Chapter 140 

I wanted to yell at Kaiden. 

To scream. To spit fire. To hurl every searing word clawing up my throat and let him burn in the truth of them. 

But nothing came out. 

My mouth stayed shut, locked by a force stronger than 

And I knew that look. 

-shame. Everyone’s eyes were on me. Accusing. Disappointed. Silently convicting. 

Oh, I knew that look. 

It wasn’t the kind that paused to ask what happened. 

It wasn’t the kind that cared about the truth. 

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It was the kind of look that only sought confirmation. Not clarity. Not fairness. Just the satisfaction of being right. Just like my mother had that day. 

And suddenly, I was no longer standing in the ocean under the sun. I was back in that lavish, suffocating villa, where the walls looked rich but felt like cages, and the air carried the scent of memories I’d tried to bury. 

“How many times do I have to tell you guys?” 

A flashback from my past surged forward, uninvited and sharp. 

The time when my ex–ex stepsiblings pinned their mistake on me. 

“I didn’t take the money. Mom, please, at least you believe me.” 

I held her hand with trembling hope, silently begging her to understand, to stand by me. 

“You know me well enough, right? I would never steal–even a penny from anyone. Let alone ten grand.” 

“If you needed money,” she replied, her voice colder than any punishment, “you should have simply asked me, Lucy.” 

Her words shattered my trust. 

I let go of her hand, along with whatever hope I had left for her. My eyes filled with hot, stinging tears.. 

“I feel ashamed to call you my daughter.” 

“Mom, why the hell won’t you hear me?!” I had screamed, louder this time, stupidly thinking maybe they hadn’t heard me before and if I just screamed a little louder, then maybe this time, they–she–would listen. 

“Don’t you dare yell at me, young lady!” 

Her voice cracked like a whip. 

“First, you have the audacity to steal, and then you yell like a brat? You’re so fucking grounded. Five weeks!” She walked away after that–back straight, chin high–like she’d just won a war. And I stood there, not a daughter, not even a person, but a defeated enemy on a battlefield where truth had no 

value. 

It was then I realized something brutal: 

It’s not that my mom didn’t hear me. 

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08:53 Wed, 25 Jun 

Chapter 140 

She did. 

She just didn’t listen. 

And that feeling… 

That hollow, gut–twisting feeling–of being heard but not listened–was one of the worst things I had ever experienced. 

I blinked the memory away along with my tears. They slipped hot and silent down my cheeks. I wiped them away with the back of my hand before anyone could enjoy the view. 

I didn’t say a word. 

Not because I was speechless. 

But because I refuse to feel that same pain again, 

NOT THIS TIME. NOT EVER AGAIN. 

So… I turned away and walked off–quietly, but completely done. 

In my hotel room… 

It hadn’t even been a full minute since I collapsed onto the edge of my bed, shoulders shaking, tears slipping in hot silence down my cheeks. The pain and regret of not defending myself in front of everyone came rushing out like a broken dam. My chest heaved. My breath hitched. And just when I buried my face in my hands, trying to muffle the sob that clawed its way up- 

Knock knock. 

I froze. 

My head snapped up. 

“Kaiden?” I whispered, breath catching. My heart stuttered in hope. “Yeah… it must be Kaiden. He must have come to console me. Like he always does.” 

As if on command and maybe I have cried all the way here, the tears slowed. I wiped them hastily away with the back of my hand, my fingers shaky but quick. The fury that had boiled my blood just minutes ago dissolved with every stroke, like it had never existed in the first place. Rage turned to relief. Hurt to hope. 

“I’m such an idiot,” I muttered under my breath, the tiniest smile forming. “How could I compare Kaiden to 

my mom?” 

That thought alone made my heart ache with guilt. 

“The past won’t repeat itself,” I told myself in my heart, clutching the doorknob, “because Kaiden isn’t anything like my mother. He knows me too well to ever accuse me of anything. He will never hurt me.” 

I took a deep breath and opened the door, a soft curye pulling at the corners of my lips, ready to see his face and to hear his voice. 

But the moment the door swung open, that smile–half–born and fragile–froze and died before it could fully bloom. 

Standing on the other side was not Kaiden. 

It was Jackson. 

Not that I hated him: Not at all. In fact, of all people, Jackson had always been easy to be around–gentle, genuine. But still, the ache in my chest pulsed sharper, because it wasn’t Kaiden standing there. 

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20 Jun 

Chapter 140 

“Jackson,” I said quietly, my voice a brittle thread trying my best to hide my disappointment. 

“Hey.” He offered a soft smile, the kind that tried to be comforting but didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Are you okay?” 

I let out a dry breath. “Do I look like it?” The words slipped out flatly as I turned around, leaving the door open for him to come in if he wanted. I didn’t even look back to check. I just moved toward the bed, each step feeling heavier than the last, like my body was slowly losing the will to carry itself. 

I sat down again, the mattress dipping beneath me with a sigh that sounded far too much like the one I’d buried inside my chest. 

God, I felt stupid. 

Stupid for getting my hopes up. 

Stupid for thinking Kaiden would come after me. That he’d walk through that door with apologies in his eyes and softness in his voice. That he’d say my name the way only he could, like it meant something. 

But that didn’t happen. 

And now, I wasn’t just feeling disappointed. I also felt exhausted. 

A hollow kind. The kind that curled up inside your ribs and made everything feel… pointless. 

Like I’d been fighting and fighting–for love, for fairness, for understanding–and I was finally realizing that maybe… maybe I was the only one still in the ring. 

Everyone else had left. 

And I was just too stubborn to notice. 

that just… exists. Heavy. Quiet. Endless. 

I pulled my knees to my chest, folding in on myself 

as 

sa silent, invisible kind of grief settled into my bones. The kind you don’t cry out loud for. The kind 

To be continued…