?Chapter 1033:


    “Rnd, let go of me! You are your own person. She is hers. She hurt my child, and I will make her pay for it!” Joelle demanded.


    Rnd’s grip didn’t loosen. He remained still, his expression cold. Joelle struggled again and again, but she couldn’t break free.


    “Aunt Joelle, Molly’s painting isn’t ruined. I’ll deliver it myself this afternoon.”


    A stunned silence fell over the room.


    They had all assumed Rnd would take Katie’s side—after all, she was his mother. But this time, he had chosen differently.


    Katie’s frail body trembled with rage. “What did you say?” A violent cough interrupted her words, and she choked, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the floor.


    Rnd didn’t react. His voice remained steady. “As for the photos—Dunn and Aurora were together because my mother made a scene at her school and threw lime in Dunn’s eyes. He was nearly blinded. Aurora took care of him out of responsibility. That’s all there was to it.”


    Joelle lowered her hand. “Is that true?”


    Rnd nodded. “Yes.”


    Joelle exhaled, her fury cooling slightly. The damage hadn’t been done. Otherwise, she would have killed Katie in front of Rnd.


    “You all should go,” Rnd said tly. “I need a moment with her alone.”


    Joelle didn’t argue. There were more pressing matters to discuss with Aurora.


    When they exited, Rnd bent down, grasping Katie’s arms to help her onto the bed.


    But Katie—broken, furious, betrayedshed out, hitting him. “Why do you treat me like this? I’m your mother.”


    “If we’re talking about blood ties, then yes, you are my mother. But if we’re talking about the debt of raising a child, then you are nothing to me!”


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    Rnd stood at the head of Katie’s bed. The photograph was forgotten, leaving only the woman before him—a sick, broken shadow of the mother he had once imagined.


    Try as he might, he couldn’t reconcile the woman in front of him with the idea of the mother he had secretly longed for all these years. He had been a fool to cling to that hope.


    The truth had unraveled piece by piece, and the conclusion was undeniable—she had never loved him.


    Love was setting someone free.


    Love was treating him as something precious.


    Love was shielding him from harm, not using him as a vessel to vent her frustrations.


    “Do you remember what day I was born?” he asked.


    Katie gripped the bed frame tightly. “That was so long ago! How am I supposed to remember something like that?”


    “But my aunt remembers. We’ve been in each other’s lives for a while now. How much do you really know about me? Do you know what foods I like? What I enjoy doing? Do you even know how I got out of that hellhole? Do you know if Wade treated me well? Have I met my father? Have you ever even cared about any of these questions?”


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