NovelEnglishChapter 81
She studied Nellie with a curious gaze. "Heard from your sister that you've hit the jackpot and married into
money?"
Nellie's heart clenched instinctively. Every nerve felt painfully taut, and for a moment, it was like her blood froze,
her vitality on pause.
"What are you doing here?" Her voice was barely steady.
"How long's it been since you last cto see me?" Miranda began her relentless spiel, "Nel, I've been
diagnosed with a terminal illness. | haven't got much tleft. | wanted to see you before | go. | called you
countless times, but you never picked up. | texted, and you didn't respond. Have you really becso high and
mighty that you don't recognize your own mother anymore..." Her voice cracked, dissolving into sobs.
Nellie stared icily at the woman who had been the source of her misery: How dare she show her face? Nellie had
been just a child when her mother took out all her anger at Patrick on her. Miranda had abused her, insulted her,
and used her as a punching bag. Miranda had stopped her from going to school and forced her to beg on the
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtstreets, taking every cent she earned...
Just thinking about her mother gave Nellie nightmares.
She didn't mind that her mother was incompetent and weak. But who would want to acknowledge a mother as
cruel as a "human trafficker?"
"I'm not a doctor. | can't help you," Nellie's voice was ice-cold.
"Nel, I'm really dying." Miranda, caught up in her emotions, suddenly reached out and grabbed Nellie's hand. "I
have spersonal things | want to talk about."
Nellie's frosty stare softened slightly, thinking that, after all, blood runs thicker than water. If her mother was on
her deathbed and speaking kindly, maybe she should be the bigger person and forgive her.
"Follow me," Nellie led her mother to a pub just around the corner from her home. "Let's just talk here."
Miranda hadn't even settled into her seat before tears started flowing again. "Nel, you were just a kid back then,
and there were so many things you didn't understand. Your father had a affair and forcedinto a divorce. As a
housewife, | had no power. Poverty weigheddown, because |
and | took it out on you
was frustrated."
Nellie ran a hand through her hair, her fingers brushing over the scar on her forehead. Any fleeting warmth in
her eyes was replaced by cold detachment. "Just a bad temper, huh?"
Nellie had been beaten so badly that
her ribs broke. It was like her mother was trying to break her spirit
completely. There were so manmet
times Nellie thought she wouldn't make it, but somehow, she
managed to hold on.
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Miranda's face turned awkward, her words faltering. "Nel, you're doing well now, and that makesfeel better."
Miranda's emotional manipulation was laying it on too thick, and it grated on Nellie. She grew impatient. "If you
have nothing urgent to discuss, please leave." She got up, making a show of heading out.
Miranda, panicking, stopped her. "Nel, your sister reached out to me. You know, when | divorced your dad, |
couldn't keep her with me, and it's my biggest regret. Nel, I've failed as a mom all these years, and
swne truly
sorry."
en
A chill ran through Nellie. Back when her parents divorced, everyone fought over Greta, leaving Nellie behind like
she was worthless. That feeling of being rejected by her own parents was burned into her very bones. That's why
later, when Nellie met Cameron and he showed her even a tiny bit of kindness, she clung to him like he was her
savior, bending over backward to please him.
The rejection from her family was like a brand burned into her soul, leaving her with a lifetof sacrifices she
never asked for.
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