Chapter 10
On the screen, Chloe Miller clung to Daniel Brooks, even rising on tiptoe to kiss him.
“Daniel, I’ve always loved you. You promised me once-once Emma had a child, you’d divorce her so the three of us could live happily together. But it’s been years, and she still hasn’t given you a child. How much longer do I have to wait?”
Gasps rippled through the hospital corridor as those watching the video sucked in sharp breaths.
“My God… what kind of twisted family is this? They wouldn’t let their son openly be with an adopted daughter, so they schemed to use his wife as a surrogate?”
“They grew up together-even if they’re not blood-related, the thought is revolting.”
Chloe’s face turned ghostly pale. She opened her mouth to explain, but before she could, a group of police officers arrived.
“Ms. Carter,” one of them said, “we’ve confirmed your mother’s injury from falling debris was no accident. Someone arranged it.”
Then, without another word, they took Chloe away. She had paid people to deliberately harm my mother.
Fortunately, the shopping district was busy and under surveillance. The culprits were quickly caught, and the truth came to light.
Daniel’s entire family, watching Chloe led off in handcuffs, still had the audacity to plead with me.
“Emma, after all our years of marriage… Chloe is still just a child. She only let her thoughts wander for a moment. If she really goes to prison, her whole life will be ruined. Please, show mercy.”
I flung Daniel’s hand away, my revulsion rising like bile.
“What child? She’s in her twenties. She broke the law, and she has to face the consequences. You want to call her a child? Say that to the police-see if they agree. If they release her, I’ll have nothing more to say.”
I instructed hospital security to remove the entire Brooks family from the premises. I wanted no further entanglement with them.
A month later, my mother’s wounds healed, and she was discharged.
I heard that Chloe had been formally charged with assault and sent to prison.
The scandal spread online, dragging the Brooks name through the mud. Their business collapsed, their neighbors mocked them, and they became pariahs.
Too ashamed to stay, the entire family fled the city.
Standing in the warm sunlight that day, I finally felt brightness ahead.
Wherever life takes me, one thing is certain: staying true to your principles and to your heart-living without guilt-that is the only way forward.
