Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Andrew looked serious as he said, “Grandpa always favored you. He didn’t believe you were the one who pushed Lydia down the stairs-he insisted on hearing it from you himself. So we told him you went abroad.
“But he didn’t buy it. He wanted to find you in person, and he fell at the front door trying to leave.
“After that, he kept demanding we bring you back. Said he wouldn’t come home unless you did. So he’s been in the hospital
all this time.”
He pushed up his rimless glasses, the metal frames catching the light. “If it weren’t for you, Grandpa wouldn’t have fallen. And he wouldn’t still be in the hospital.
“Emily, Grandpa’s getting old. His body isn’t as strong as it used to be. You need to grow up and stop making him worry.”
Emily’s face went pale, but she couldn’t argue.
When everyone else in the Bennett family took Lydia’s side, only Charles believed in her without question-he was the only one who saw how hurt and wronged she was.
But in trying to win the approval of the rest of the Bennetts, she had overlooked the one person who had always been there for her. He was old, yet he kept worrying about her.
Now, because of her, Charles had stayed in the hospital for two whole years, and she hadn’t known a thing. She could only imagine how disappointed he must’ve felt.
Seeing that she was taking in his words, Andrew added, “We told Grandpa you’d be gone for two years. He’s been counting the days, waiting for you to come back.
“Yesterday, he even wanted to go to the airport to pick you up. We told him your flight was delayed so he wouldn’t go.
“Emily, Grandpa’s health has gotten worse. He’s always taken your side over Lydia’s, and it’s made Lydia feel pretty left out. Don’t give him more to worry about, okay?”
Of course Emily understood. Andrew was only saying all this because he was afraid she’d tell Charles the truth.
Charles didn’t believe she pushed Lydia. If he ever found out the Bennetts had sent Emily to St. Gabriel Reform Academy over that, he’d be furious. He’d have done whatever it took to bring her back.
To the Bennetts, Emily’s return meant trouble for Lydia. That’s why they hid everything from Charles-lied to him, said she went abroad, and secretly sent her to St. Gabriel’s.
Now, they were scared she might expose their lies, make Charles blame Lydia. So they sent Andrew to “remind her first.
She wasn’t stupid. She could see their favoritism, their intentions. She had just refused to believe that eighteen years of living together could be erased by simple blood ties to Lydia. She kept lying to herself, pretending not to notice how obvious their bias was.
“Okay,” Emily said, with no intention of pointing out the holes in Andrew’s story.
She had never wanted Charles to worry. And now, the Bennetts had already come up with the perfect excuse for her.
Maybe Andrew finally felt a flicker of guilt, because his voice softened a bit. “Emily, everything we did… it was for your own good, okay?”
Emily didn’t answer. She turned her face toward the window, clearly done talking.
She’d heard that line too many times. She could never understand how the Bennetts could keep siding with Lydia, forcing
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Chapter 8
her to apologize again and again for something she didn’t do-and still call it “for her own good.”
She didn’t want that kind of “good” from them.
At the hospital, Emily followed nervously behind Andrew as they headed up to the top floor.
Two years had passed-she had no idea how Charles was doing. She wondered if his hair had turned white, if his chess skills. had gotten even sharper, and whether he was mad at her.