?Chapter 1362:


    “We’re not busy right now,” Bethany said.


    Belinda replied, “Well, I am! I need to spend some time with my grandmother. She’s not doing great, either.”


    At that, Johnson and Bethany fell silent, unsure how to respond.


    “You sure you’re okay?” Johnson asked, concern in his voice.


    Belinda nodded, her expression steady. “I’m fine, really. Don’t underestimate me; I’m tougher than you think.”


    Johnson didn’t push further. “Alright, we’ll leave then. Let’s meet up another day.”


    “Okay.”


    “Bye,” Bethany waved.


    “Take care,” Belinda replied.


    After they left, Belinda headed upstairs to find her grandmother. She hadn’t lied to her friends; she genuinely wanted to check on her grandmother.


    When she knocked and entered the room, she found her grandmother seated on the sofa, clutching a photograph.


    Belinda recognized it instantly: a picture of the four of them—herself, her grandmother, Holley, and Sarai.


    They had once been a family.


    Now, in such a short time, everything had changed.


    It was truly a stark reminder of life’s unpredictable turns.


    “Grandmother,” Belinda said softly, crossing the room to sit beside Kenia. Her grandmother didn’t respond at first, her fingers gently tracing the photo.


    There wereplicated emotions on her face.


    Finally, she turned to Belinda. “Belinda, I have a question for you.”


    Belinda tilted her head. “What is it?”


    Kenia’s voice was soft and wistful. “Tell me… If you didn’t return to the Wright family back then… Would things have turned out differently? If the four of us had kept on living in Ironwyn, would all of this have happened?”


    Belinda froze, stricken by the idea. She took a short, fleeting moment to ponder the question, but ultimately chose not to dwell on it.


    “Grandma,” Belinda said calmly, “you can’t dwell on that.”


    Kenia let out a self-deprecatingugh. “You’re right.”


    Belinda took Kenia’s hand, her eyes filled with sincerity. “Thank you for standing by my side, Grandma.”


    Kenia’s eyes began to redden again. “What your mother did was reprehensible. It was too much, I cannot let it go. I refuse to ept that my daughter, my own flesh and blood, is capable of such cruelty! That she could harm her own child like this… She has be someone I no longer recognize. Someone I fear…”


    Her face took on a somber expression. “Belinda, from now on, you’re all I have left.”


    Belinda squeezed her grandmother’s hand in a gesture offort. “As long as I’m here, you have nothing to worry about, Grandma. I’ll always be here to support you.”


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