Chapter 27
The money still wasn’t enough to repay the debt collectors and they decided to take Heather to a brothel to sell her off. Overcome with despair, Heather’s parents jumped from a high–rise in front of her, taking their own lives.
Heather watched helplessly as her parents died right before her eyes, unable to do anything. In the end, she still couldn’t escape her grim fate of being sold.
At Audrey’s grave, Duncan sat by the tombstone, reading the news to her. The headline reported how the Leverton family had been driven to bankruptcy, with members committing suicide to escape their debt.
The Leverton family had always been ruthless in the business world, driving many competitors to ruin. Now, with the Leverton family destroyed, their rivals took their revenge, settling old scores.
The Leverton family would never recover, and Heather, no matter how hard she worked, would never pay off the debt before she grew old and worn. Audrey’s vengeance had been exacted.
With that thought, Duncan felt there was no longer a reason for him to continue living.
“Audrey, wait for me. I’m coming to find you and our child, he whispered, pulling out a pocketknife he had long prepared and aiming it at his chest.
Seamus and Janet had been following the news closely. They knew that Duncan was behind the Leverton family’s downfall, and they hadn’t stopped him because it was the only thing keeping him alive. But now that the Leverton family had collapsed, they feared Duncan would no longer have a reason to go on.
And they had been right.
As the blade pierced Duncan’s shirt, Seamus rushed in and grabbed him, shouting, “What are you doing? Your mother and I are old! Do you really want us to bury our own child?”
Seamus realized, even as he spoke, that his own son’s hair was whiter than his.
Prematurely gray–his son had aged before his time.
Janet, noticing Seamus’s shock, clung to Duncan, sobbing. Duncan, please, I’m begging you. Don’t do this. I can’t live without you. You can’t die. There are so many women in the world–you’ll find someone better than Audrey.”
Janet had never liked Audrey. She had no family background, no connections–nothing that could help her son succeed.
Duncan looked at Janet, his dark eyes filled with an intensity that seemed to swallow her whole. “Mom, a year ago, it was you who took the six million. You had Heather forge Audrey’s signature to pay off your gambling debts. You were involved in everything. You’re my mother, so I won’t do anything to you. But I put all the blame on the Leverton family, made them go bankrupt, and buried them under debt.”
Janet’s body went rigid. She looked up, locking eyes with Seamus. She had hidden all of this from him, afraid he would discover that she was still gambling. But now, there was no way to keep it a secret. Heather must have spilled everything; only she had known.
Seamus’s gaze confirmed that Duncan was telling the truth. “What did you promise me? Two years ago, when I caught you pawning my paintings to gamble, what did you swear then?”
“I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help it,” Janet cried, panicking. Two years ago, Seamus had threatened to divorce her if she didn’t stop gambling.
“So you put all the blame on Audrey? Mom, she was sick. She was so sick, on the verge of dying. She needed that money more than you did. But when she left, she took nothing with her. To keep me from worrying, she hid her
1/2
+25 BONUS
Illness and went to France by herself for treatment. She fac all that pain alone. You’re my mother. No matter how much I hate or resent you, I won’t do anything to hurt you. But you owe Audrey,”
Janet slumped to the ground, tears streaming down her face as she looked up at Duncan. “Son, Audrey was just an outsider. I only blamed her for talding the money because I wanted to ruin your relationship. But I did it for your own good. She had no background, no family–how could she ever be worthy of you? Everything I did, I did for your own good… for your own good…”
ben Teams and tappeare the Energier the online
દરેક ભૂલોકમાં ક
new the way way Mulling the g
jhend,
or in fresh
Scamm atrod by hulgilenily watching hils son, ralliating that the tee of the one women had threolen üre
૬૦ ૬૦ વર્ષ
Tuncan, din‘ you sy
guy
old
enterprisey wise your apart by neglecting it, especially after your cripplet stay wing you like this?”
but he wasn’t ready to give up With patines, be contine and Ausdress, Tuart and soul? You’re letting the Uwe Leverton Tamily business. Do you think Audery
these Duncan’s gaze darkened, and his voice was weak “Aderyone. What use are the worldly possessions to re
All he had ever wanted was Audrey
Seamus’s frustration bolled over, and with gritted teeth, brew a hand punch at Duncan’s face. “Donca Millington, listen to me! I gave you life, and you don’t get mad it without my permission! If Audrey could see you now, she wouldn’t want to see you living like this–hadral, wasting away. Duncan, pull yourself together! Think about the life Audrey lived. Did she ever give up? Dude ever just decide to die? No! She kept fighting she fought to stay by your side. You say you weren’t worthy of be? You’re right–you’re not, because you’re not half as strong or brave as she was!”
Duncan collapsed onto the ground, blood trickling from thecorner of his mouth. His eyes never left Audrey’s photo on the tombstone
He really wasn’t as brave or strong as she was. Josh had given him her medical records, and it had taken him long to gather the courage to read them. He couldn’t sleep because every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was her lying in his arms, covered in blood, saying, “Duncan, thank you. I’m so grateful I met you and loved you in this life. I have no regrets.”
How could he face a world without her, burdened by his guilt and longing?
Janet, heartbroken to see Duncan lying there, rushed over to help him up, but he refused to move
“Son, please don’t do this. You’re breaking my heart. I’m begging you. It was my fault I shouldn’t have taken the company’s money and blamed it on Audrey. It’s all my fault, son. Please, don’t do this,” Janet cried, unable to control herself as she hugged her son.
Duncan watched as his mother broke down, her words stirring a storm of emotions within him.
He simply stared at her as she wept.
“Son, don’t look at me like that. You’re scaring me. I know m a terrible person. I was wrong,” Janet sobbed, slapping herself repeatedly in the face.
Chapter 28
Chapter 28
