Chapter 12
“What the hell is wrong with that ungrateful daughter of mine, Olivia?!” Victor slammed his phone
down in frustration. “I’ve messaged her over and over, and she won’t even reply. Does she still
consider me her father?!”
Lillian stepped in at the perfect time, gently offering him a glass of water. “Dad, don’t get upset.
Maybe it’s because she doesn’t want to see me.”
She wore a pitiful expression. “I don’t know what she told Sebastian or Ethan, but they’ve both been treating me coldly all of a sudden.”
She tilted her face toward Victor and Catherine, revealing the faint red imprint of a slap.
Seeing his daughter’s visible injury, Catherine’s heart ached. She pulled Lillian into her arms and comforted her. “I’ll call Sebastian and Ethan right now. I want both of them and Olivia too, to
apologize to you properly.”
Sebastian, meanwhile, had been drowning in regret these past few days.
He kept replaying the past three years in his head, asking himself over and over if he’d been wrong about everything.
Every time he closed his eyes, the surveillance footage from the police station haunted him—
Olivia’s last moment frozen in his mind: her figure plunging into the river without a trace of
hesitation.
When Catherine’s call came, he reluctantly returned home.
He hadn’t even stepped through the door when he heard laughter echoing from the living room.
“Lillian, you’re always been the sweetest. You’re truly my favorite.”
Sebastian stopped in his tracks.
He’d heard that phrase countless times growing up. It had never struck him as odd until now. Now,
it grated on him like nails on glass.
A voice inside him kept whispering, Not her. It shouldn’t have been her.
As soon as he walked in, looking exhausted and defeated, Victor immediately pounced on him.
“Where’s that wretched girl Olivia? Didn’t you bring her home with you?”
Chapter 12
R
ReelShort
4.6 FREE
Google Play INSTALL
Click now and start streaming
54.55%
“And what is going on with you lately, acting like that toward Lillian?!”
Sebastian’s gaze fell on the three people cozied up on the couch, all smiles and warmth like a
picture–perfect family.
His throat tightened. “Olivia’s dead.”
Silence blanketed the room in an instant. So heavy, they could hear the ticking of the mantel clock echoing through the still air.
“W–what did you just say?”
It took a long moment before Victor managed to speak.
Sebastian repeated it, quieter this time. His voice barely audible, but still like a bomb dropped in
the living room of the Sinclair estate.
“She died the night of the gala. She jumped into the river. Took her own life.”
Catherine collapsed against him, her face blank and disbelieving. “No… no, you’re lying to me,
right?”
“How could you and Olivia make up something this cruel just to trick me?”
She wept uncontrollably, desperately seeking denial from her son.
But Sebastian had grown tired of all of it, overwhelmed by the scene before him.
Without a word, he pulled out the death certificate and Olivia’s medical report, the one confirming her late–stage cancer and placed them on the table.
“These were issued at the police station. Ethan and I were both there. She left them behind before
she jumped.”
Catherine’s hands trembled as she picked up the thin sheets of paper. She clutched them to her
chest and sobbed like her world had collapsed.
“My sweet Olivia…”
Lillian sat quietly on the sofa, watching her parents break down, but her eyes betrayed not even a
flicker of grief. In fact, her brows twitched with barely concealed irritation.
Sebastian caught that flicker.
Chapter 12
54.55%
Θ
TV
ReelShort
4.6 FREE
Google Play
INSTALL
Click now and start streaming
R
The two locked eyes.
Instantly, Lillian’s expression shifted. Her eyes filled with tears, her face twisted into sorrow, and she rushed to Catherine, gently wiping her mother’s tears away.
“Mom, I’m heartbroken too. I know you’re in more pain than I could ever understand. But if you let this destroy your health, Olivia would be devastated to see you like this.”
Her words managed to draw Catherine out of her grief, just a little.
“Thank goodness for you, Lillian,” Catherine sniffled. “I don’t know how I’d survive without you.”
As her emotions overwhelmed her, her old heart condition began acting up. Victor helped her
upstairs to rest.
Now only Lillian and Sebastian remained in the living room.
Sebastian’s eyes never left her.
She shifted uncomfortably, clearly uneasy under his gaze, but still tried to keep her cool.
“Why are you looking at me like that, Sebastian?”
“Why aren’t you grieving for Olivia?”
Tears streamed down her face immediately. “How can you think that about me? I’m just in shock, that’s all. I know Olivia didn’t like me, but I always hoped… I really wanted us to be a real family.”
Her tears seemed genuine. For a second, Sebastian hesitated. He rubbed his brow in frustration,
overwhelmed.
“Sorry. I’m tired. Just go back to your room.”
As soon as he turned his back, Lillian’s expression twisted into one of cold malice.
Why? Even in death, she’s still ruining everything for me.
