03

They were all wearing a somber expression on their faces.

Confusion written all over her face, Lovett shuffled her feet over to her stepmother’s side. Regardless of what may have transpired between herself and Ashley, Dianne had always been a very good mother to her. Most of the time, she took Lovett’s side over her daughter’s whenever there was an issue between both girls.

Lovett was sure Dianne would take her side this time, too, by the time she listened to the entire story.

“What’s going on?” Sniffling, Lovett settled on the couch, right beside her stepmother.

Upon seeing her, the tears Dianne had been trying so hard to keep in check all these while, spilled down her face.

“Oh, my poor thing.” She hugged Lovett tightly like her life depended on it.

Lovett was deeply confused. She stroked the woman’s back comfortingly, her eyes darting around the room. There was one person missing. Her grandfather. Was the old man fast asleep? Was that why he was absent from the gathering?

Besides, what could be the reason for this early morning meeting? It wasn’t even dawn yet.

Josh Larson cleared his throat and stood up on his feet. Lovett watched keenly as the rest of the people present also did the same and approached her one after the other.

“We’ll take our leave now and come back when the day’s clear for a better discussion.” Josh’s words were directed at Dianne who simply nodded her head in between sobs.

He then turned to face Lovett and patted her on the shoulder, “be strong, Lovett.”

With that said, he exited the mansion.

The rest of the family also, one after the other, offered Dianne and Lovett comforting words, and took their leave.

Soon, it was Dianne and Lovett remaining in the living room.

“Mom, what’s the matter? Can you explain to me what’s going on?” Lovett inquired in a soft voice.

Dianne wiped her tears and turned to face the lady, “grandfather… Grandfather passed away at midnight.”

‘What?’ Lovett couldn’t believe her ears.

For several seconds, she remained frozen on the chair.

After a while, she said, “you’re joking, right?” her words coming out in a whisper.

Dianne simply nodded her head in confirmation. “I guess he got tired of hanging by a thread.”

Lovett’s eyes gradually moistened and the rate at which her heart beat accelerated rapidly. She chose to not believe her stepmother’s words, so, without warning, she sprang up on her feet and rushed upstairs to her grandfather’s bedroom.

When she reached the door, her hand hesitated on the doorknob before twisting it and opening the door.

When she entered, Lovett’s heart skipped many beats. The more she inched closer to the bed, the more her heart shattered. Her old man’s lifeless body laid on the bed… And she needed no further confirmation than the one she was seeing right now.

She sank to the floor at once and poured her eyes’ content out. For several minutes, Lovett continued weeping. And when there were no more tears left to cry, she remained seated on the floor, completely still.

Dianne, who had been watching Lovett from the doorway, had a smug expression on her face. However, when she proceeded to enter the room, it disappeared completely.

She squatted low in front of Lovett and held her tightly in her embrace, “it’s okay, darling. You still have me. I’m going nowhere—I’ll be right here whenever you need me.”

After some time, Dianne gently pulled Lovett up and guided her out of the bedroom to the lounge area.

“Prepare a cup of coffee for the lady.” Dianne ordered the maid closest to them as she and Lovett settled on a couch.

The both of them remained silent as they waited for the coffee. And when it arrived, Lovett collected the cup from the maid before handing it over to Lovett.

Lovett didn’t have the strength to do anything right now, so she simply took a sip and placed the cup of coffee on the stool beside her.

“If you look on the bright side, my darling, you’ll see that it’s a good thing Father left us. His life’s been hanging by a thread for so long. Don’t worry, like I said earlier, I’ll be here whenever you need me.” Lovett paused, “why did you come home alone this early? Did someone notify you of the news?”

Upon hearing the woman’s question, Lovett’s heart sank further. She had completely forgotten the reason why she was there. How wouldn’t she, when the matter was nothing compared to the death of her grandfather?

“It’s nothing…”

Dianne eyed Lovett skeptically, “talk to me. What is the matter?”

Heaving a weary sigh, Lovett confessed, “Ken doesn’t love me. Apparently, he’s been seeing Ashley behind my back. And…” Her voice wavered as she swallowed uneasily.

“And?” Dianne’s head cocked to the side.

“Amy is Ken’s daughter and he’s leaving me to be with Ashley.”

Dianne gasped.

“Are you being serious right now? That’s really bad! How could Ashely do that to you, you poor thing?” She asked, wide-eyed.

Lovett looked down at her fingers, forcing back the tears threatening to escape her eyes.

She’d cried a bucket within the past couple of hours, she had developed a migraine.

“However, Lovett, you’ll have to forget about what happened, huh? Just take it as your fate.” She paused, “You see, to be quite candid, Ken and Ashley fell in love. You just maneuvered your way into the picture. If you remember clearly, you were the one who proposed to him on your grandfather’s seventieth birthday. He couldn’t have turned you down in front of everyone. And as for Amy, my beautiful granddaughter… Ashley got pregnant with her before you and Ken married—it couldn’t be helped.

She couldn’t have possibly undergone abortion, right? That would have been risky. Just forget about everything, huh? It’s all in the past now. If anything, you’re the one who should apologize for keeping those two lovebirds apart until now. Just sign the divorce papers, okay?”

Lovett blinked rapidly and pinched her lap to be sure she wasn’t dreaming right now. Was this the same Dianne? She seemed so different right now.

And wait, what?

“You knew about everything all along?” When she found her voice, it was low and hoarse.

Dianne chortled, “of course, darling. Ashley is my daughter.”

Lovett blinked some more, refusing to believe what she was hearing.

“You knew… all these while, and you never said a word to me.”

Dianne was silent for a while, her face straight. However, when she couldn’t hold back anymore, she burst into a round of laughter that lasted almost a minute.

Catching her breath, she asked, “what were you expecting, child? To choose you over MY daughter?”

She scoffed. “You think all those times I chose you over her, I was doing so from the bottom of my heart? Listen, no mother would ever do that to her child. I just had to pretend every time because of your lousy grandfather—who never even gave my daughter and I any face till he died this midnight.”

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