The Girl They Ignored Got Married, Then They Regretted Everything Chapter 09

The Girl They Ignored Got Married, Then They Regretted Everything Chapter 09

With that, I turned to leave.

I had barely touched the doorknob when I heard a thud behind me.

I spun around and saw Mom sprawled on the floor, one arm still reaching toward me.

“Evelyn, I’m begging you.”

She had reduced herself to pleading on the floor, yet even now, it was still for Chloe.

I laughed, turned away, and strode toward my husband.

“I’ll cover your medical bills. You won’t get anything else from me.”

We had barely stepped outside the hospital when Grant approached us.

Less than a year had passed, but streaks of gray now ran through his once–black hair.

He hesitated, his lips moving several times before he finally spoke.

“You came after all?”

“Yes. Is this what you wanted me to see? Or did you bring me here because you want me to help Chloe too?”

Grant shook his head.

“No. I came to tell you not to give in to them.”

I stopped short.

Then Grant continued.

“Over the past year, with you gone, I finally realized that Mom and Dad’s love for Chloe had begun to come at

everyone else’s expense.”

“But I clearly can’t put up with as much as you did. The house has been one fight after another–over the five

hundred thousand dollars and Chloe’s ever–growing demands.”

“Eventually, Chloe went overseas and forced Mom and Dad to keep paying her way.”

“Evelyn, I couldn’t take it for even a year. How did you put up with it for more than twenty years?”

His words struck me squarely in the chest.

All the hurt I had buried came rushing back.

I drew a deep breath.

I dont know But it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I found someone who loves me, and I found a family that does too. They gave me the love Mom and Dad had failed to give me.”

“And I’m married now. None of this has anything to do with me anymore.”

I linked my arm through Adrian’s and started walking away.

“Evelyn!”

Grant’s voice stopped me in my tracks.

I didn’t turn around, but I could feel his gaze on my back.

“Don’t look back. And don’t come back.”

His laughter followed me.

“I’m your brother, and I’m their only son. They’re my responsibility, not yours.”

“So go live the life you want. It’s the one thing I can still do for you as your brother.”

I turned around.

Grant stood where I had left him, waving me on with a gentle smile.

It was the same smile he had worn at the hospital all those years ago.

More than twenty years later, Grant had finally stepped up as my brother again.

But I no longer needed him to.

I turned back and walked away, with the man I loved at my side.

Adrian gave my arm a gentle tug.

“Let’s go home.”

I smiled at him.

“Okay. Let’s go home.”

I couldn’t choose the family I was born into.

But I was grown now, and I could choose the people I called family.

That was enough.