Semua Bab ALMS TO LOVE: Bab 81 - Bab 90

"I won't allow you and Liza to leave this house; you are family now. Don't pay attention to what Marie said to you," Charles stated resolutely. "Even my grandma won't be able to prevent me. My grandma thinks about your safety-that's why she said it to you-but that doesn't mean she doesn't like you."Fiona's heart swelled with his words but something still weighed heavily in her chest that she could not shake off. She'd never expected to hear Charles so certain so sure but hearing it made her realize how much their lives had changed between them. Despite that, the shadows of uncertainty lingered, seeping into the back of her mind.She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his in a mixture of thanks and wariness. "Charles. I don't want to be a pawn in some game of the family. I never wanted any of this." Her tone was still even, but the feeling that lay beneath it was evident. "I'm not going to sit here and be told what's best for me. For Liza."Charles's jaw tightened and he took another

The words hung suspended in the air, fraught with unspoken venom, as Marie's gaze flashed with lethal promise. She stood before the window, looking out over the sprawling estate that had been hers and her deceased fiancé, Philip's. But now all was at risk by Fiona that woman—and her little girl, Liza. No. Marie would not let it end. Not now, not ever.Her fist gripped the cold windowsill, her fingernails digging into the wood as though she was attempting to anchor herself in something real. Her mind spun through options, strategies she could use to dislodge Fiona from the picture. She had to act fast. Charles was already starting to defy her, but he had no idea what he was dealing with. He had no idea what she would do.She rolled away from the window and paced the room, the heels of her shoes ringing against the hardwood floors with each biting step. Her brain was a whirlpool of strategy, her brain active, calculating, slicing. The heat of her anger seethed in her chest, the flames o

Candy took a step forward, lips pressed as if she had been carrying the weight of too big a question on her small shoulders. "Mommy…" Her voice trembled a little. "What if they don't leave?"Marie blinked, taken aback for a moment by the accuracy of her daughter's perception. Candy was young, but she was not blind. She could sense tension, she could sense when her mother's voice cracked with contempt when she used Fiona's name, when her manner grew tighter and harsher when Fiona was spoken of.Marie knelt on the floor, holding Candy's face in her hands. She gazed into her daughter's wide, uncertain eyes and used a voice that was steel honed to a point on velvet. "Then I'll make sure they do, honey. They don't belong here. This house, this family is ours. Yours. And I'm not going to let anyone take it from us."Candy bit her lip, glancing at her bear. "But. Charles likes them. Charles is kind to Liza. What if he wants them to stay?"A flare of anger burned hot in Marie’s chest, but she

Fiona hugged Liza tight, wrapping her arms around her daughter as the gravity of the moment weighed down on her. Every fiber in her being shouted to protect her from the viciousness in Candy's gaze, but she was aware that defending Liza was no longer sufficient. No longer was she content with the fragile moments of kindness that she could provide her child. This was warfare. Warfare for her family, for their destiny.While Liza held onto her, Fiona's eyes never left Candy. The little girl had not moved yet, her eyes sparkling with defiance and cruelty, as if relishing the commotion she had just caused. Her smirk was still plastered, her eyes knotting Fiona's stomach."Think I'll let you win?" Fiona spoke quietly, but with a cold sharpness in her voice. She rose to her feet slowly, never once removing her gaze from Candy. "I've lost enough already, and I'm not going to lose my daughter to the likes of you."Candy leaned forward, the unsettling naivety on her face only serving to make h

Fiona sensed the rising anger inside of her, but she contained it. Eventually, the truth would be revealed. She had to keep her wits about her, for Liza's sake.She looked at her daughter, her face relaxing. "Liza, I know this is not true. I know you didn't hurt her." She kissed the forehead, comforting her with the heat of her kiss. "We'll get to the bottom of this, I promise.""Marie, this is the way you taught your daughter to frame other individuals?" Fiona spat.Fiona's voice sliced through the tension like a knife, biting and with anger. She towered above, her chest rising and falling under the heavy words, her gaze fixed on Marie's figure, who had just entered the room. The delicate composure Marie had carried with her before was now superseded by an icy calculating gaze, as if she had been waiting for this showdown.Marie's lips twisted into a tiny, familiar smile. "Framing?" she asked, her eyebrow rising in pretended innocence. "I'm just imparting to my daughter the value of