I Begged The Real Heiress To Take My Life Away Chapter 12

I Begged The Real Heiress To Take My Life Away Chapter 12

Not the Sterlings’.

When she walked through the door, Peggy was standing there, eyes already red.

Frank’s arm was still wrapped in gauze.

Josie dropped straight to her knees.

“Mom, Dad.”

“I’m sorry.”

Peggy pulled her into a hug, crying.

“Sweetheart, coming home is enough. You don’t need to kneel.”

Frank sighed.

“Don’t worry about the bowl.”

I protested immediately.

“Dad, that’s three-fifty.”

Frank glared at me.

“Hush.”

Josie laughed through her tears.

First time since she’d come back that she’d smiled like an actual eighteen-year-old.

I stood off to the side, my chest aching in that good, overwhelmed kind of way.

Did Sebastian drive me back to the Sterlings’?

No.

This time, I stayed with the Doyles.

The three Sterlings stood outside the door.

Like three high-end appliances that had just gotten returned.

Eleanor watched the Doyle family tangled together in a hug, her expression complicated.

She suddenly asked me:

“Daisy. You’re really not coming back?”

I said, “Mrs. Sterling, I’m doing just fine here.”

Weston said quietly, “We can change.”

I gave a small smile.

“You don’t have to change for me.”

“You just need to learn how to stop treating love like a quarterly KPI.”

Sebastian hadn’t said a word this whole time.

Before he left, he handed me a box.

I opened it.

Inside was a comic book.

The cover had the money-eating monster I’d drawn when I was thirteen.

I froze.

“You didn’t throw it out?”

He said quietly, “I kept it.”

“Why?”

He went silent for a long time.

“The drawing’s pretty dumb.”

I rolled my eyes, about to hand it back.

He added:

“But it’s very you.”

Why does every Sterling apology come with its own side of chest pain?

He looked at me.

“Daisy. I’m sorry.”

My fingers went still.

His voice came out soft.

“Back then I thought pushing you to be exceptional was the same thing as loving you.”

“Then I noticed that every time you saw me, you looked at me the way a mouse looks at a cat.”

I said quietly, “You’re scarier than a cat.”

He let out a short laugh.

First time I’d ever heard Sebastian actually laugh.

It sounded nice, honestly.

But I wasn’t going soft that easily.

I hugged the comic book to my chest.

“I accept the apology.”

“But I’m not coming back.”

Sebastian nodded.

“I know.”

“I’ll come see you instead.”

I said, wary:

“Don’t show up at six in the morning.”

“Fine.”

“Don’t bring homework.”

“Fine.”

“And definitely don’t try teaching me finance.”

He was quiet for a moment.

“Then I’ll bring Rosa’s shrimp and cheese grits.”

I caved instantly.

“Deal.”

Pathetic, I know.

But that dish is innocent in all of this.