Chapter 481
Camilla returned to the hospital with Tessa in tow.
When they reached the ward door, Tessa’s feet cemented to the floor. Absolute terror and hesitation warred on her face.
Camilla didn’t rush her; she simply stood quietly to the side.
Time dragged on in heavy silence until a nurse approached to do her rounds. Realizing she couldn’t stall forever, Tessa forced herself to follow the nurse inside.
Seeing her walk in again, Lance immediately furrowed his brow, though he kept his mouth shut while the nurse checked his vitals.
The second she left the room, his patience snapped. “What do you want now? I thought I made myself perfectly clear p>
Knowing the horrific truth now, the initial flare of anger Tessa usually felt was entirely replaced by an overwhelming, suffocating shame.
Instead of snapping back, she slowly approached the bed. Her hand trembled violently as she reached out to touch his face, but he ruthlessly swatted it away.
His irritation spiked. “What exactly are you trying to do? Spit it out and drop the act. And if you’re here about Sarah, she broke the law. She belongs in jail. Do not expect a letter of forgiveness from me p>
Seeing her act so out of character, his immediate assumption was that she wanted a favor.
And the only person she would ever lower her pride for was Sarah.
The sheer irony of it all made him physically sick. He flat out refused to look at her.
His absolute disgust was a dagger twisting straight into her heart.
Her hand hung frozen in the empty air. Her son was sitting less than two feet away, yet he felt thousands of miles out of reach. She wasn’t even allowed to touch him.
“I’m not here for her. I have absolutely nothing to do with her anymore. Lance, I came to apologize to you. I p>
“Everything that happened was my fault. I was completely blind. I know the truth now. I know how much you suffered all these years. Please, just give me one chance to make it up to you,” she pleaded.
She had rehearsed the speech a thousand times on the car ride over.
But actually saying the words to his face made her heart lodge firmly in her throat, waiting for the executioner’s axe to fall.
“Apologize?” he mocked, his eyes locked dead ahead. “So you finally figured out the truth. Good for you. But a pathetic ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t magically erase the past. As for compensation, I don’t need a single thing from you. Just stay out of my sight and we’ll call it even p>
As his mother, she had never believed in him for a single second. This apology was nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to a guilty conscience.
Instead of getting defensive, her eyes filled with a chaotic storm of fear, panic, and desperation. “It’s not like that, Lance! I was manipulated! I am your mother, you have to give me a chance to fix this! I can compensate you. I’ll transfer all my company shares to your name, okay? Just p>
“I don’t give a damn about your shares. Get out,” his voice was a flat, dead void of emotion.
She clutched her chest, her face turning a sickly shade of gray as she swayed on her feet.
On the ride over, she had genuinely held onto a sliver of hope.
He had risked his own life to pull her out of Silvania. That had to mean he still cared about her on some level. If she just groveled enough, he surely wouldn’t be able to maintain this icy facade.
His unwavering ruthlessness shattered that hope into a million pieces, yet she still stubbornly refused to accept defeat.
“I won’t give up. I will find out what you need. I will make this up to you, I p>
“Get out,” he repeated.
She stared at him for a long, agonizing moment before reluctantly shuffling out of the room, looking over her shoulder with every step.
Oscar had followed them to the hospital and was waiting in the hallway.
Taking one look at her devastated expression, he instantly knew the outcome. He sighed heavily. “Let’s go home. Leave him alone p>
Tessa’s face was a portrait of absolute misery. “Oscar… is he really never going to acknowledge me again p>
She already knew the answer.
She just violently rejected the reality of it.
Her delusions had been crushed repeatedly, yet she still clung to a microscopic thread of hope.
“I don’t know. But we brought this entirely upon ourselves. Whatever choice he makes, let him make it,” Oscar said, his voice heavy with exhaustion.
It wasn’t just her. Lance had completely frozen him out as well. They were practically strangers at this point.
They had failed as parents. He couldn’t point the finger at anyone but themselves. Even if the boy cut them out completely, as long as he took over the Charles family business, they were technically still a family.