Chapter 330 Too Late to Make It Right
In their eves, in their voices, I was a criminal. Something shameful. And
hollow–like my words had no weight.
They dragged me back to the Bennett house.
no matter what I said, it felt
The moment we stepped inside, my brother shot me a cold warning: “If you can’t behave, then you don’t deserve to go to school.”
But school… that was the only thing I had. The only hope I had of changing my fate. How could I give that up?
Maybe I just hadn’t tried hard enough. Maybe that’s why they misunderstood me so deeply. If I worked harder–really harder–maybe they’d finally see me for who I am.
Even if all this home ever gave me was pain… I still hoped for a sliver of warmth. Just a taste of what it meant to have a family.
Come on. Lauren. You can do this.
Elliot stared at those words, and all he could see was that young, stubborn girl–fighting for air beneath waves of misunderstanding, trying not to drown in judgment.
His hands shook so badly the diary nearly slipped from his
grasp.
“How could I have been so blind? So cruel…” he whispered, voice thick with self–loathing. “I was a monster. I have to find her–I have to make this right, no matter what it takes.”
Tears blurred his vision again, soaking into the brittle pages of the diary.
He couldn’t keep reading.
He didn’t need to. He already knew what the rest of it would say.
For three years, no one in the Bennett family had shown Lauren a single shred of real care. Every day had been another wound, another scar.
His memories came flooding back in unbearable detail. Every time they shouted at her. Every time they punished her. Every time they humiliated her.
Week after week. Year after year.
Dozens of moments, one after another, playing in his head like a punishment reel.
The guilt crushed him.
His temples throbbed. His skull felt like it was splitting open. The pain tunneled deep, straight to his core.
“Lauren… I’m sorry. Your brother is sorry. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”
He placed the diary back into the drawer and staggered out of the room.
He had to find her.
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Chapter 330 Too Late to Make It Right
He had to fall to his knees and beg for her forgiveness
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Elliot, hair disheveled and face streaked with tears, rastraight to the front gate.
He grabbed the arm of the first person he saw. “Have you seen my sister?”
“Who’s your sister?”
“Lauren. Her name is Lauren. Please have you seen her?”
The man shook his head. “No idea. Sorry.”
Elliot moved on, asking everyone he passed like a madman.
Each time, the answer was the same–another shake of the head. Another dead end.
He stood in the middle of the street, dazed and lost.
“Ten years, Laurep… why aren’t you home? Where did you go? I know I was wrong–I know I was awful…. but I have to find you. I need to say
I’m sorry.
His eyes suddenly lit up.
“Felix! That’s right–ten years ago, she was with Felix. She must be at the Brooker estate!”
Like a man possessed, Elliot took off running toward the Brooker family home.
His feet pounded the pavement faster and faster, each step fueled by desperation.
He didn’t know what he’d say. He didn’t know if she’d ever forgive him. But he had to try.
He finally reached the Brooker estate.
The towering iron gate glinted under the afternoon sun, cold and forbidding.
Elliot ran up to it and began pounding on it with both ists.
“Open up! I need to see Lauren!”
His voice trembled with urgency, guilt, and a grief that had been bottled up for over a decade.
**Lauren! It’s me–Elliot! I just got out! I came to see you! Are you in there? Please please come out. I’m
sorry. I came to apologize.”
He kept banging on the gate, over and over, hoping someone inside would hear him.
Hoping Lauren would hear him.
Seconds turned to minutes. The gate remained shut.
His heart sank deeper with every passing moment. What if she wasn’t here? What if she didn’t want to see me? What if she’d never forgive me?
He hit the gate harder, voice rising with desperation. Lauren, I know I was wrong. I know I was horrible.
Plesie come nut I’m homeinur von
”
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Chapter 330 Too Late to Make It Right
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the gate creaked open
Standing there was Marilyn
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Her face was tired and weathered. Her once–dark hair had gone completely gray, and her back was slightly hunched
She looked at him through the bars–expression flat. voice cold.
“She’s not here. Go
Marilyn had aged so much since the last time Elliot saw her. Time and grief had carved deep lines into her face
After losing both Lauren and Shen Man, Marilyn had collapsed into despair. She’d spent six months in the hospital before she could even stand on her own agam.
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