Chapter 574
574
It was like Mom’s mind got struck by lightning. It had gone completely blank.
She didn’t know how to process the truth or what to think. So she just stayed overwhelmed and felt numb.
When I saw how deeply Henry loved his lost love, so much so that he was willing to sacrifice his life for her, I used to wonder how Mom managed to spend her whole life with him.
But now I realize I was overthinking it.
Henry never loved Mom. He only ever loved the one he lost. And it was the same for Mom too.
No matter what Henry did, even if he cheated, she wouldn’t be upset or hurt. Their marriage was never about love. They were just trying to settle.
They were just like two people living together out of convenience. There was no affection between them. Naturally, there wasn’t much love for the children either.
The only exception was Jeremy. Since he could carry on the Quills‘ bloodline, and my Mom’s side as well, they valued him. And that attention slowly turned into affection over time.
As for me, I was just a daughter who didn’t matter much. They never had any real feelings for me to begin with, and after Julianne came along, they cared even less.
I’d even foolishly had false expectations for Mom.
I used to think she didn’t care that much about Julianne at the beginning, that she didn’t treat me too badly because she was the one who had carried’me in her womb and given birth to me. Surely there had to be some bond.
I thought she only turned against me later because of all the misunderstandings Henry created.
But that wasn’t the case. She wasn’t cold toward Julianne because she cared about me.
It was because she believed Julianne’s father died in a car accident while trying to buy her a birthday cake. So in her eyes, it was Julianne’s fault that the man she loved had died.
Although she accepted Julianne into our family since she was his only daughter, she couldn’t bring herself to treat her kindly.
In fact, Mom pretended to be kind to me just to provoke Julianne, to hurt her, and to make her suffer as a form of punishment for what happened to her father.
Later, she found out that I was the one who bought the last mango cake at the bakery, which forced Julianne’s parents to go to another one, and the accident happened on their way there.
So she transferred all the blame for her first love’s death onto me. The little warmth she had once shown me instantly turned into hatred and resentment.
When I found out the truth, I honestly felt like a complete joke. It was so foolish of me to yearn for my parents‘ love.
That realization destroyed any last bit of hope I had for Mom. I would never be hurt because of her again. Even if she dropped dead in front of me, I wouldn’t flinch or grieve.
So when I saw her break down like that, not only did I not feel bad, I felt exhilarated. I had given so much, tried so hard to please her, yet never received even a shred of genuine love in return.
How could I not hate her? How could I not want revenge?
After a long time had passed, she was finally able to respond. She shook her head wildly. “No! No! That’s not true!” she cried.
Suddenly, she snapped out of it and glared at me with fury. “It’s you! You made all this up! You had forged everything!” she
shouted.