The Heiress Revived from the Ashes
Chapter 89 A Leap into Despair.
Tears flowed silently, her heart a barren wasteland.
Finished
Lauren thought to herself, I know my attempted murders are unforgivable sins. They’d send me back to prison, just like five years ago. I really don’t want to endure that darknesgain. Since my release, I’d tried to escape, to fight back, to expose the truth. I’d even tried to kill David and Willow, but all my efforts failed. I’m not evil, yet I was abandoned and scarred. The true villain lived happily, envied by all. Myfe was a cruel joke. Despite my misery, I still couldn’t bring myself to kill Elliot and Alice, they’d shown me fleeting warmth once. I hate my own weakness. With my life in ruins and no attachments left, why not I just kill myself. Death ends the pain, the injustice, the need for vindication.
Lauren backed toward the window, climbing onto it without hesitation, her feet dangling. The wind tousled her hair. She thought, one jump, and it would all od
Madam Kate, Anna, and Marilyn watched in horror. Madam Kate spoke first, her voice trembling. “Dear, come down, it’s dangerous.”
Anna echoed, “Kid, there’s no obstacle you can’t overcome. Don’t do something foolish.”
Marilyn sobbed, “Ms. Bennett, whatever happens, I’ll be with you. Please just come back down.”
Lauren’s madness softened, a gentle smile breaking through her tear–streaked face. She looked at Marilyn -earnestly. “Marilyn, meeting you was the luckiest thing in my life. Without you, I’d have died my first year
back with the Bennett family. You gave me a second chance.”
Lauren continued to say, “Every time they bullied me, it was you who protected me, cared for me. You were my only warmth in that house. I dreamed of repaying you when I succeeded, buying you a big house, treating Mia like a sister, funding her education, sending her abroad for further studies…”
Her voice choked. “But all my dreams are shattered. My own parents and brother framed me, sent me to prison, ruined my chance at Northcrest University, left me broken. I’m useless now. I can’t repay you
anymore.”
Marilyn wept, recalling Lauren’s mistreatment. “Ms. Bennett, everything will get better.”
“It won’t,” Lauren said, shaking her head, despair in her eyes. “The Bennett family won’t let me go. I don’t want to go back into prison, the inmates in there beat me, and it hurts so much every day,”
Marilyn kept crying, even Madam Kate and Anna teared up.
Madam Kate thought, such a good child, tormented like this
Madam Kate spoke softly, “Dear, if they don’t want you, I do. Come with me, I’ll protect you.”
Lauren shook her head. She thought, I couldn’t drag this kind woman into my mess.
Anna urged, “Child, hardships are temporary. It’ll get better.”
won’t. My leg is crippled for the rest of my life, my lost kidney can never grow back. My chance at Northcrest University, lost. My life, ruined, Lauren thought.
Lauren looked at Madam Kate. “Grandma, thank you.”
Then at Anna. Lauren thought, remembering how Anna’d shielded me at the train station. I’d called her “Mom”
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Chapter 89 A Leap into Despair
a weed. Yet I had a mother and lived worse than a weed.
Staring at Anna, she said sincerely, “Mom, thank you.”
Finished
Lauren thought to herself, “Mom, a word I rarely used, heavy with true feeling. Eight years ago, I’d called Alice “Mom“with tearful hope. I’d cherished that hand–won mother but it was wishful thinking, my mother didn’t want me. Since my release, I’d only called her “Madam Alice.”
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