Chapter 26
+25 BONUS
She had always wanted to explain, but he had never given er the chance. Later, it was Josh who told him that she was sick, begging him to visit her and listen to her one last time before she passed. But Duncan hadn’t believed it; he thought it was all lies,
Now, sitting on the floor, Duncan flipped through Audrey’s medical records again, reading each word carefully. Tears fell relentlessly from his eyes, and the papers slipped repeatedly from his trembling hands.
She had endured unimaginable suffering before she finally passed, yet she had told him that she had no regrets, leaving this world with a heart full of gratitude. How could such a kind woman be tormented like this? How could fate be so cruel?
Two lives lost. Two lives!
Duncan sat on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling, calling Audrey’s name over and over until daybreak.
Heather came knocking on the door.
Duncan, his legs stiff from sitting for so long, glanced toward the door with bloodshot eyes. Outside, Heather’s voice pleaded, “Duncan, are you in there? Please answer me. Duncan, you promised! I knelt the whole night; now let me go, let the Leverton family go!
“Get out!” Duncan’s hoarse voice was filled with rage. Audrey was gone, two lives taken–how could be just forgive that?
He had completely forgotten the promise he made to Heather the night before. His mind was fractured, wor down from lack of sleep and the weight of his grief.
Heather didn’t dare say another word, fearful he might change his mind.
When she returned to the Leverton family mansion, chaos awaited her. Relatives were either crying or fighting, and two of her uncles were grappling over a worthless painting.
“Stop it! What are you doing? The Leverton family hasn’t fallen yet!” Heather screamed as she rushed into the fray, joining the scuffle for the painting. “Uncle, you two never cared about this painting before. Now you’re fighting over it?”
Her second uncle, Lincoln Leverton, glared at her. “This is all your fault! If you had managed to keep Duncan’s heart, the Leverton family wouldn’t be in this mess! Who else in this city can say their groom left them at the altar?”
Heather’s face turned deathly pale. The whole city was laughing at her. Duncan was willing to drag the Leverton family down with him just to destroy them.
Everyone was pushing her toward the edge. After kneeling in front of Duncan all night, she had returned, utterly exhausted, only to be met with the scorn of her relatives.
This was worse than death.
Tears streamed uncontrollably down Heather’s face as she looked at her second uncle with red, swollen eyes. Uncle, instead of thinking about how to save the Leverton family, you’re here mocking me. Is this how a family elder should behave?”
Slap! Lincoln’s hand came down hard across Heather’s face. “I’m still your elder, and you don’t get to lecture me.” Lincoln had lost a fortune gambling recently. Now that the Leverton family was collapsing, he had no money to pay his debts and feared that the loan sharks would come after him. In his frustration, he took out all his anger on
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#25 BONUS
Chapter 26
Heather.
Seeing Heather hit, her parents couldn’t stand by and watch. They jumped in, fighting with Lincoln.
Heather’s grandfather, already suffering from heart disease couldn’t take the chaos and collapsed, dead, his eyes closed for the last time.
The Leverton family held a funeral, but not a single person came to pay their respects. Instead, the debt collectors showed up, demanding their money.
With no money to pay, the valuable items in the house were hauled away, and what was pieces.
e was smashed to
Even after all this, the debt collectors weren’t satisfied. They held knives to the throats of the Leverton family members, forcing them to reveal where their grandfather had secretly stashed some of their remaining funds.
Chapter 27
