Figuring things out.

"I'm not a thief! I'm innocent!" Evelyn shouted. Earlier, when her father got back, her mother told him about what had happened and now, in a dark room with only a lamp to supply light, her father was trying to make Evelyn spit out the truth and tell him the owner so he could give it back. But that was only the first part. He was planning to ground Evelyn too."Seriously, the snake story is true! You've got to believe me!"

"Don't lie to me, young woman! I am your father and I have authority over you!" her father barked back. Evelyn stayed quiet and tried her best to avoid eye contact. Her father had always been like this. Good and happy when you were good and didn't do anything bad and mad and strict when you did something bad.

Evelyn siblings, her elder brother Ethan and the Charming twins, Elly and Elton, were right outside the dark room, listening and peeping through the keyhole even though it was too dark to see anything.

"I can't see a damn thing!" Ethan whispered as he looked through the keyhole again. Elly was crying and holding a handful of tissues. "I believe Big Sis Evelyn but Daddy doesn't! It's not her fault! She doesn't deserve to be punished!" she cried.

Elton also looked gloomy. He cuddled with Elly and tried not to cry. "Guys, it's okay. We'll talk to Father and tell him Evelyn is speaking the truth, okay?" Ethan said.

"Okay! I love that plan!" Elly stood up and became her giggly and happy self again. "FOR BIG SIS EVELYN!!!" she shouted and started running in circles.

"But Big Brother," Elton said. "What if Evelyn really did steal and lie?"

This made Elly stop in her tracks and stare at Elton. "Elton! Do you really believe innocent, humble and honest Big Sis would do that? She hasn't even broke anything in the house before and this is her first punishment!"

"You're right!" Elton got pumped up too. "LET'S SAVE BIG SIS EVELYN!"

Ethan looked at the twins and sighed. He didn't really know if Evelyn was lying or not and to be honest, he was only trying to stop the twins from crying. He didn't know it would cause them to go wild.

"YOUNG LADY!" they heard their dad yell. Inside the room, Evelyn was having an uncomfortable time. Her father seemed to calm down. "Evelyn, you know me. I can play good cop or bad cop. Let me ask you: Do you want me to play good cop or bad cop?"

She didn't answer. From his pockets, her dad took out a caramel sweet. "One of your favourites. Want a bite?"

Evelyn shook her head. "I bet you're hungry," her dad said. He walked out of the room to get some food but saw his other children there. He frowned at them. "To your rooms now."

"Yes, father." Ethan said and brought the twins to their rooms. Mr. Charming got a piece of leftover cake and bought it to the room. He laid the cake in front of Evelyn and gave her a fork. "Eat up," he said gently. Evelyn shook her head again and exclaimed, "I didn't steal those things!"

Her father's face flushed red and he slapped her across the face. Evelyn touched her red cheeks and drops of tears rolled down her eyes. Her father had never laid hands on anyone before. This was his first time.

Mr. Charming also went stiff as he realized what he did. He looked at his shaky hand then his crying daughter. He was so angry he never realized what he was doing. He was never like this. He was jolly father with four happy children and a merry wife.

"Evelyn! I'm so sorry.." her father said. "I was just so mad I didn't realize I would slap you. You're right. I should believe you. You will never steal things and you've always been honest," her father sighed. "I believe you."

He inspected Evelyn's red cheeks and he sighed. "I'm so sorry. This is the first time I laid hands on someone."

"Forgive me?" he asked. Evelyn noded and hugged her father with happy tears. Her father smiled and hugged her back.

"We should go tell your mother that you didn't steal but I don't know how to explain where those things came from," Mr. Charming said. "Maybe we'll just donate the food and the gown or something."

Evelyn nodded along. There was no reason of why she wanted all those things, but she would have to save up for a laptop again for losing her old one in the woods.

Later that night, the family discussed about this situation and decided to forget about this. "If your father thinks you didn't steal it I'd go with him because you've always been honest and you aren't the kind who will steal things. I owe you a apology too, Evelyn." Mrs. Charming said.

Evelyn smiled. "So we'll just donate the things and everything will be back to normal?" she asked. Her mother nodded and gave a gentle smile. "Of course, sweetheart."

"Okay, time for bed. All of you, up to your rooms. If you don't get there in a minute, there's no reading time tonight. And Evelyn, remember, no reading over time!" Mr. Charming announced.

The four quickly crawled to bed and chose a book to read. After a hour, they all placed the books back on the shelves, blew out the lights and snuggled in their beds to sleep.