His fists clenched and his voice became lower. It was full of quiet menace. "If you don’t clean that dress, I’ll toss your amulet into the river."
The amulet was the last memento her mother had left her.
Her voice cracked as she spoke. Her body was trembling all over. "George, that amulet... it’s my mother’s keepsake. You can't …."
How could he threaten me with this amulet?
Seeing her tears, George instinctively reached out, but Kelly recoiled and she even retreated a step. His hand hovered awkwardly before falling to his side.
George forced himself to harden his heart. "Clean the dress and I’ll give it back. Put yourself in her shoes. This dress is important to Amanda too."
Kelly looked at George with sorrowful eyes. "Do you have to humiliate me like this?" she asked.
His gut twisted at her words, but he suppressed the discomfort because he figured he was just disciplining Kelly. He said, "Don’t bother complaining to my father. He’s away at the military district for a few days."
Kelly inhaled sharply. "Fine. I’ll wash it."
As soon as George left, Amanda quietly entered the house and with a satisfied smirk on her face, she said, "Kelly, I’m so sorry. I accidentally used up all the hot water earlier. You’ll have to use cold water to wash my dress."
In the compound, hot water was a shared resource from the communal kitchen. Amanda’s deliberate act left Kelly no choice but to scrub the dress with icy water.
It was in December, in the middle of the winter and Kelly carried a wooden bucket to the riverbank so she could wash the dress at the river.
When her hands dipped into the icy river, she shivered violently, but the bone-chilling cold was still unable to match the frost that entered her heart.
“They all say George spoils you, but I don’t see it now.” A saccharine voice came from behind her. Kelly did not have to turn around to know that it was Amanda.
Without changing her expression or opening her mouth, Kelly kept scrubbing Amanda's underwear.
Amanda seemed to be in a good mood. She kept on talking while nibbling on a roast of sweet potatoes. “Look at you, your fingers are red and swollen from the cold. You must be miserable, aren’t you?”
Then she gloated, "Just now, George bought me this roasted sweet potato to cheer me up. It’s so warm and delicious.