He Broke My Heart, My Family Broke His Empire Chapter 21

He Broke My Heart, My Family Broke His Empire Chapter 21

After five years, my parents’ faces were etched with new lines.

The moment the private plane landed, my mother rushed over and hugged me, her tears spilling instantly.

“My baby, what have you been through? You’re so thin.”

I had deliberately worn my thickest cashmere sweater to hide how haggard I’d become, but a mother’s eyes see through everything.

My father stood beside us, his broad shoulders tight as he fought for composure. He just patted my shoulder, his hand heavy.

“It’s good to have you home.”

Wyatt told me later that my father went to the family shooting range that afternoon and silently emptied three magazines.

They brought me home.

My room was exactly as I had left it five years ago. Not a single thing had been moved, and it was so clean it felt as if I’d only been gone for a day.

My mother followed me in and said softly, “Whenever we missed you, we’d come in here and just… look around.”

My nose stung.

Texas sunlight streamed through the massive windows, falling across the familiar vanity. The bottle of perfume I’d left half-finished five years ago was still sitting there.

Looking at it all, I had the strange illusion that I had never loved Julian.

That I had never left Texas at all.

This is where I should have been all along. After college, I should have come home, stayed with my parents, and lived the life that was meant for me.

I couldn’t hold it back any longer. The tears broke free.

My mother immediately pulled me into a tight embrace, patting my back again and again, as if I were still a child.