21 Chapter 21 – A Bitter Farewell and a Bold Claim
I stood my ground as Beatrice Sterling’s shrill voice echoed across the manicured lawn. Her finger was inches from my chest, trembling with rage.
“Get out! Get out now before I call security!” she screeched.
Before I could respond, the heavy front door swung open again. Gideon Blackwood stepped out, his normally impeccable appearance slightly disheveled. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his usual arrogant smirk was nowhere to be seen.
“Let him in,” Gideon said, his voice uncharacteristically subdued.
Beatrice whirled around. “What? Gideon, you can’t be serious! After what he did-”
“I said let him in.” Gideon’s tone left no room for argument. He avoided meeting my
eyes.
Simon Sterling stepped forward, placing a protective arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Son, this man humiliated your wife–our daughter–in front of all of Veridia City’s elite. Surely you don’t want him in our home.”
Gideon’s jaw tightened. “William asked to see him.”
This was news to me. I’d come of my own accord, not because William had summoned
ine.
Beatrice’s eyes widened. “That’s impossible! William would never-”
“He mentioned Knight’s name this morning” Gideon interrupted. “He’s not well. If seeing this… person… is what he wants, then we should grant his wish.”
The implication in his tone was clear. William was dying.
Reluctantly, Beatrice and Simon parted, creating a narrow path to the door. As I walked between them, I could feel the heat of their hatred burning into me from both sides.
“Five minutes, Simon hissed as I passed. “Then you leave forever.”
The Sterling mansion felt smaller than I remembered. Once, these marble floors and crystal chandeliers had intimidated me. Now they seemed like desperate attempts at grandeur by people who had nothing genuine to offer the world.
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21 Chapter 21–A Bitter Farewell and a Bold Claim
Gideon led me silently up the sweeping staircase to William’s bedroom. At the door, he paused.
“He’s been asking for you,” Gideon admitted grudgingly. “I don’t know why.”
“Perhaps because he has a conscience,” I replied evenly.
Gideon’s eyes flashed with anger for a moment, then dulled again to resignation. “Five minutes,” he echoed Simon’s words, then opened the door.
William Sterling lay propped against pillows in a massive four–poster bed. His once–robust frame had withered, and his skin had taken on a yellowish pallor. When he saw me, a weak smile creased his face.
“Liam,” he whispered. “You came.”
I approached the bed, studying him with my trained eyes. The black energy I could see pulsating around his heart was more pronounced than anything I’d observed in William Vance. This man had days, perhaps hours left.
“I brought you something,” I said, removing the jade bottle from my pocket. “A Soul Nourishment Pill. It will ease your pain and give you strength in
your final days.”
William nodded weakly. “Always the healer, even to those who wronged you.”
I helped him sit up and placed the pill on his tongue. He swallowed with difficulty, then sank back against the pillows. Almost immediately, a bit of color returned to his cheeks.
“I need to say something,” William said, his voice slightly stronger. “I was wrong. We were all wrong about you.”
I sat on the edge of the bed, silent.
“The way you were treated in this house…” William’s eyes filled with tears. “I should have stopped it. I knew it was wrong, but I was weak. Always too weak to stand against Beatrice and Simon.”
“You showed me small kindnesses,” I acknowledged. “That’s why I came today.”
William reached for my hand. His grip was feeble, his skin paper–thin. “My daughter… Seraphina… what she did to you was unforgivable.”
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21 Chapter 21 A Bitter Farewell and a Bold Claim
“Yes,” I agreed. “It was.”
“But I’m asking you anyway,” William continued, his voice breaking. “Forgive her. Forgive me. As I lay here, seeing my life’s mistakes so clearly now… I can’t bear to die knowing you carry this hatred.”
I looked at this old man, this person who had watched my humiliation and intervened. only occasionally, and felt a complex mixture of emotions.
“I forgive you, William,” I said finally. “Your burden of guilt isn’t mine to carry. But Seraphina…” I shook my head. “Some things are beyond forgiveness.”
A tear slipped down William’s wrinkled cheek. “I understand. But when the time comes, I hope you’ll find it in your heart to let go of that hatred, not for her sake, but for yours.”
We sat in silence for a moment. Through the window, I could hear birds singing in the garden below, oblivious to the human drama unfolding inside these walls.
“You’ve changed,” William observed. “There’s a strength in you now, a confidence I never saw before.”
“I always had it,” I replied. “I just needed to remember it.”
William’s eyes began to drift closed, the pill’s soothing effect taking hold. “Thank you for coming, Liam. You’re a better man than any of us deserved.”
I stood. “Goodbye, William.”
His eyes opened once more. “She’s ruined, you know, he whispered. “Seraphina. After what happened at the gala… her position with the Ashworths… everything she valued is slipping away.”
I felt nothing at his words–no satisfaction, no pity. Just emptiness.
“That’s not my concern anymore,” I said, and turned to leave.
Downstairs, Beatrice and Simon were waiting in the vast living room, their postures rigid with hostility. Gideon stood by the window, staring out at nothing in particular. “Did you finish your business?” Beatrice spat.
“I did,” I answered calmly. “I won’t trouble you again.”
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21 Chapter 21–A Bitter Farewell and a Bold Claim
Simon sneered. “Running back to your Ashworth patroness? Enjoy it while it lasts. Once they tire of their charity project, you’ll have nothing again.”
I should have walked away, I had said my goodbyes, delivered my gift, and had no reason to engage with these people further. But something in me–perhaps the new person I was becoming–refused to let their vitriol go unchallenged one last time.
“You still don’t get it, do you?” I said, shaking my head. “You think I’m some kind of lapdog the Ashworths keep around for amusement. You think Gideon is the one they’ve chosen to elevate.”
Beatrice laughed, a brittle sound like breaking glass. “Of course he is! The Ashworths chose him for Seraphina after you proved yourself worthless. Why else would Michael‘ Ashworth hand–select him as a business partner?”
From the window, Gideon made a small, strangled noise. His shoulders hunched forward slightly.
“Is that what you think?” I asked, genuinely curious about their delusion.
“It’s what we know,” Simon declared triumphantly. “My Seraphina may have suffered a small social setback, but she’s married to the Ashworths‘ chosen one. While you’re just a temporary distraction for their rebellious daughter.”
I couldn’t help it–I laughed. The sound echoed through the marble foyer, bouncing off the chandeliers and expensive artwork.
“What’s so funny?” Beatrice demanded, her face flushing an ugly red.
“You are,” I replied honestly. “Your desperate need to believe you’re special by association. Your pathetic worship of people you think are your betters.”
Simon stepped toward me menacingly. “How dare you, you useless waste-”
I cut him off, tired of their insults, their willful blindness. Years of accumulated frustration crystallized into a single, devastating truth I could no longer keep to myself.
“A useless waste?” I said, my voice calm but carrying enough power to stop Simon in his tracks. “Let me tell you something. The Ashworths have chosen me, not Gideon!”
The silence that followed, was absolute. Beatrice’s mouth hung open, while Simon stared at me as though I’d sprouted a second head. Gideon, still facing the window,
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21 Chapter 21 A Bitter Farewell and a Bold Claim
had gone completely still.
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