Chapter13
The phone call was a storm that shattered the fragile peace between our family and the Harringtons.
The very next day, the Harringtons showed up.
It wasn’t Brandon- it was my grandfather, Edward Harrington, chairman of Harrington Holdings.
He came with his assistant, arms full of expensive gifts, face fixed in a rehearsed mask of authority and faux
concern.
“Charlotte, why must you be so unreasonable? Can’t you keep family matters behind closed doors instead of making such a scene?” His voice carried the weight of an accusation the moment he stepped through the
door.
Mom was nursing me. She didn’t even look up, her voice flat and cold.
“This is my home. I’m not cut out for the Harringtons’ kind of life.”
Edward’s expression darkened.
“What’s with that attitude? Still hung up on your brother? He was young and foolish. I’ve already taught him a lesson. As for Linda Parker, I’ll see to it she’s taken care of. She’ll be paid off so she won’t bother you again.
This ends now.”
It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a decree.
To him, a life, a tragedy that had haunted two lifetimes, could be dismissed with “foolishness” and “a
payout.”
“Ends here?” For the first time, Mom raised her head. Her gaze was icy enough to cut. “Dad, in your eyes, is there nothing money can’t fix? M
daughter nearly died! In the last life… she did die!”
Her final words were a scream, ripped raw from her throat, the sound of years of terror and grief breaking
loose.
Edward froze, clearly baffled by what she meant by “last life.”
Michael stepped in quickly, shielding her with his body. His voice was firm.
“Dad, Charlotte just gave birth. Her emotions are unstable. But the fact is, Linda Parker tried to harm our child. We will see it through. Not just for ourselves-but for that boy Jack, who never got justice.”
“You-!” Edward pointed a trembling finger at Michael, his face red with fury. “Michael Lawson, I must have been blind to let you marry my daughter! This is how you incite her?”
“This has nothing to do with Michael.” Charlotte stepped forward, cradling me tightly, her eyes unwavering as they met her father’s. “This is my decision. From this day on, I, Charlotte Harrington, sever all ties with
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the Harrington family. Your money, your power-I don’t want a cent of it. All I ask is that you stay far away
from me and my family.”
She turned, carried me back into the bedroom, and slammed the door.
That door didn’t just close between rooms; it slammed the past shut and sealed her future.
Edward left, his face livid, escorted out by Michael.
After that, the Harringtons never came again.
And Mom meant what she said. She had Michael hire Rachel Whitman, a lawyer, to formally sue Linda
Parker.
At the same time she went to the media, exposing Brandon’s bullying that drove Jack to his death, and the
Harringtons’ cover-up bought with money and influence.
The scandal detonated like a bomb. Harrington Holdings’ stock price plummeted overnight. Brandon became the center of a public firestorm, and eventually, the police opened a case against him.
It was almost reckless-Mom’s way of burning every bridge to the past, dragging the Harrington name into
ruin.
But it was also the fiercest declaration she could make against the family that had once given her both glory and endless suffering.
And within our home, amid the chaos outside, a fragile peace settled.
Margaret stopped calling her “ungrateful.” Instead, she fussed over her, cooking dishes to build her
strength, muttering that she looked too thin.
Michael bore every burden outside the house, shielding her from gossip and harassment so she could stay home with me in peace.
And Mom-she was no longer cold. No longer running.
She began to sing clumsily to me, to tell me stories.
The melodies were always off-key, and the stories tangled and confused-but her eyes brimmed with tenderness, overflowing with love.
She held me almost all day, kissing my forehead and cheeks, whispering again and again, “Baby, Mommy loves you.”
And I gave her everything I had in return.
When she smiled, I laughed. When she spoke, I babbled back.
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Sunlight streamed through the window, wrapping us in a golden glow.
I knew then-we were finally stepping out of that long, dark nightmare, walking together toward the sunlit future that should have been ours all along.
