Chapter 192: Why did you have to turn against them?
Evelyn stared down at her phone, her expression turning serious.
"You are already angry after just one night?" She pressed her lips into a thin line. "You made me wait for you for years, Ian. Years of disappointment, loneliness, and hurt. And now you expect me to forget all of that just because you suddenly decided you want me back?"
Her fingers tightened around the phone. "No... It’s not going to be that easy."
She drew a slow breath, forcing herself to remain calm.
"You hurt me for so long, Ian. You made me suffer for years."
Her grip tightened around the phone.
"Now you are going to understand what it feels like to be the one waiting."
At Sterling Mansion...
When Cedric arrived home, it was already midnight. The hall was dimly lit. He nearly stumbled as he stepped through the doorway, his head spinning and his vision slightly blurred.
He reeked of alcohol.
"Ugh..." He groaned when his foot caught against the edge of the carpet. "Fuck..."
Suddenly, the lights came on, flooding the room with brightness.
Cedric raised an arm to shield his eyes. The sudden light made his pounding head throb even more. Slowly, he lowered his hand and looked around.
His bloodshot eyes landed on a figure sitting on the sofa.
"Amber?" He squinted at the figure. "Why are you still awake?"
Amber slowly rose from the sofa and stepped toward him. She didn’t yell. She simply stared at him with a cold, wounded gaze.
"How could I sleep when my daughter is in jail?" Her voice was low, but the pain beneath it was unmistakable.
"And you..." Her eyes swept over him with disappointment. "Instead of trying to bring her home, you came back drunk."
Tears threatened to fall.
"I went to meet her. She looked miserable. She was crying her eyes out. I couldn’t bear to see her like that."
Her lips trembled as she tried to hold her tears back. "Bring her home," she demanded.
Cedric’s head was already pounding. Amber’s emotional outburst only made the pain worse. He pressed his fingers against his brows.
"It’s already midnight. I am tired. I’m going to sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow."
He turned and walked away. He took barely two steps when Amber’s voice rang again, this time louder.
"You’re not going anywhere until you answer me."
Cedric stopped.
"Why did you disown her?" Amber demanded. "How could you let the police take your own daughter away?"
Cedric’s jaw flexed. His bloodshot eyes flashed with irritation.
"She is our only daughter. How could you let her suffer?" Amber couldn’t hold her tears back any longer. "She grew up surrounded by luxury. She has never had to suffer a day in her life, and now you’ve thrown her behind bars. How could you be so heartless?"
Cedric rubbed his hair roughly. "Stop whining," he yelled, turning toward her.
Amber flinched.
"Do you think I enjoy any of this? She left me no choice. She framed Elias’s wife. To cover her mistakes, she killed someone."
"Uh..." Amber gasped, covering her mouth with both hands. Shocked, she even forgot how to breathe.
"Even if I hadn’t sent her to jail, Elias would have done it himself," Cedric said harshly. "The evidence against her is overwhelming. There was no way I could save her. I did what I had to do to protect this family and my company from Elias’s wrath."
Amber wasn’t convinced. "No matter what she did, she is our daughter. We can’t just let her suffer."
She stepped toward him and grabbed the front of his shirt.
She moved toward him and clasped the front of his shirt. "You have money. You have power. Our family is influential. We don’t have to be afraid of Elias. I don’t care what method you use. I want my daughter. Bring her back to me."
Cedric shoved her hands away. "It’s not that easy. She offended Elias. Worse, she committed a crime. She is beyond saving."
Amber sobbed harder. "Vivian, my princess..."
"Stop crying. I’m trying to find a way to bring her back. But it won’t happen overnight."
Helplessness glinted in his eyes.
"Why is this happening?" Amber cried. "We were so happy. Our life was perfect. But everything has fallen apart."
Her legs gave way beneath her. She collapsed onto the floor.
"I can’t live like this. I need my daughter."
"Shut up."
But Amber cried even harder.
Cedric pulled his hair. "I said shut up."
He lunged forward. His hand swung before he could stop himself.
Slap
Amber’s body jerked from the impact. She remained frozen for several seconds, too shocked to react.
Her cheek burned. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the heartbreak spreading through her chest.
The man she had loved and trusted to protect her had actually hit her.
She slowly lifted her eyes toward him as tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks.
"You hit your daughter. Now you hit me. Why don’t you just kill us, Cedric? Then we won’t have to suffer anymore."
Cedric’s chest rose and fell. The anger drained from his face. Guilt clouded his eyes.
He had just struck the woman he had once loved with all his heart. He had also disowned his only daughter without even giving her a chance.
Regret pressed heavily against his chest.
He slowly reached out to touch Amber’s swollen cheek. But she immediately turned her face away.
"I married you because I believed you would always protect me," she whispered. "I never thought you would be the one to hurt me."
"Amber..."
"You begged me to marry you back then," she cut him off. Her voice trembled with resentment. "You promised to love me forever. But your ambition ruined everything."
She looked at him through tear-filled eyes.
"You stopped loving me a long time ago. The only things you love now are power and money. You are selfish, Cedric."
"Am I?" Cedric snapped back.
The regret that had filled his eyes moments earlier disappeared. His face twisted with fury.
"I worked hard for this family. Everything I did was for you and Vivian."
His voice echoed through the hall. "You are living in luxury because of me. You have everything you could ever want because of me."
"I never asked you for any of this," Amber shouted back. "You did all of this for yourself."
She sobbed. "We were happy before. But your hunger for power destroyed everything. You betrayed Elias. You destroyed the relationship between our families."
Cedric stood rigidly. A faint tremor passed through his hands before he forced them still.
"The Rowans were our friends for years," Amber continued. "Our businesses were doing well together. Why did you have to turn against them?"