Chapter 479
Sarah’s absolute fury morphed into pure confusion.
Camilla maintained her slow, deliberate pacing. “Let me tell you a little story. The first time I ever met him, we were at the police station. I was five, he was maybe six or seven. His parents had thrown him out of the house because he had supposedly locked his adopted sister outside in the freezing cold. He ended up lost and was brought in by the police.
“Because I sat with him and talked to him at that station, he remembered me for over a decade.
“You must be kicking yourself right now. If you hadn’t framed him that day, he never would have met me. He never would have fallen in love with me. Honestly, I really owe you a massive thank you. If you hadn’t targeted him and made him so utterly hopeless regarding his own family, he never would have put all his trust into a total stranger over a few kind words p>
Every single sentence was a dagger plunging directly into Sarah’s chest.
Her expression shifted from confusion to complete, horrifying realization. “How… how could that be?” she muttered, her eyes vacant.
“I didn’t steal him from you. He has loved me this entire time. He spent years searching for me. You really are our ultimate matchmaker. If you hadn’t pushed him so far to the brink, why would he have clung to a girl he met once p>
Sarah grabbed the sides of her head, completely breaking down. “No! How could that happen?! He loved you back then? No! That’s not right! How could he be that fragile? How could he fall for you over a few words p>
“It wasn’t that he was fragile. It’s that you hurt him so deeply that you essentially handed me the key to his heart. The things you throw away aren’t always waiting for you when you decide you want them back,” Camilla said coldly.
Through the entire exchange, Sarah hadn’t offered a single word of denial regarding the childhood abuse.
Tessa, having heard every single syllable from the hallway, violently shoved the door open. She stared at Sarah, her pupils shrinking in absolute horror. “It was you!
“You framed him when you were little?! You ate the desiccants yourself? You stood outside in the freezing cold on purpose?! The broken vases, my missing jewelry, that was all you p>
Sarah was having a total mental collapse.
When she was little, she spent every waking moment fighting Lance for his parents’ affection.
When she grew up, she suddenly realized she was entirely in love with him.
But by then, he had already drifted completely out of reach. He didn’t even want to look at her.
If she had known that her childhood schemes were the exact reason he had run straight into Camilla’s arms, she never would have p>
When Sarah remained completely silent, Tessa lost control. She lunged forward and grabbed her wrist. “Answer me! Have you been framing him this entire time p>
“So what if I did? What? Are you going to punish me for ancient history? Blame yourselves for being absolute idiots! You believed every single word I said!” Sarah mocked viciously.
The “matchmaker” comment had utterly obliterated her final mental defense. She was going down, and she didn’t care who she dragged with her.
She knew she was never walking out of this estate a free woman.
Compared to the horrific crimes she had committed against him in Silvania, her childhood pranks were completely irrelevant. They wouldn’t add a single day to her sentence.
The Charles family was never going to give her shelter again. There was absolutely no point in denying it.
“How… how could you be so utterly malicious at that age?” Tessa whispered, staring at her as if she were looking at an incomprehensible monster.
Sarah sneered. “Malicious? I just wanted a better life! What did I do wrong? My parents treated me like a football, kicking me back and forth. When they died and dumped me on you, I was terrified of being thrown away again! Was it a crime to fight for my own survival? Blame your own blinding stupidity. You’re the one who refused to trust your own son p>
Her parents had been trapped in a loveless business marriage, living completely separate lives before finally filing for divorce.
She had grown up in the crossfire of their screaming matches.
They lived apart, and neither of them wanted to spend a second with her.
She tried so hard to act mature, to be a perfect little adult so she wouldn’t be a burden.
It didn’t work.
They only saw her as dead weight.
When she was five, they finally went to finalize the divorce.
They died in a car crash on the way to the courthouse.
Her greedy relatives instantly swooped in and drained the family’s assets dry.
Tessa, acting as her mother’s best friend, took pity on her and brought her into the Charles family.
Tessa treated her better than her own biological mother ever had.
She was incredibly happy, but Tessa had a son. The love had to be split.
So, she hatched a plan. It started simple: playing the innocent victim to monopolize Tessa’s attention.