My Ex Walked Into My Flowershop After I Faked My Death Chaptre 09
A few days later, two more uninvited guests showed up at the yoga loft.
It was Robert and Claire Carter–my adoptive parents.
Years had passed. They looked worn and tired, nothing like the wealthy, confident couple they’d been.
I stared at them silently.
Claire spoke tiredly.
“Elara, you won’t even call me Mom anymore?”
I dropped my gaze.
2
“Was it you who locked me in that estate? Who let Lila tell the doctors to ruin my face?”
She stiffened, eyes red. She turned away to wipe her tears.
Robert took a deep breath, his voice humbler than I’d ever heard it.
“What happened years ago was all our fault. But Elara, the Carter Group is dying.”
“Kael’s gone mad. He’s cut off every lifeline. Creditors are banging on our door… if this keeps up, your mother and I will have to jump off a building.”
He stepped forward like he wanted to touch my hand, but I pulled away at once.
His hand hung awkwardly. Robert didn’t care about pride anymore. His cloudy eyes begged.
“Elara, please. Kael only cares about you. If you go talk to him, he’ll leave the Carters alone.”
“For the sake of… for the twenty years we raised you… save our family.”
That phrase–twenty years of raising you–weighed heavy on me.
After a long pause, I closed my eyes, my voice rough.
“I won’t get involved. I want nothing to do with Kael Thorne anymore.”
“Go to him yourselves. Tell him it’s my wish. What he chooses to do is out of my
hands.”
“I’ve done enough. Please leave. Don’t come back.”
Claire tried to say more, but Robert stopped her with a look.
He nodded silently at me. They left, leaning on each other.
Days later, I heard the Thorne Group had stopped attacking Carter.
But Carter was broken beyond repair, nothing like the powerful elite family it had
been.
Robert and Claire had lived rich lives. Now they were poor, forced to work normal jobs to support themselves and their deranged daughter.
Lila’s care at the psychiatric facility wasn’t cheap.