I’m Done Letting My Sister Take It All Chapter 08
After the incident blew up, my family members came to see me one after another for several days in a row, but I refused to meet any of them.
It was not out of spite. I simply could not bear to hear those familiar excuses like, “We are family,” “Kate didn’t mean it,” and “Matt was just muddleheaded for a moment.”
I had heard enough of those words.
On the evening of the fifth day, someone unexpected came to the Royal Lodge. It was Estelle Carter, my childhood nanny.
She had grown older, her back slightly hunched. The moment she saw me, her eyes turned red. Then she dropped to her knees with a thud. “Miss Clarice, I’ve sinned. For all these years, I never dared to tell the truth.”
With trembling hands, she pulled an old silver pendant from her clothes.
“Do you remember the time you nearly drowned when you were little? Mrs. Guzman always claimed that Miss Katherine saved you. But in truth… it was not so.”
My heart clenched sharply.
Choking back sobs, Estelle continued, “That year, you and Miss Katherine were playing in the back garden. She insisted you retrieve the lily from the water. When you refused, she pushed you, and both of you slipped into the pond together. It was I who jumped in and pulled you out. Miss Katherine could swim, but after she choked on a couple of mouthfuls by the bank, she started crying and shouting for help.
“When Mr. Guzman and Mrs. Guzman rushed over, Miss Katherine sobbed that she had risked her life to save you. I wanted to explain, but she fell ill with a high fever that would not break. Mrs. Guzman said Katherine had suffered a terrible shock and told me never to mention it again, lest it upset her further…”
My fingertips shook violently, and I nearly dropped the silver pendant.
All these years, Mom had used the line “You owe your life to Kate” to keep me in line.
So even that debt of gratitude was fake.
Estelle wept until her face was covered in tears. “I have regretted it every day. But the livelihood of my entire family depended on Mrs. Guzman, so I didn’t dare say anything. Now that you’ve been pushed this far, I feel if I keep hiding the truth, I won’t be able to face your grandmother when I die.”
I closed my eyes. So the favor I supposedly owed Katherine was fake as well.
After Lauren learned everything, her expression darkened. “How dare the Guzman family do something like that? Katherine is utterly shameless.”
She immediately ordered Estelle’s words to be recorded.
I leaned back against the couch and felt, for the first time in years, that the heavy stone pressing on my back had loosened a little.
It turned out I had never owed Katherine my life.
The next morning, Mom was finally allowed to see me.
Dark circles shadowed her eyes. She looked as though she hadn’t slept for days. The moment she saw me, tears streamed down her face.
“Clare…”
I responded with a faint hum.
She rushed forward and grabbed my hand. “Please, don’t blame me. I had no choice. Kate has always been frail and sensitive. If her reputation were truly ruined, her life would be over. You are different. You have a resilient spirit. Even if you suffer a little, you can move on…”
I listened and felt no surprise at all. I’d known this was exactly what she would say.
In her eyes, the weak one always had the right on their side, and the one who cried the loudest received the most favor. As for me… I was tough, so I could be sacrificed.
I slowly pulled my hand back.
“So you handed over my engagement to her, dismissed my five years of grievances as something I deserved, and turned her fake rescue into a life debt I was supposed to repay forever?”
Mom’s face stiffened, her voice quivering. “You… you know?”
I looked at her steadily. “If Estelle hadn’t told me, how much longer did you plan to keep it from me?”
Her tears fell even harder. “Clare, I admit it was wrong to deceive you about the drowning incident. But I did it for the family. Kate is the eldest daughter. If her reputation suffered, you, as her sibling, would also be affected. You have always been thoughtful. I thought… I thought you would understand.”
“Understand?” I repeated the word softly and suddenly smiled. “Mother, do you know how I spent the coldest winter at St. Crathie Kirk?”
She froze.
“The mountain wind whistled through the window cracks at night, making even the fireplace feel useless. I missed home so much that I could not sleep. I curled up under the quilt and comforted myself that you were simply busy, not that you didn’t miss me.
“But it turns out you were not busy. You simply thought I could endure it.”
Mom’s face turned deathly pale. Her lips parted, but no words came out.
“From now on, please stop telling me we’re family. If you truly saw me as family, you wouldn’t have sacrificed me every single time.”
She finally broke down, covering her face and sobbing. “Clare, I know I was wrong. Please give me another chance.”
“It’s too late.”
Now I knew, not every mistake in this world deserved forgiveness.