?<strong>Chapter 524:</strong>


    Hours bled into one another as Glenda stewed in stony silence. Mabel’s pleas washed over her like waves, ignored.


    Elyse, in stark contrast, radiated an unexpected calmness. Curled up on the sofa, she gently ced a hand on her stomach, a silent attempt to connect with the tiny life growing within.


    Jayden, perched beside her, peered at her belly with a hint of wonder. “Boy or girl?” he inquired softly.


    Elyse’s lips curved into a smile. “Don’t know yet. Does it matter?”


    He pondered for a moment. “Not really. It’s yours, and that’s all that matters. I’ll love it no matter what.”


    Elyse’s eyes widened in surprise. “Such sweet words,” she breathed, a tremor in her voice. “Where did thate from?”


    Jayden arched an eyebrow. “Why the surprise?”


    Elyse pressed her lips together, unsure how to respond. Jayden’s uncharacteristic tenderness was flustering.


    The tranquility shattered with Glenda’s sudden outburst. “Enough!” she roared, yanking at her hair. “Can’t you see you’re getting nowhere? Why don’t you pester your dad instead? Leave me alone!”


    Mabel, pushed to her limit, fired back, “I’m here for you! How long are you going to let them confine you? This isn’t a life sentence! Besides, Dad’s the one who wronged everyone. Why haven’t you exposed him after all this time?”


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    Her voice wavered, her eyes reddening. “Don’t tell me it’s because of love!”


    Glenda’s jaw clenched. She knew all too well the truth about Lanny’s indifference. He barely acknowledged her these days, likely wishing her to remain a convenient scapegoat. Love? There was precious little of that left between them.


    “I can lose him,” Mabel pleaded, tears welling in her eyes, “but I can’t lose you! Just put all the me on him, Mom. Don’t throw your life away for that man!”


    “You don’t understand!” Glenda cried, pushing Mabel away in a desperate attempt to create distance. “I did it for you.”


    With that, she retreated to the confines of her room, mming the door shut behind her.


    Mabel stood rooted in shock, then scrambled after her mother. But the door remained resolutely locked, no matter how ardently Mabel pounded on it.


    “Mom! What do you mean, for me? Just stop this madness!” Mabel’s voice echoed through the hallway.


    Silence answered her.


    Alone in the room, Glenda slumped against the wall, her legs giving way beneath her. The weight of her secret pressed down on her.


    Lanny, the man she’d sacrificed for, was a murderer, a thief who’d built his wealth on the blood of innocents. Their lives of luxury were a grotesque monument to a monstrous crime.


    Silence was her shield, her way of protecting Mabel’sfortable existence. She envisioned her daughter marrying into wealth and living a carefree life. The truth, however, threatened to shatter that illusion.


    Mabel, blissfully unaware of her mother’s sacrifices for her, misinterpreted Glenda’s silence as the result of Lanny’s brainwashing. She found it hard to believe that her mother would take a life for him.


    Just then, Driscoll entered the scene. “Ms. Lloyd,” he said sternly, cing a restraining hand on Mabel’s heaving form, “wrecking the door won’t bring your mother out.”


    Mabel shot him a withering nce before shaking him off. She stormed back to the living room, her gaze fixing on Elyse.


    Seeing Mabel’s hostile eyes, Elyse asked warily, “What do you want?”


    “Help me find Lanny,” Mabel demanded, her gaze cold, unaware that Elyse was pregnant. “He deserves to pay. My mother won’t be a part of this.”


    Elyse raised an eyebrow. “Glenda is your mother, but Lanny isn’t your father?”


    Mabel sneered. “One of them has to go to jail, and it won’t be my mother.”


    A beat of silence. Mabel studied Elyse. “But then again,” she drawled, “an orphan like you wouldn’t understand the lengths a daughter would go to.”


    Elyse’s gaze remained steady. “My parents weren’t murderers,” she said gently. “Perhaps that’s the difference between us.”


    Mabel flinched, a raw nerve exposed. “They’re my parents!” she spat. “If they didn’t take you in back then, you might’ve ended up growing up in an orphanage!”


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