My General Mother Ruined Me For My Cousin—Then Regretted It Too Late Chapter 06
A staff member hurried in. “General. There’s a doctor from a private clinic at the gate. He says he’s here to collect an unpaid bill. Filed under Miss Mia’s name.”
My mother’s expression hardened. “The Hart family doesn’t owe money to any clinic. If she needed treatment, she had every resource.” Her voice dropped, heavy with insinuation. “Before you tie yourself to my daughter, Mr. Blackwood, you deserve the truth. If Mia has been involved in drugs, men, or anything shameful—”
Damien’s jaw tightened. He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to.
“Bring him in,” my mother ordered.
Dr. Morrison was led into the hall. Middle-aged. Calm in the way of someone who had seen too many things.
“What was my daughter being treated for?” my mother demanded.
Dr. Morrison looked at me first. I nodded.
He met her eyes. “Deep tissue lacerations across the upper and lower back. Extensive bruising. Significant internal inflammation. The wounds subsequently came into contact with a corrosive chemical agent. When I first examined her, necrosis had already developed. The tissue was dying.”
My father’s voice came out like gravel. “Who put hands on my daughter?”
My mother’s face had gone the color of old paper. “I disciplined her. She was defiant and she repeatedly—”
She wheeled on Sienna. “I sent you to deliver wound ointment to her room. How did her injuries deteriorate to necrosis?”
Sienna’s composure flickered. She ducked her head. “Perhaps… she was angry. She may have refused to use anything I brought.”
“You’re lying.”
Tessa pushed through the staff, tears streaming freely. “Mr. Hart—the tube Sienna brought was NOT ointment. It was corrosive gel. I smelled it myself. Miss Mia knew Sienna had done it on purpose, but she told me not to report it because she knew the General would take Sienna’s side—and the only people who’d get punished would be US.”
“She was in agony all night. The infection spread. Fever. Delirium. She didn’t have enough money in her own name to pay a doctor, so she had to beg for credit. The daughter of this house had to BEG for medical treatment.”
Damien’s expression didn’t change. That absolute stillness was worse than rage. When he spoke, his voice was very quiet—the tone he used only for Mia. “You’re safe now.” Then, to his team, louder: “Get the medical team in here. Full assessment. Now.”
He turned to my mother. His voice dropped, arctic now. “The Hart family will provide a complete accounting of every single thing that happened under this roof. Or I will deploy every attorney, every media contact, and every board member at Blackwood Security’s disposal to make sure the truth comes out anyway.”
My father’s voice was flat and hard. “You’ll get your accounting. I’m investigating every staff member. Every ledger. Every single thing. Anyone involved answers for it.”
The two men withdrew together. In the sudden silence: my mother. Sienna.
Sienna reached out. “Aunt Victoria, I was so scared—”
My mother’s hand swung. It wasn’t a ladylike slap. It was a strike backed by decades of military conditioning. Sienna’s head snapped sideways and she crumpled to the floor, blood at the corner of her mouth.
For the first time, Sienna looked afraid of her.