Chapter 68
Henty moved, blocking my path again. “They’re your family too you know.”
This statement was so unexpected I almost laughed. “My family Grace and Catherine? The women who have spent five years trying to drive me out of the Harding household?”
“They are ultimately my mother and sister,” he said, as if that settled everything.
“Exactly. They’re your family, Ilenry. Not mine. My family consists of one person-” I squeezed Billy’s hand, “-and he’s standing right here.”
I tried to pass him again, but Henry reached out, his fingers curling around my wrist.
“At least say thank you,” he insisted.
I stared at him in disbelief. Thank you? For what?”
“For defending you in there.” His tone suggested I was being deliberately obtuse. “For making them apologize.”
This audacity left me breathless. Five years of standing by while his family tormented me, five years of cold indifference to their cruelty, and now he wanted my gratitude?
“And if I hadn’t recorded that video?” I asked quietly. “If I hadn’t had proof? Would you still have defended me?”
His silence was answer enough.
“That’s what I thought,” I said, pulling my wrist free. “You weren’t defending me, Henry. You were defending your pride.
There’s a difference.”
Something flickered in his eyes–confusion, or perhaps a hint of realization.
“You don’t understand,” he began.
“No, you don’t understand,” I interrupted, my voice rising despite my efforts to stay calm. “Do you know why I started recording in the first place? Why I’ve become so paranoid that document every interaction with your family?”
Henry’s brow furrowed, as if this possibility had never occurred to him.
“Have you ever once considered what your wife might have endured when you weren’t looking? What your
have said to me in private? What your sister might have done when there were no witnesses?”
her might
The hospital corridor suddenly felt too bright, too exposed. I was aware of Billy’s wide eyes looking up at me, of passing nurses slowing their pace to listen.
“You can’t possibly expect me to-” Henry started.
“Expect you to what? Pay attention? Care? God forbid you should notice your wife being ostracized by your own family!”
My words echoed in the corridor. Henry stared at me, his expression unreadable.
“I don’t need your defense now,” I continued more calmly. “What I needed was your defense years ago! If you had
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Chapter 68
discovered all this back they and actively done something to protect your wife from insults, perhaps I would have genuinely thanked you! But now, It’s all too late.”
His gaze moved from my face to Billy, who was watching us will a troubled expression. In that moment when he saw our son, something in Henry’s eyes softened, but the moment quickly passed.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said coldly. “You’re being too emotional.”
“And you’re being blind,” I shot back. “Or maybe you just don’t want to see.”
I stepped around him, gently pulling Billy along. This time, Henry didn’t try to stop us.
“Sophia,” he called after me, his voice echoing in the hospital corridor.
I kept walking, not trusting myself to look back.
“Sophia!” he tried again, his voice carrying a tone I’d never heard before–almost like pleading.
We reached the elevator, the doors sliding open immediately. As we stepped inside, I finally glanced back at Henry. He stood alone in the middle of the corridor, his shoulders not as straight as usual, his whole being seeming to be covered in a layer of shadow.
“Mom?” Billy’s voice grew quiet as the elevator doors began to close. “Is Daddy okay?”
Through the narrowing gap, I watched Henry standing there, his moving lips seeming to say:
“Have I really been wrong?”
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