Chapter 7 - The Confrontation
Two weeks later, I was finally discharged from the hospital.
I was in a wheelchair, my leg casted and my ribs wrapped tightly.
Julian hired private security to bring me back to my gated estate in the hills.
When the black SUV pulled up to my driveway, a familiar sedan was blocking the gate.
My parents and Lauren were standing outside, shivering in the autumn wind.
“Drive past them,” I told the driver.
“They’re blocking the sensor, Ms. Hayes,” the driver replied.
Julian, sitting next to me, sighed. “I’ll handle this.”
“No,” I said, rolling down my tinted window just enough to be heard.
My mother rushed to the window, her face pale and drawn.
“Miranda! Please, we’ve been waiting for hours,” she pleaded.
“Get off my property,” I said evenly.
“We have nowhere to go!” Dad shouted from the hood of their car. “The bank took the house!”
“And Lauren won’t let us move in!” Mom sobbed, pointing a shaking finger at my sister.
Lauren crossed her arms, looking away guiltily.
“Greg says we don’t have room,” Lauren muttered.
“You have a five-bedroom house!” Dad yelled at her.
“It’s for the baby!” Lauren screamed back.
I watched the three of them tear each other apart in my driveway.
This was the family I had desperately tried to buy love from.
“You funneled my money to Greg,” I said loudly, cutting through their arguing.
They all froze, turning to look at me.
“You lied to me for two years, lost your house, and ignored me while I almost died.”
“Miranda, we made a mistake,” Mom begged, tears streaming down her face.
“A mistake is forgetting to call,” I corrected. “This was a strategy.”
“We’re family!” Dad pleaded, his pride finally breaking.
“Family doesn't leave you to bleed alone,” I replied.
I rolled up the window, cutting off my mother's wail.
“Move the car,” Julian instructed the security guard over the intercom.
The guard stepped out of our SUV and approached my father.
May you like
Dad finally relented, getting back into his sedan and reversing out of the way.
The heavy iron gates swung open, and I left them standing in the street.
