Chapter 103 The Price of Sympathy
Chapter 103 The Price of Sympathy
Mergan fell in his memory.
Maybe it was <i>her </i><i>sincerity </i>that <i>moved </i><i>the </i><i>heavens</i>. <i>The </i><i>doctors </i><i>had </i><i>already </i><i>told </i><i>the </i>family to prepare <b><i>for </i></b><b>the </b><b>worst</b>, <i>but </i><i>after </i><i>she </i>came <i>back </i><i>with </i><i>the </i><i>Cross </i><i>Ne</i>, I <i>miraculously </i><i>woke </i>up <i>and </i><i>eventually </i><i>recovered</i>.
I <i>really </i><i>did </i>care <i>about </i><i>Lily </i><i>like </i><i>a </i><i>little </i><i>sister</i>.
<i>But </i><i>as </i><i>I </i><i>got </i><i>older</i><i>, </i><i>as </i><i>feelings </i><i>got </i><i>more </i><iplicated</i>, I <i>started </i><i>to </i><i>feel </i><i>something </i><i>different</i>.
<i>I </i><i>was </i>ashamed <i>of </i><i>having </i>romantic <i>feelings </i><i>for </i><i>someone </i>I <i>called </i><i>my </i><i>foster </i>sister. <i>And </i><i>after </i>everything she supposedly did to <i>our </i>long<i>–</i><i>lost </i><i>biological </i><i>sister</i><i>, </i><i>I </i><i>couldn’t </i><i>forgive </i><i>her</i><i>. </i>
<i>What </i>I really couldn’t <i>ept </i><i>was </i><i>the </i><i>fact </i><i>that </i><i>when </i><i>I </i><i>told </i><i>her </i><i>to </i><i>get </i><i>out</i><i>–</i><i>she </i><i>really </i><i>left</i><i>. </i><i>She </i><i>never </i><i>came </i>back. <i>Not </i>once <i>in </i><i>over </i><i>four </i><i>years</i><i>. </i>
“I didn’t bully Lily…”
Mathilda sobbed for a while before choking out the words, “I admit the video is real. I stepped on Lily’s face.
But I did it because Lily did so many awful things <i>to </i>me. Bodger, Taylor, Mergan… do you remember <b>when </b>
head? I fell down the stairs at school and hit my
I told you it was an ident.
.. but it wasn’t. Lily pushed me.
“What?”
The three brothers all shouted at once.
“Mathilda, what did you say?”
“Lily pushed you down the stairs?<b>” </b>
“Yes.”
Tears welled up again as Mathilda nodded hard.
<i>Of </i><i>course</i><i>, </i>it <i>was </i>a lie.
<i>But </i><i>that </i><i>didn’t </i>stop <i>me </i><i>from </i><i>trying </i>to twist <i>the </i><i>truth </i><i>into </i><i>something </i><i>that </i><i>would </i>work in <i>my </i><i>favor</i>.
She sniffled dramatically, then went on, “I was afraid you’d me her. That’s why I kept it to myself. But a few of my friends saw what happened. They were furious for me. After I got out of the hospital, they took me to confront Lily<i>. </i>They said she went way too far, that I should stand up for myself. I didn’t darey a hand on her. But Quincy and the others told me if I didn’t fight back, they’d tell you everything. I didn’t want you to be mad at Lily, so I panicked and stepped on her. I swear, I never meant to hurt her… I care about you all. And I care about Lily. I wanted us to live peacefully together as a family. So even when she kept hurting me and humiliating me, I still wanted her to stay with us. I’m not a bad person. I’m <b>not </b><b>some </b>disgusting bully… I know you care about Lily. Of course you’d find it hard to believe me. You <b>probably </b>think I’m awful… If you really think I deserve to die for stepping on her, then… then I’ll do it.”
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Chapter 103 The Price of Sympathy
On her luxurious vanity sat an eyebrow razor.
She grabbed it in a sh and shed at her own wrist.
“Mathilda!”
The brothers‘ expressions shifted in an instant.
Bodger lunged forward and ripped the razor from her hand.
Thankfully, he was fast enough that she only managed to cut the skin a little.
Still, when they saw the tiny beads of blood on her wrist, their hearts clenched with pain.
They all softened immediately.
“Mathilda, please don’t hurt yourself.”
“This is my fault,” Bodger said, voice heavy. “I should’ve believed you. Of course you wouldn’t hurt someone for no reason. If youshed out at Lily, there had to be a reason.”
“I was wrong too,” Taylor added. “I’ll never raise my voice at you again.”
“My tone earlier was too harsh,” Mergan said. “I’m sorry. Forget about what the inte is saying. No matter how people try to smear your name, you’ll always be my number one.”
“Mergan…”
Mathilda copsed into his arms, sobbing uncontrobly.
The more broken she looked, the guiltier they felt.
They all promised her they’d take care of everything online and never let her be hurt again.
They didn’t care about Lily–that heartless thief. All they cared about was Mathilda.
Their voices were warm,forting, and full of affection.
But Mathilda couldn’t fully trust them anymore.
<i>If </i><i>they </i><i>really </i><i>didn’t </i><i>care </i><i>about </i><i>Lily</i>, <i>then </i>why <i>did </i><i>Bodger </i>still <i>keep </i><i>those </i><i>silly </i><i>birthday </i><i>gifts </i><i>Lily </i><i>gave </i><i>him</i><i>? </i>
<i>If </i><i>they </i><i>didn’t </i><i>care</i>, why <i>hadn’t </i><i>Taylor </i><i>taken </i><i>off </i><i>the </i><i>rosary </i><i>she </i><i>carved </i><i>for </i>him?
And why <i>did </i><i>Mergan never </i><i>let </i><i>anyone </i><i>fouch </i><i>the </i><i>Cross </i><i>Ne </i><i>she </i><i>got </i><i>him</i><i>? </i>
<i>If </i><i>they </i><i>didn’t </i><i>care</i><i>… </i>
<i>They </i><i>absolutely </i><i>cared</i>.
<i>Bodger</i><i>, </i><i>Taylor</i><i>, </i><i>Mergan</i><i>, </i><i>and James</i><b><i>–</i></b><i>every </i><i>one </i><i>of </i><i>them </i><i>is </i><i>mine</i>.
I won’t <i>let </i><i>Lily </i><i>steal </i>what <i>belongs </i><i>to </i><i>me </i><i>ever </i><i>again</i>.
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Chapter 103 The Price of Sympathy
<i>She’s </i><i>going </i><i>to </i><i>pay </i><i>for </i><i>everything </i><i>she’s </i><i>taken</i>.
That <i>shameless </i><i>thief </i><i>is </i><i>going </i><i>to </i><i>pay</i>.
s
Lily slept straight through the night.
She’d muted her phone before bed, so she didn’t hear any of John’s missed calls.
When she finally picked up her phone from the nightstand the next morning, she saw several missed calls and unread messages.
All of them were from John.
What she didn’t expect… was that he had apologized.
And he even said he wanted to go get their marriage license together.