Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

Jasper clenched his fist so hard that his veins bulged when he received the update. He jeered. "Javier is a great father, isn't he? He wouldn't give up on his terrible daughter no matter what."

"This isn't about Betty. He is trying to save his face as the family patriarch." Xavier was furious. "I saw him busy taking care of Mr. Newton at the hospital while keeping tabs on Ms. Lauren's condition. I thought he had finally come around, but I was being naive!

"From the very beginning, he has been an egoistic person who only cares about himself. You can't expect him to self-reflect and change."

Jasper turned around to stare at the gray sky. "Well, since he's all about saving face, I'll make him lose face."

As public opinion continued to brew, there were increasing calls to prosecute the six bullies. Betty was implicated as well, especially because she was a Beckett and Lauren's sister. In some way, her behavior was more despicable than that of Zoe and the rest.

"Betty Beckett harms even her own sister; she is a vicious animal! She should be heavily punished!"

"How brazen of her to bully her autistic sister!"

"Betty Beckett, don't you ever dream of escaping the legal consequences with your dad's support! You have no way out!"

Betty despite knowing her evil ways. To resolve the problem,

face. He began with anger and sadness in his tone. "Three days ago, my daughter, Lauren Beckett, experienced a horrific abduction and torture. Until today,

tormented and in pain. I have not slept in three days, battling the pain at every waking

sharp-tongued reporters sank into silence out of consideration for the

decided on a last-minute press conference because firstly, I understood the public concern over Lauren's wellbeing and would like to keep everyone updated here. Secondly, as Lauren's father, I will not

one of the reporters finally blurted out. "Besides, we heard from the bullies that Betty was one of the bullies in middle school, subjecting

accountable, what about Betty Beckett? How do you plan to deal with her? She kicked Ms. Lauren

Lauren if you go easy on

chatter grew louder. The reporters gossiped about the situation disgruntledly. This had evolved beyond airing the dirty laundry of an esteemed family. Everyone could tell by now that Betty

admitted, "Betty is wrong for hanging out with the wrong crowd, but she's my daughter at the end of the day. She grew up before my eyes. Yes, she made a mistake, but she wasn't a bad character. Zoe and the others have been a

reporters lamented Javier's blatant favoritism. In an effort to protect the image of the Beckett family, he tried to whitewash the actions of the

a sudden, the doors to the hall flung open. A tall and strong figure marched into

"It's Jasper Beckett!"

and focused, Jasper proceeded toward Javier.