Chapter 396
“I did search, but nothing ever came from it,” Mom replies, sniffing softly as she wipes at her face. “The only results I kept getting were for an old man in his eighties and some teenage boy. After a while, I convinced myself he had lied to me… that he never actually gave me his real name p>
Lilly exhales slowly, shaking her head. “That would make sense… but now you know he didn’t lie p>
Mom gives a small, tired shrug. “Only about his last name. He told me he was Andrew Carter. None of you use Carter, so that part had been a lie p>
Aunt Harper shifts slightly in her seat, her expression thoughtful. “Not necessarily p>
I glance at her. “What do you mean p>
“Carter was our grandfather’s name on our father’s side,” she explains. “Andrew used it sometimes, especially when he wanted to keep a low profile or when he wanted to be normal and just be away from everything that came with the Beckett name p>
Mom goes still at that, her expression changing as the pieces begin to fall into place.
“So, he didn’t lie.” Aunt Harper continues, “He just didn’t tell you everything and honestly, I think the version he showed you was the most genuine one p>
Mom and I look at each other, neither of us fully understanding what she means while Aunt Harper lets out a soft sigh, her gaze drifting for a moment as if she’s stepping back into memories she hasn’t touched in a long time.
“Andrew was the heir to the family business, and he hated it,” she says. “Unlike me, he never got the chance to just be a normal kid. My parents started taking him to the office when he was barely seven years old. So, while I got to play with my dolls, run around outside, and go to the park, Andrew was sitting in boardrooms, going through reports, being trained to take over something he never even wanted p>
She pauses, her expression softening. “He created an escape for himself, a sort of alter ego… Andrew Carter was nothing like Andrew Beckett. Andrew Beckett was the cold, calculated heir everyone expected him to be. The one people feared. The one who carried the weight of the family name… But Andrew Carter, he was just a normal man. No expectations. No pressure. No legacy hanging over his head… It was just him p>
The room is quiet as her words sink in.
“That’s why I think you got the best version of him,” she says gently to Mom. “You didn’t meet Andrew Beckett, the man people called ruthless and impossible. You met Andrew Carter… the version of him he only showed to a handful of people. The kind, genuine part of him he protected from the world. The sweet man who loved with all his heart p>
Her voice softens even more.
“Until he died, I thought I was the only one who got to see that side of him. But now…” she adds, her eyes glistening, “now I know someone else saw it too. Someone else understood why I loved him so much p>
I glance at Mom, thinking she might finally be out of tears, but I’m wrong. They fall again, fresh and unrestrained, slipping down her face as everything she thought she knew continues to shift beneath her feet.
Aunt Harper continues, “Andrew Carter was who he wanted to be. Not who he was forced to become p>
Mom lets out a shaky breath, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as another wave of emotion hits her. I can see it in her eyes, the way memories are shifting, rearranging themselves into something new. Every moment she once questioned, every doubt she carried, and every assumption she made about him are all changing.
“I spent years hating him, years convincing myself that he walked away because he didn’t love me enough, that I wasn’t enough for him to stay… and now” she whispers, her voice breaking.
“You couldn’t have known,” Aunt Harper says gently, squeezing her hand again. “Andrew was proud and stubborn. He would rather carry that burden alone than let anyone he loved see him at his weakest p>
“I didn’t know this about Uncle Andrew,” Lilly whispers, and Aunt Harper turns to her.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about him, and that’s on me,” she says quietly. “In a way, I’m not so different from Ivy. I loved my brother so much, and I missed him every single day, but talking about him… it felt like reopening a wound and pouring molten silver into it. I loved Andrew, but remembering him like that always came with pain p>
Lilly watches her carefully. “So instead of reliving it, you chose not to talk about him p>
“Yes.” Aunt Harper nods, then her gaze shifts to me. “But knowing he left a part of himself behind, maybe talking about him won’t hurt as much anymore p>
I offer her a small smile, understanding what she’s really saying, accepting the unspoken invitation.
Mom knew Andrew in her own way, in a way that belonged to love and loss, but Aunt Harper knew him as a brother, as someone who saw all sides of him and with both of them, maybe I can finally begin to understand the man I’ve spent my whole life wondering about even if he’s no longer here.