The Heiress Revived from the Ashes (Lauren Bennett) novel Chapter 324

Chapter

324 The One I Couldn’t Let Go.

At school or at home. I was always the kind of kid everyone liked.

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But after my mother died–and my father shamelessly brought that mistress into our home–everything changed. After I turned five, I became quiet, Withdrawn. Dark.

Back then. I was still too young to know how to hide my emotions. Facted purely on instinct, saying whatever I felt, doing whatever I wanted.

If I even felt the slightest annoyance, I took it all out on my father’s mistress.

I pushed her down the stairs once. She lost the baby she was carrying

I even held a knife to her once and said, “I’m a minor. Even if I kill you, I won’t go to jail.”

That woman hated me with every bone in her body. If she could’ve killed me and gotten away with it, she would’ve done it without blinking.

She’d assumed dealing with a five–year–old would be child’s play. What she never expected was that I, a literal child, knew how to weaponize my age and become something terrifying.

From that moment on, she staried flinching whenever she saw me–like a rat spotting a cat.

Even my father was afraid of me.

He knew I wasn’t bluffing. I really would do the things I said.

At the time, it was pure instinct. I just wanted to protect myself. No matter the cost.

If someone hurt me, I’d make sure they paid for it–even if I died trying.

Maybe that was why, despite having such a vicious stepmother, I was never once abused.

I grew up without a scratch.

Over time, the sharp edges of my personality dulled. I learned how to keep my emotions in check.

Eventually, people started calling me calm. Mature.

On the surface, I came offas gentle and polite. But deep down, I knew: when it came to enemies, I’d never show mercy.

My father’s mistress, the one who used to tremble in fear when I was a child, grew even more terrified of me as I got older.

I thought life would just keep flowing quietly like that, neventful, steady.

That was before I came to Hoverdale–and met the most important person of my life: Lauren.

Meeting her changed everything. She showed me just how cruel the world could be to one person.

I still remember the first time I saw her.

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Chapter 324 The One i Couldn’t Let Go

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She looked so fragile, like a gust of wind could knock hier over. And yet, she looked me straight in the eye and asked me for a cigarette.

Back then, I never could’ve guessed how deeply our lives would intertwine. I never imagined fate could be so strange–how it would keep bringing us together, over and over again.

And every time I saw her, she was in some kind of mess Battered. Bruised. Helpless.

I was never the type to care about others–especially not women. I had no patience for them.

But she was different.

Maybe it was her story. The way she’d suffered. Maybe if just made me feel something I hadn’t felt in a long time–pity.

That pity, though, was like a spark. It lit up a growing urge to know more about her.

And by the time I’d uncovered everything–by the time I truly understood what she’d been through–1 realized something else.

I’d already fallen for her.

She was like a rare gem sculpted by heaven itself–flawless in every way.

Smart. Talented. Kind. She was a natural at everything studying, embroidery, you name it.

She had the makings of someone great. If she hadn’t been thrown away by David, if she’d grown up in a powerful family like the Bennetts, raised with care and given a proper education, she could’ve become someone incredible. Someone who’d change the world

But Sharon and George–they crushed her. For their own selfish reasons, they destroyed an innocent girl’s

entire life.

I felt nothing but heartbreak for her. And sometimes, a deep frustration.

Her only weakness was her soft heart.

I hated how kind she was. Hated how, after everything, she still went back to the Bennetts and bowed her head just to chase some illusion of family love.

If only she’d let go of that fantasy… If she’d stopped trying to earn their approval. If she’d fought back when they hurt her…

Maybe things would’ve ended differently.

Out of all the women I’ve met in nearly thirty years, she was the most unforgettable.

And really–how could anyone not fall for someone like her?

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