast that they hated him.
It was time to make amends.
Jane and Anna watched as a man walked out of the building. It had been a year since they last saw him as a free man and they didn't hold back the tears as they both ran into his warm embrace. Their dad Maxwell was getting out of prison today after serving his sentence.
A year ago, he'd gone to the police and confessed all of his crimes. He was given a lighter sentence because his valuable information enabled the Police round up the rest of the con group. They'd been absolutely proud of him in that moment.
A neighbor had agreed to take them in pending the time their dad got out of prison. As they all walked hand in hand away from the building, they all knew that their family was whole again.
It was a happy family once again.
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