Chapter 532
Chapter 532:
Liliana’s strength crumbled. She turned toward Natalie and Kareem, her face drained of color. Then, as if her strings had been cut, she dropped to her knees with a hollow thud.
“Dad… Mom… I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me!” Liliana’s voice cracked as she lifted tear-filled eyes to Kareem and Natalie, her desperation spilling out. “Henrik deceived me, and I acted foolishly in a moment of weakness. But you raised me. You watched me grow. Please… just this once p>
She crawled forward on her knees, clinging to the hem of Natalie’s dress like a drowning girl clinging to driftwood.
Natalie stared down at her in silence, then glanced toward Kareem—still fragile from his injuries—before her gaze landed on Helena. Her daughter’s eyes were red, not just from tears, but from everything left unsaid.
Then, something pierced through the fog in Natalie’s mind. A flash. A spark. Clarity. When all the memories came crashing down, the dam broke.
“Helena… oh, my sweet Helena…” she gasped with disbelief and remorse. “I’m so sorry!” She grasped Helena’s hand with shaking fingers, her apology barely making it past the lump in her throat.
Helena couldn’t speak. Her lips parted, but no words came. She only shook her head, tears pooling rapidly.
And in that moment, as their eyes locked, something shifted. Days of silence, hurt, and misunderstanding burned away in that quiet gaze.
Liliana, now visibly unraveling, tried to wedge herself back into the moment. Her voice rose, quick and urgent. “Mom, please—I mean it. I wronged you. I wronged Helena. Let me make up for it. I’ll do anything for the family. Everything! Just… please… give me another chance p>
Natalie looked down at her again, this time through a lens sharpened by painful clarity.
In her mind, a vision formed—Liliana at seven, small and fragile, eyes swollen from crying, clutching a tattered doll. A motherless child with no one but her. She had wept so quietly then, her shoulders quaking with each little sob.
Natalie had wrapped her arms around that child and silently vowed to protect her and give her everything.
But now?
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“Mom…” Helena’s voice sliced through the silence. “The reason you’ve been losing awareness lately… is that Liliana drugged you—with hallucinogens p>
Her words landed like a hammer.
Liliana’s face went ghostly pale.
Natalie staggered back as if struck, and Helena caught her just in time. Natalie closed her eyes, her breath trembling, then opened them again—clearer than they had been in weeks. Her voice was cold steel wrapped in velvet. “Liliana. I raised you like my own. Gave you everything. Honored your mother’s memory. But after what you’ve done… I won’t shelter you anymore p>
“Mom!” Liliana’s scream tore through the room just as police officers swarmed in.
They’d been stationed nearby by Alden, awaiting Natalie’s agreement to proceed with the arrest.