Part 3Boundaryless Dad, Online Plea, Family’s Remorse

The screen was a blur of furious comments and shares.

“What kind of father is this? He’s clearly a creep!”

“Is the mom dead? Her daughter is literally begging for help and she’s just sitting there doing nothing!”

“She’s probably one of those mothers who only cares about the son. She doesn’t give a damn about her daughter.”

My mom’s eyes were red with rage. She slapped me, hard, across the face.

I cupped my cheek, staring at her in disbelief. It was the first time she had ever hit me. My mind went blank. “Mom…”

“They’re strangers! What do they know?” she screamed, not giving me a chance to speak. “You’re his daughter! He’s watched you grow up! So what if he looks at you? Is a piece of you going to fall off?”

“Are you trying to ruin your father’s reputation? Will that make you happy?”

I’d never seen her this angry before. I was terrified. “No, Mom, that’s not it. I was just confused…”

Just then, her phone rang. She answered it, exasperated.

“Hello, is this Sarah? This is CPS.”

“We’ve seen a video concerning your daughter online, and its contents are very troubling.”

“We’d like to understand the situation at home to ensure your daughter’s safety and well-being. When would be a good time for us to…”

As soon as she hung up, her face was a mask of pure fury.

“Are you satisfied now? You wanted your father investigated? You wanted me to be called a bad mother? You wanted to tear this family apart? Is that what you wanted?”

“Delete that video! Now!”

“Look at the trouble you’ve caused!”

I never imagined it would blow up like this. I was scared to death. I deleted the video, tears streaming down my face. “Mom, I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

The video was gone, but her anger still burned.

“You spend all day watching toxic videos online, it’s rotting your brain!”

“We raised you, we fed you, we sent you to a good school, and you turn on us like an enemy?”

“Your father is the one who spoils you the most, and this is how you repay him? By slandering him?”

I tried to make her understand. “But what he’s doing is wrong!”

She looked down at me, her voice dripping with contempt. “Did he hit you? Did he yell at you? Did we ever deny you food or clothes?”

“All he did was not knock. And for that, you wanted to ruin his life?”

“Lily, when did your heart become so poisonous?”

Every word she said felt logical. I couldn’t argue. But an unspeakable sadness filled my heart.

To fix the mess I’d made, my mom took out her phone and filmed a new video.

“I want to apologize to everyone for taking up your time,” she said, her voice full of weary regret. “Our daughter has been spending too much time online. She thought it would be fun to make a ‘scripted video’ like the influencers she sees. We never expected it to cause such a misunderstanding. We are so sorry for the trouble.”

The camera turned to my dad. He walked over to me and gently clipped a strawberry barrette into my hair. “Silly girl,” he said, his voice dripping with affection. “You can’t pull stunts like this anymore.”

I nodded and whispered, “I know.”

After the video of our happy, reconciled family was posted, public opinion flipped instantly.