Chapter 9 " Riley , I was wrong . I've wronged you all these years . I was a fool . " ] He said with a sad expression . [ ] Seeing him sitting there drinking by himself , noticing the gray hairs on his head , I felt a moment of sympathy . I sat with him and had a couple of drinks . Just as I was about to speak , I started feeling dizzy . A terrible feeling washed over me . He was tricking me again ! ] " Dad , you lied to me ! " " Riley , don't blame your father . Your sister wants Liam , and I have to help her . I've failed her too many times . After this , I promise promise I won't bother you people again . " ] I was trembling with rage . How could he do this ? How could he … ] Before losing consciousness , I managed to smash my plate to the floor , but no one came. My heart sank When I woke up , I was in a hospital room . Liam was by my side , his eyes red from crying , his hand wrapped in bandages . 1 jerked awake in panic . " What happened ? " ] Liam was livid . " They drugged me too - they were trying to force … you know . Thank God your mom showed up ! She smashed your dad's head open and kicked Casey over to save me . I can't believe this . We need to leave right now and never come back to this place ! " I nodded and didn't hold back this time - I called the police . My dad was charged for drugging me and assaulting Liam . He gota suspended sentence . The news about Casey spread through town , and everyone laughed at her outrageous entitlement . Casey couldn't handle the humiliation and got into a screaming match with Dad at home that nearly gave him a heart attack Before leaving , I didn't go see Dad again . Instead , I brought Grandma to live with us in our city . After graduati After graduating from college , Liam and I got married . ] Dad showed up at our wedding . After several years , he'd aged considerably and lost a lot of weight . When he saw me , his lips trembled as if he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words . He just sat in the back row with tears in his eyes . That night , when Liam and I returned to our new apartment , Casey suddenly appeared , frantically pounding on our door . [ ] When I saw her , I didn't bother hiding my irritation " This better be important ! " " Hiley ! Listen - if I can't have what I want , neither can yout I've always been Daddy's princess . What makes you so special ? 1 " ] ] " You were born to be a servant ! How dare you marry so well ? " ] } She pulled out a bottle and was about to throw its contents at me when Liam kicked her wheelchair out from under her ! ] The liquid spilled all over her instead . She immediately started screaming in agony . Hearing her cries , Dad burst in from outside . He stood frozen in shock as Casey's face was being eaten away by sulfuric acid . Dad wept uncontrollably as we rushed to the hospital . We called the police again . Casey's injuries were severe . Though she survived , her face was completely disfigured - she looked monstrous . She begged Dad to make me come back , crying and shouting . For once , Dad didn't give in to her demands . Instead , he took her back to our hometown . [ ] Years later , Grandma passed away , and I returned for her funeral . ] From a distance , I spotted a woman completely wrapped in black cloth . The local children called her " the ghost lady . " It was Casey , secretly watching me from the shadows , angrily tearing at the tree bark beside her . Dad knelt at Grandma's grave , sobbing inconsolably . By then . I finally learned that after Casey returned to our hometown , she'd either physically or verbally abused him constantly . [ ] And Grandma , who had moved back because she missed her home , had died of a heart attack after one of Casey's particularly vicious tirades . ] When I learned the truth , I was furious . I shoved Dad aside hard . " Dave , you're a complete monster ! You failed your own child but refused to take responsibility . Instead , you dumped everything on me . Now Grandma's dead because of her tool " I stormed over to the " ghost lady " and slapped her face over and over . She could only cower as blood trickled from her mouth , " People like you belong in hell ! Let the flames have you ! " ] When Casey turned her disfigured face toward me , her burned eyelids fused together in grotesque lumps , she snarled at me , but ! ignored her completely . Six months later , Casey died . She drowned in a puddle . Dad couldn't take it anymore . Even when he heard her cries for help , he didn't go save her . Casey stopped breathing in that filthy water . ] I didn't attend her funeral . Mom went , though . When she came back , her eyes were red from crying . She told me Dad was consumed with regret . But what's done is done. You can't unring that bell . And I would never go back there again . [ ]