Chapter 180
"I know how you love to be in control. How this family must look so perfect for you and because of that, you judge my daughters so much and compare them to Anna but they are wonderful, mother. They are talented, precious, and all that I could ever ask for," Karen said.
"I know that I have never matched what you wanted in a daughter. Andrea succeeded in that for you so you come to use me to go against Madeline. I have long accepted that I cannot please you so all I want is for you to love my daughters," Karen pleaded, tired of her mother’s controlling ways.
Karen continued, "You have always said that Victor is smart so I believe if Rose is not his daughter he knows and he has accepted her. I will not meddle to reveal to a child that the man she thinks to be her father is not. Think of Rose."
Valerie shook her head, disappointed with Karen. Her daughter was acting like she asked her to commit murder. "I have only asked you to help me get back inside the manor. I only needed you to take me in your carriage. I do not like to be lied to."
Karen smiled as she knew all too well how much her mother did not like to be lied to. "I know, mother. It is unfortunate how your children have lied to you over the years. How we have kept each other’s secrets. In a way, hiding from you has made us close. We may tease each other but I am quite protective of those two."
Karen stood up as she was finished with their talk. "I cannot let you stay here because I don’t need you to ruin my daughter’s confidence. They have more than I once did and I don’t want to see their light dim because of you. They are not Anna. They will never be as perfect as her," Karen admitted.
Her niece was special and wonderful in many ways. As Anna’s aunt, Karen was proud. She would not have her mother get in her head to push her daughters to be like Anna or better.
"You dislike Madeline not because she has lied to you but because she has stood her ground with you many times. You cannot control her which I think is good. Too many of us have to deal with overbearing mothers who love their sons too much and I can’t come to you because it is like looking at my husband’s mother,’ Karen confessed.
She felt like her younger self finally revealed her emotions to her mother. Karen had always been afraid of her mother which was why she spoke in secret about her mother to her siblings.