Chapter 16
A wry smile touched her lips. Perhaps she had done too many bad things in a past life, and now she had to pay for them, piece by piece.
The two women held each other in silence, letting time flow slowly around them.
When Jane went to the kitchen to order lunch, Lucy turned on her phone.
The signal had returned the moment she left The Vista Gardens, and now countless messages flooded in, news notifications popping up incessantly at the top of the
screen.
She scrolled through the missed calls. The most prominent name was Irma, filling most of the screen, followed by two calls from Old Mrs. Sherwood. The rest were spam. Lucy glanced at them with no intention of returning any.
Her finger scrolled through the news feed.
When the headline “Harland of The Lynwood Group Arrested for Criminal Offenses” jumped out, her expression remained completely flat. She read the article from start to finish with a gaze that bordered on indifference.
When she opened WhatsApp, a system alert popped up: “This account is logged in on another device.” Lucy’s eyes darkened.
She re-entered her password and logged back in. Scrolling to her chat with Jane, she saw the unfamiliar replies that were clearly not hers.
A surge of anger shot through her. gripping the phone until her knuckles turned white, she typed a quick message to Kingsley: “Kingsley! Go to hell p>
The moment it sent, with no hesitation, she dragged his contact into the block list and immediately changed her password.
Just as she finished, her phone vibrated again. Seeing the name dancing on the screen, Lucy’s eyes turned as cold as ice.
She didn’t need to answer to know what they wanted. Whenever they needed help, she was the first person they thought of. But when she needed family, where were they?
She wanted to hang up, but the phone rang persistently a second time.
Lucy took a deep breath and pressed answer. Irma’s voice, deliberately softened to sound ingratiating, came through immediately.
“Lucy, dear! I finally got through! Your father has been taken by the police. They’re saying it’s a criminal offense. You have to help us! Get Kingsley to help! Harland is your biological father, you can’t just leave him to die, can you p>
“Are you finished?” Lucy’s voice was flat, devoid of ripples, before turning cold. “You get what you deserve. I can’t save him, and your endless calls won’t change anything p>
Irma’s tone changed instantly, her temper flaring. “Lucy! You ungrateful wretch! Your father raised you, and now that he’s in trouble, you choose to stand by and watch? Are you even human p>
“That’s right, I’m ungrateful.” Lucy chuckled, the sound thick with mockery. If I recall correctly, he has an older daughter, doesn’t he? She’s the filial one. Why isn’t she thinking of a solution? Instead, you’re pinning your hopes on this ungrateful wretch: Don’t you find that laughable p>
She took a sip of cold water to suppress the nausea rising in her chest.
Irma was struck dumb for a
struck
moment, then exploded into curses. “There’s a reason your father never loved your you’re heartless, Lucy just like your dead mother! You have no conscience! You’ll get your karma sooner or later p>
“I’m waiting for it,” Lucy laughed, her voice laced with ice. “I just wonder whose karma will arrive first. Irma… do you sleep soundly at night? Do you ever have nightmares p>
She hung up and blocked the number. The phone slipped from her palm and hit the carpet with a dull thud.
All the strength drained from Lucy’s body. She crumpled from the sofa onto the floor, her face turning deathly pale.
She tried to push herself up, but her limbs were weak. Eventually, she buried her face against the cold coffee table, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.