Chapter 222
Lucas clutched Emily’s arm tightly, his pale face and teary eyes making him look pritet.
Emily wasn’t moved. If anything, she got even more guarded. She tried to pull away, but Lucas‘ grip was like iron.
Left with no choice, she took a few steps back, her eyes wary as she asked, “Mr. Bennett, what do you want exactly?
She had seen this before. Whenever Lucas acted weird, something bad came,
Lucas didn’t notice the disgust in her eyes. He clutched her hand tightly, his face full of guilt and pain. “Emily, I’m sorry I had no idea you went through so much, and I’ve been misunderstanding you all along?”
Seeing the tears glimmering in his eyes, Emily couldn’t help but wonder for a split second if he had somehow found out about St. Gabriel Reform Academy. She clenched her hands without realizing it. “Did you know it?”
Lucas nodded quickly, eyes filled with remorse. “I thought you were living comfortably at the Bennett residence, but you wanted more, so you faked your own kidnapping just to get money from us.
“Inever realized you were broke. I thought you were doing those jobs to get attention. I didn’t know you even sold some of your favorite jewelry just to buy me a birthday present.”
It was only after discovering the truth that he felt this crushing guilt. It was the first time in his life that he truly regretted his actions.
Emily had always been good to him, but he just kept getting her wrong. He even said, when she was kidnapped, that the kidnappers should throw her body far away. Just thinking about her hearing that over the phone made his stomach turn
Lucas kept berating himself, not even seeing how pale Emily Suddenly looked.
Emily thought he had found something else. Suddenly, she felt like laughing at her own foolishness.
She thought, “After all the lessons and the warnings I gave myself, why did i still have expectations for the Bennett family!
‘If they cared about what happened to me at St. Gabriel Reform Academy, they wouldn’t have done nothing for the two years. They wouldn’t have waited this long after I came back to even start investigating
If Lucas had been even a little more attentive, he would have noticed the change in Emily’s expression, but he didn’t. He kept rambling on, “Austin hadn’t told me, I’d still be wrong about you. You’re not mad at me, are you?”
He looked really serious, even kind of nervous, staring at her like he meant every word, but Emily didn’t care. All she felt was disgust and how pathetic it all was.
Austin hadn’t even known her that long, and he still got her better than Lucas ever did. The fact that Lucas needed someone else to tell him what was up just proved he never really cared. It made her feel sad.
Emily finally pulled her hand free with force. “It’s all over. What’s the point in bringing it up?” She took a step back. “Mr. Bennett, you may have forgotten, but let me remind you. I am not your sister.”
Her sudden withdrawal and the wary look in her eyes hit Lucas hard. His face turned pale as he stared at Emily as if her words had hurt him “You’re still blaming me, aren’t you? I was completely in the dark back then.”
He blurted out, “We get the money every month from the company’s finance department. If it runs out, we just ask Dad or Andrew for more. No one ever
checks how much is left.
“Andrew froze your card back then because you kidnapped Lila and caused big trouble. I didn’t know the finance team never reactivated it afterward. If had, I swear I would have spoken up.
“To be fair, it’s not all our fault. If you hadn’t gone after her and gotten her and the baby killed, Andrew wouldn’t have been that furious”
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Chapter 222
That seemed to give Lucas a sense of moral ground. His guilt faded, and his voice grew sharp. “You started all this, but after Andrew calmed down, you should have said something
“How were we supposed in know you had been living broke all these years at the Bennett residence and had to sell your own jewelry?“.
He started sounding like he was blaming her.
Emily didn’t feel a thing. She had already stopped expecting anything from him. She let him talk, then calmly said, “Mr. Bennett, you’re right. It’s a N
She sounded flat, like she couldn’t care less. “Are you done? Can I go no
It was like throwing a punch into thin air, Lucas guilt vanished, swallowed up by a way of irritation. He had tried to be nice and even apologized. And she still acted like nothing mattered.
Lucas was never the patient type, and he almost lost it, but he forced himself to hold it in.
He thought, ‘Whatever. Emily has always been proud. After everything she’s been through, it makes sense she’s still upset. I’ll let it go this time:
Thinking that, Lucas swallowed his anger. “Yeah, we messed up. I’m sorry. Can we move on now!”
He figured that ever since Emily came back, she had been acting all aggressive around them, and this was probably the reason why
He figured Austin had probably been speaking for Emily. Maybe that was her way of telling them how upset she really was.
That thought flipped Lucas’s mood completely. He stopped feeling sorry and ended up blaming her. “If it were Lydia, she would have talked things through with us. She wouldn’t have gotten upset over something so small. Emily, you should try being more like her.”
Emily gave a quick, almost sarcastic smile. She knew arguing with the Bennett family never led anywhere, so she didn’t bother. When Lucas wasn’t paying attention, she slipped past him and walked away.
Lucas had been preparing to lecture her on how she should learn from Lydia, but by the time he realized what was happening, all he saw was her walking
Lucas was left dumbfounded. He had just wanted to say sorry and clear up the misunderstanding, but he barely said anything before Emily left.
He thought to himself, ‘I didn’t mean to blame her. How did it end up like
this?
Just as Lucas stood there puzzled, a soft voice came from behind. Lucas, is Emily mad at you again?” It was Lydia.
AD
