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Chapter 73 Severing Ties
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Austin’s brows drew tight. With a frustrated growl, he tossed the towel aside.
“So this is how it has to be, Dawn?”
The anger in his voice made her instinctively hold her breath.
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“If I so much as see someone else, you run off. What the
n? If I actually got married, would lock yourself away from the world? What the hell do you want from me? You-”
you
The same old words again.
Dawn’s eyes fluttered shut for a moment, numb. Deep down, she wanted to ask him the same thing–what did he even want from her?
When she was around him, all he did was use and warn her. Now that she had finally walked away, it still wasn’t enough.
Her patience snapped. She shot to her feet.
“You’re way too full of yourself, Uncle Austin.”
Austin froze, caught off guard, struck silent.
She pressed on, her voice clear and unwavering. “I told you that I don’t like you anymore. And when I say I don’t, that means I’m done wasting time on you. Whether you get married–or who you marry–has nothing to do with me. Got it?”
Austin stared at the familiar face in front of him. But in her eyes, there was no trace of the stubborn defiance he was used to. Only seriousness. Conviction. And a finality that could not be denied.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, like someone had ripped out a piece of him.
Before he could hold onto it, the feeling was gone, leaving nothing behind.
He smirked and the words tore out of him. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes,” Dawn replied.
She held his gaze without flinching. “This is thest time I’ll say it, Uncle Austin. I’m grateful you raised me, and I’ll repay that in my own way. But from here on out… we live our own lives. We’re just not meant to be living together.”
Chapter 73 Severing Ties
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With Sydney around … With her around, even without all the other mess, life would only be suffocating. There was no need for it.
His eyes rimmed red as he stared at her, chest rising and falling in waves that betrayed his
rage.
Dawn didn’t move. She was ready, braced for whatever came.
“Since you’ve made up your mind, there’s nothing more to say,” he said.
His hand clenched tight at his side, his expression darkened. “But remember this. Don’t regret it.”
She smiled faintly. “I won’t, Uncle Austin.”
Life without loving him really did feel so much better.
“Alright then,” Austin replied.
His eyes burned with fury, like he could hit her if he lost control. Instead, he let out a sharp, bitterugh. “You say you won’t regret it, but behind my back you’re still ying games? Dawn, you really have grown up. You know exactly how to get under my skin.
“Do you even know howplicated the real world is? Alone in Northville, do you have any idea how much you’ll have to suffer?”
Dawn’s gaze didn’t waver. “I know. But I can handle it.”
He gave a harsh, mockingugh. “Handle it how? By pouting and blinking to get money out of
me?”
Her lips pressed together. She stayed silent.
Because yes, she had done that before. Back when she still dreamed of building a life with him, she’d push and coax him for money, only to turn around and spend it on gifts for him.
Seeing her reaction now only cemented Austin’s suspicions.
She couldn’t handle it. She wasn’t cut out for it.
Dawn might not have been spoiled, but she’d never once taken a real fall in the outside world. He was sure of it. She’de crawling back after a month.
Austin shut his eyes hard, unwilling to keep ying this back–and–forth game. When he opened them, his voice was sharp, cutting. “Even if Sydney really did say a few harsh words, it
Chapter 73 Severing Ties
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was for your own good. Those thoughts you’ve been carrying–you shouldn’t have them. Tomorrow you’reing back with me. You’ll apologize to Sydney. Otherwise…”
“Otherwise what?”
Her eyes zed with defiance. The words shot out before he could stop them. “Otherwise, I’ll act like I never raised you!”
Dawn’s eyes fixed on him, stunned, almost hollow.
The face in front of her was still the one she’d known for 13 years. But only now did she realize that maybe she’d never really known him at all. The man she had once loved was nothing more than a figment of her own imagination.
“I … I’m not going back. And I won’t apologize to Sydney.”
Her voice was hoarse, but steady. “I’m sorry, Uncle Austin.”
She rose to her feet, gave him onest respectful nod, then turned and walked out without looking back.
Austin watched her disappear from sight, and the feeling that hit him was like sand slipping through his fingers. Less and less … until there was nothing left. Not even a trace.
A sharp pain stabbed through his chest, knocking the air from his lungs.
“Dawn!”
His roar tore through the room, raw and hoarse, only to fall t against the silence. No answer
came.