Please forgive me. I don’t know what I was thinking. The stress, the debts. I am not really like this. Please give this family another chance. She reached her hands out to me, pleading.
Madison also began to cry, but she stayed standing, dignity barely holding her body up. I looked at that woman kneeling in front of me, the same one who an hour ago had told me it would be better if I didn’t exist. I felt something I had never experienced toward another person before.
It wasn’t hate. It was absolute indifference, as if I were looking at a stranger who meant nothing to me. “No,” I said simply.
I turned to Arthur. “The other documents are ready,” he nodded and pulled out another set of papers. “These are legal documents to press charges for fraud, conspiracy, and attempted financial abuse of an elderly person.”
“I also have here a temporary restraining order that can become permanent if you wish.”
Liam stepped forward, hands outstretched. Mom, please don’t do this. I know Harper made terrible mistakes, but I am your son, your only son.
“You cannot destroy your own family over this.” His voice was loaded with desperation. I promise I will divorce her right now if that is what you want.
I will kick Harper out of the house this very night. But please don’t push me away. Don’t ruin my life.
There it was. The truth finally revealed. He wasn’t worried about losing me. He was worried about losing access to my new fortune. He was worried the $135 million would disappear from his reach. Even now, even knowing everything.
His first thought was about the money. Ruin your life. I repeated his words slowly.
Liam, I gave you life. I worked three jobs simultaneously so you would have food, clothes, education. I sold the jewelry my mother left me to pay for your college.
I rejected marriage proposals because no man wanted to take on a child that wasn’t his. I sacrificed everything, absolutely everything, so you would have opportunities. I walked up to him until I was inches from his face.
And you paid me back by letting your wife humiliate me for years. You remained silent while they planned to lock me in a horrible nursing home. You watched me cry tonight and the only thing you did was look down.
Tears were running down my face now, but they were not tears of sadness. They were tears of liberation. So do not talk to me about ruining lives, Liam, because the only ruined life here is mine.
33 years wasted raising someone who turned out to be exactly what I swore he would never be, a coward with no principles. I saw my words hit him like physical blows. He staggered back, looking for support against the wall.
But I wasn’t finished. However, I continued, my voice becoming colder, more controlled. Your grandfather Richard included a special clause in his will. Arthur pulled out the main document, the official will.
I held it in my hands, feeling the weight of the paper and everything it represented. He knew what you were like. Even without speaking to me for 30 years, he hired investigators who reported not only on me, but also on you, on the man you had become.
I opened the will to the marked page and began to read aloud. It says here, “To my grandson, Liam Duran Sterling, I leave the sum of $10 million under the following conditions. He must divorce Harper Duran immediately. He must cut all contact with her family.”
He must move into a modest apartment for a minimum period of two years to learn the value of work and humility. He must work a minimum wage job for at least one year. And he must demonstrate respect, care, and genuine love toward his mother, my daughter Eleanor.
Liam’s face went through a kaleidoscope of emotions: hope, horror, indignation, desperation. If he fulfills all these conditions for two consecutive years, I continued reading. He will receive the $10 million.
If he fails to fulfill even a single condition, or if at any moment he shows disrespect toward Eleanor, he loses all right to the inheritance, and the money will be donated to charities supporting lowincome single mothers.” Harper screamed from the floor where she was still kneeling. “This is insanity.
“You cannot force him to divorce me. We are legally married.” Her voice was hysterical now.
All pretense of dignity abandoned. “Liam, you cannot do this. We have been married 5 years.”
You love me? Liam looked at her with an expression that mixed contempt and something darker. Love you?
He asked with a hollow voice. Harper, you just heard my grandfather left me $10 million if I divorce you. Do you really think there is any possibility I won’t do it?
He turned to me with pleading eyes. Mom, I will do everything everything the will says. I will divorce her tomorrow.
I will cut contact with her family. I will work wherever necessary. Just give me a chance to show you I can change.
But I knew my son. I knew the greed in his eyes. This wasn’t genuine repentance.
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