I Was His Secret Genius, Now I’m His Biggest Regret Chapter 24

I Was His Secret Genius, Now I’m His Biggest Regret Chapter 24

Beau took a step forward and stood beside his sister, his small shoulders squared like an adult’s.

“Mom, we know we were wrong.”

His lips trembled, his voice thick with tears. “Savannah is gone. Dad drove her away… From now on, we’ll only have you as our mom.”

Ava looked at them.

The two once-proud faces were stained with tears, their eyes filled with a raw pleading and fear.

She crouched down until she was at their level.

The motion made Clayton’s heart leap with an absurd hope.

“You pushed me, and the falling barrels broke my ribs,” Ava said, her voice calm. “Do you remember?”

Beau’s face turned pale.

“You framed me, saying I incited you to sneak into the cellar.”

Daisy lowered her head, her small body beginning to tremble.

“You testified against me to the board, saying I wanted to steal Montgomery’s formulas.”

Both children stared at the floor, unable to meet her eyes.

“You called Savannah the hostess. In front of guests, you corrected them and said I was just ‘the distiller.’”

Ava’s voice was soft, as if she were reciting facts about someone else. “These were all things you said with your own mouths and did with your own hands.”

Tears rolled down Beau’s face. He forgot to wipe them away.

“I thought that by pouring my heart and soul into creating unique flavors for you, I would earn my family’s pride.” She paused. “And what did I get?”

“I was locked in an icehouse by your father, just to let me ‘cool off.’”

“I was abandoned in a burning warehouse, watching with my own eyes as he saved someone else.”

“I was treated as a scheming thief in the distillery I had devoted my life to.”

Suppressed murmurs rose around them. The workers who admired Ava now looked at Clayton and the children with undisguised contempt.

Beau and Daisy’s faces flushed scarlet. Shame burned them, leaving them unable to speak.

Clayton stood a few feet away, his chest squeezed by an invisible hand. Every breath was a tearing pain.

He watched Ava crouch there, using the calmest tone to list crimes he had once thought could be forgotten.

He remembered them all.

She was his wife.

And he had let her bear it all alone.

Ava stood.

She looked at Clayton.

Her gaze swept over his face as if it were nothing more than air.

“Take them and leave,” she said. “Don’t disturb my work again.”

Then she turned to Ethan, who had been standing beside her the whole time.

“Don’t let my personal matters delay the bottling line.” She gave a faint smile, her professional calm returning. “Let’s go check today’s sample data.”