I Got a Second Chance, So I Stopped Saving My Brother Chapter 11

I Got a Second Chance, So I Stopped Saving My Brother Chapter 11

Six months later, I had become the de facto manager of the Bennett family’s building-supply store.

My father was in poor health, so he had turned most of the business over to me.

My mother stopped mentioning Paige altogether.

Instead, she began taking me shopping and introducing me to relatives, constantly bragging, “My own daughter is so capable.”

It was ridiculous.

Blood was never a guarantee of love.

Only self-interest mattered.

The day before Mason was to be moved into a long-term care facility, my family held a small dinner party at home.

My father said it was to celebrate the large order I had landed.

In reality, everyone understood that it signaled the Bennett family had chosen a new heir.

Relatives crowded around me with praise.

“Willa has really made the family proud.”

“She clearly gets her business sense from her father.”

I held my wineglass and gave them a gracious smile.

The dinner was nearly over when a home health aide wheeled Mason into the room.

He had become almost unrecognizable. His face was gaunt, his eyes were sunken, and his hair was disheveled.

The entire room fell silent.

My father’s expression darkened.

“Who told you that you could come out here?”

Mason ignored him and glared at me.

“You’re pleased with yourself, aren’t you, Willa?”

I walked over, crouched beside him, and straightened the blanket across his lap.

“Mason, you’re not well. Why are you out here?”

The relatives watched me with even greater approval.

They thought I was forgiving and considerate.

Mason trembled with rage.

“Stop pretending.”

I lowered my voice so that only he could hear me.

“Mason, don’t make a scene. The more you carry on, the more useless Mom and Dad will think you are.”

His head snapped up.

I smiled at him.

“If you want to reclaim your place as the Bennett heir, you need to be patient.”

Uncertainty flickered in his eyes.

I continued, “Go back to your room and behave tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll try to convince Mom and Dad not to send you away.”

He believed me.

He had no other choice.

Later that night, I brought his medication and a glass of water to his room.

Mason watched me closely.

“Are you really going to help me?”

I nodded.

“You and I are the ones who truly belong to this family.”

He swallowed the pills.

As I walked out, I heard him muttering curses behind me.

“Once I take everything back, Paige will be the first person I kill. Everyone who ever looked down on me is next.”

I closed the door, my expression turning cold.

The next morning, Mason was gone.

The aide had been beaten unconscious and left in a utility room.

My parents were missing too.

Around noon, I received a call from an unknown number.

Mason’s voice came through the phone, hoarse with excitement.

“Willa, if you want Mom and Dad alive, bring one million dollars to the abandoned brickyard.”

I held the phone and slowly smiled.

In my last life, when they sent me back to that remote mountain town, they had never intended for me to survive.

Now it was their turn to beg for their lives.