Sophia's eyes roved the living room until they finally settled on Orla. "Dad," her voice cracked.
"Speak up, Sophia!" Arnold ordered, his tone brusque.
"Mia did," she glimpsed the tremor that smacked everyone, and she wasn't too surprised. She anticipated that. "Mia was the only one with Isla that afternoon, and she was the one who told us to change the narrative."
Arnold scoffed, "Nonsense.” There was no way he would believe that about his favorite daughter.
Orla soldered where she was seated. She knew Mia hated her so much, but she never thought that she would do something like that.
"Sick! You're Insane, Sophia! What evidence do you have against me? How dare you accuse me of killing my sister?" Mia flared up, her eyes simmering with rage.
She rushed towards Sophia ready to hit her, but Emma went after her, dissuading her.
"I was there too. I am the evidence that we all need, Mia. I was there with Sophia that day, you cajoled us into lying about the whole thing, and we did because we wanted to obey you.
Their other sisters remained in their seats, speechless as they watched the drama unfold before their very eyes.
"Nonsense!" Mia turned to their father with eyes full of hatred and anger. "I won't stay here and let your daughters dent my image. When they have tangible evidence against me, then I will visit again."
Her shoulders shook as she spoke, Arnold discerned an unnatural side of his daughter. He knew her too well, and he could see how uncomfortable she was as she glanced at him.
"Mia, you know this is true.” Sophia said frantically.
Arnold observed the gestures and interactions that flowed between all his daughters. He was confused, he needed someone to explain what was going on with his children to him.
"I don't care if you will hate me after this, but Dad, Mia was the only one with Isla the day she died. And she coaxed us into putting up all accusations against Orla. Now that I think of it, we've all been so unfair to Orla. She was barely seven years old. How could she have wished her sister dead? She was her twin, and we knew how much they meant to each other before Isla's death." Emma stepped into the centre of the room, sure all eyes were on her. "We all have wronged Orla."
Many questions had Orla in doubt. Did Mia push Isla? Did she want her dead? If she didn't, why didn't she save her?
"Both of you are insane, and I still stand on that." Mia's voice ascended to a rambunctious pitch. She snatched her bag from the couch and slung it across her shoulders.
She took to her feet and was about to leave the room when Arnold's voice resonated, bringing her to a halt.
"You won't leave until we are done, Mia." He wasn't certain if he believed the accusation, but he wanted them to stay until they had settled it all. "Why do you want to leave when you are not guilty of this whole accusation against you?" He moved closer to where she stood, his eyes boring into hers as if to search for the truths and the lies they held.
Mia was his favorite child. He loved her so much, and it would break him if he found out that she was the culprit. He still hoped this was all a dream.
"Dad, do you believe them over me?" Her eyes were swollen, and tears had gathered around them. She knew her phony tears always worked with him, but this time, Arnold didn't fall for them.
"There are two people against you, Mia. How do you want to defend yourself?" He remained on his decision to find out what happened that day. "Mia, were you there when Isla drowned fifteen years ago?"
As Mia gazed into her father's eyes, she saw pain fused with disdain, and apprehension quickly set into her mind.
It had been too long, she didn't mean to take it far, but that was all she could do at that time of her life. Her sisters stared at her with contempt; they obviously believed the accusations weren't false.
No one was on her side, she just knew she was alone in this.
"It wasn't my fault, Dad." She succumbed, her assertion shredding Arnold's heart. His eyes widened, nudging her to repeat the words she just said. "She wanted to play, and I warned her against playing by the poolside, but she wouldn't listen."
"What?" Arnold yelled, almost losing his balance, but Callan assisted him up before he could collapse on the couch. That was the closest they had ever been since he got married to Orla. "What exactly happened, Mia?" He shook himself off Callan's grip, not grateful that he helped him.
"Isla was stubborn. She wanted to play when her sister was asleep. I went in to get her some water and didn't find her when I came back. Minutes later, I found her body floating on the water. I didn't push her, Dad. I didn't." Mia closed her eyes, wondering if her explanation made any sense at all.
Arnold folded his fists into a ball. His knuckles had turned so white and cold. He didn't want all these to be the truth. He didn't want them to be.
"If you didn't push her, why did you tell your sisters to lie?" Arnold asked calmly.
"You and Mommy were the reasons I had to do that. Nobody loved me, no one cared about me. I am the first child, and I deserve to be shown all the love in the world, but you two left me alone on my own. It was always about the twins. You stopped caring about me since you had the twins. I was the one who was always left alone. I craved love, I wanted your love again, and I thought that I would get back your love if you hated Orla. That was all I could think of then. I am sorry, Dad."