Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman

"You've come finally!" said a weak Shirley. It took a great deal of effort for her to just open her eyes and fix them on Jean.

Jean, on the other hand, could hardly take her eyes off Shirley. She took a step closer to her only to get shocked at the sight of a pale fragile Shirley who looked like a ghost of her former self.

It had just been a few days, but Shirley Wen, looked like she was someone else, not the stepsister Jean had grown up with. With a desolate air hanging heavy around her, all life had drained out of Shirleys' face.

Who would believe that this was Shirley Wen, the same Shirley who was known for her being spirited and blazing eyes. Shirley was so frail that it looked she would disappear any time into thin air. Seeing her hardly able to stir, Jean was gripped by mixed feelings in her heart. Still, she tried her best to calm down and stay clear-headed.

"Why did you ask me to come? What do you want?" Jean asked Shirley in a point-blank manner.

"The reason that I asked you to come......" Suddenly Shirley paused mid-sentence. She stared at Jean and then a hint of derisive smile curled the corner of Shirley's lips. She continued, "Because I want to take a good look at you. You must be so happy right now. Am I not right? After all, you've achieved all your goals and you've put me in jail, haven't you? But why did you save me after putting me in jail? Don't you know I'd rather die now? Why not let me die?"

spouted Shirley. As her speech progressed, Shirley's breath became more hurried and her pitch higher.

Seeing the excited expression on Shirley's face, Jean maintained the cool expression on her face. "You should clearly know that I didn't mean to save you," said Jean.

"Then why did you? Are you doing this to torture me? You must be so happy to see all this, am I right?" shouted Shirley all flustered. Shirley finally let her irritation show. She goggled at Jean and added, "Jean Wen, I can't believe that you are so heartless! You even deprive me of the right to end my own life! How can you be so ruthless?"

"This is no way to end your life," replied Jean. She looked Shirley in the eye and added, "If I were you, I'd take my time to recuperate and regain my health. After all, nothing is possible without health. And most importantly, I'd use this time to transform into a better person. In short, live the rest of your life."

"Stop pretending that all of this is out of kindness! I just simply want to end my life. Why are you being so cruel and depriving me of such a humble request," exclaimed Shirley with bitterness written all over her face. Shirley was all flared up at the beginning of her speech, but within minutes, her hard exterior had given way to a helpless crying woman desperate with her plea.

She was in turmoil now and the hopeless look on Shirley's face showed her despair, as if she had given up on seeing the light of the day anymore.

"For me, living in jail is much worse than death. Do you still think that you saved me and you have become great in doing this? No! I do not want to live a life without freedom! I'd rather die!" cried Shirley.

With despair and desolation written all over her face, Shirley looked at Jean with pleading eyes and begged, "Please, please let me die!"

On the other side, seeing Shirley on the verge of breakdown, conflict and apathy came in Zed's mind.

'I was wrong, completely.

It never occurred to me that Shirley would respond with this intensity and that too to reject this opportunity to live. But, Joy had worked so hard to keep Shirley alive.

I thought Shirley would be afraid of death, but I was wrong. It turns out she has complete belief in her actions and will never turn back.' reflected Zed on the turn of events.

Zed began to see Shirley with new eyes but feared, he could do nothing at this moment. He tore his eyes away from Shirley's pale face for seeing her breakdown like this was too much for him.

"Well, it won't be that hard if you really want to die," Jean spoke slowly. By then, Shirley had been crying for quite a while and she had exhausted herself with grief.

"What?!" Shirley was incredulous. She looked up at Jean as she could not believe what she had just heard.

Meanwhile, Zed too was confounded by hearing Jane say this. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about what Jean was about to say next.

"If you really want to die, I can do you a favor and make it happen right now. You can escape all this suffering," said Jean. Slowly, Jean took measured steps and bent over Shirley, with her eyes fixed on Shirley all this time.

For the first few seconds, Shirley seemed to fail to react because of the great shock of seeing Jean behave this way. Once she realized the meaning of Jean's words, she inevitably uttered, "Really? Are you sure you will do me this favor?"

Jean got close enough to feel Shirley's nervousness escalate into a tizzy. Jean scanned her stepsister's face for something, for some sort of weakness that Shirley would be foolish enough to show on her face. Now their faces almost touched each other. However, when Jean heard that Shirley asked for death again without any hesitation, Jean's heart sank all of a sudden. The realization that Shirley did mean to die when she said so struck Jean hard. Jean grew pale and stepped back hit by the truth. Hearing the conversation go in dangerous territories, Zed's heart was aflutter with anxiety.

'Is Jean really going to take Shirley's life in desperate anger? No way, it can't be!' exclaimed Zed in his mind. His heart was nervously beating against his chest as he could not take his eyes off Jean. Still, he was all calm on the outside waiting for what was about to come out of her mouth next.

"Yes, you can end your own life as long as you really feel that you do not want to live anymore. And you can leave this world with ease since you don't think your life has any meaning for you, not to mention your mother, Joy, who has been scrambling around lately just to get a chance to see you again. Meanwhile, your father, who is still in the hospital, does not know whether he will be able to take care of himself for the rest of his life......" Jean summed up her version of Shirley's life.

"Stop, Jean Wen. Just stop provoking me like this," protested an excited Shirley. Jean's words were boring into Shirley's mind and causing her excruciating pain.

Seeing Shirley become this agitated, Jean knew that she had gotten under Shirley's skin. It was time to change Shirley's mind. 'Finally,' sighed Jean to herself. Keeping up the charade of inciting her further, Jean sneered at Shirley. Zed's nervousness, on the other hand, had diluted a bit. He exhaled deeply and looked visibly relaxed.

He could tell Jean had been playing with Shirley emotions.

"Am I saying all this just to keep you from dying? Shirley Wen, please do not think too highly of yourself!" replied Jean with a contemptuous smile. She added, "I'll say it once again, no one can stop you as long as you want to die." "Jean......" Zed inevitably uttered her name as he was afraid that Jean might go too far with her act of provoking Shirley.

"Jean Wen, enough!" Shirley raised an eyebrow in derision and looked at Jean enraged. "You know exactly that I can't bear to see my parents suffering, so you said those words to get under my skin. But you also know that I can't live in prison like this, not even for an hour. I'd rather die than live the rest of my life in prison. Why are you so cruel in depriving me of my last wish to die?" shouted Shirley wretched with agony.

"Well, since you don't want to die now, you better adapt to your new life. Try hard to get used to it, rather than asking for what you'd prefer instead. Shirley Wen, you are no more the well-to-do highy society figure. Everything has changed ever since you killed Winner. Just say goodbye to your past life and your identity from before. Try to embrace your current life and turn over a new leaf. As long as you learn your lesson and become a better person, those who love you can stop worring about you. Do you understand? You do not live only for yourself, but also for those who love you," replied Jean patiently.

"Those who love me......" repeated Shirley weakly. She was aghast by how Jean thought of herself as superior enough to give her a lecture. Soon, a bitter expression dominated Shirley's face. "I must have let my mother down when she found out that I am the one who killed Winner. She'll never forgive me," said Shirley who sputtered this out between sobs.

"I did not lie to you when I said that Joy has been rushing around to get the opportunity to see you again. She did put a lot of effort in this, however, she failed. Yours is a special case now. The guard who protects your cell are of the highest grade. We wouldn't have had the chance to meet you if you hadn't pushed your luck like this. You better start serving you sentence so that someone can visit you as is allowed for normal prisoners,"

explained Jean.

"Mother......" Shirley was still silently crying wringing in pain. She shed a great amount of tears and looked spent. After gaining some breath, she said, "I've hurt her so much by doing such things. Why does she still want to see me?"

"Do you feel ashamed to see your mother now?" asked Jean, her gaze firmly fixed on Shirley.

"Yes, I can't face her," Shirley shook her head sideways and covered her face in shame. Jean could only see a sorry woman whose shoulders shook violently.

"If you don't want to upset her anymore, just serve a good sentence. And keep in mind that where there is life, there is hope. Even if you do not hope for yourself, you have to give hope to those who love you. At least, your mother will not give up on you. And she wants you to live." Jean tried to console Shirley earnestly. 00000000000