Chapter 32
Janet’s Point of View
I stepped down from the cab I took from Rowan’s estate this morning. It was already 10 AM–Grandma had insisted I wait for breakfast, and I was really worried about what my brothers would say. It pained me that I’m already lying to them, I can’t afford to lie to them again.
As I walked up to the front door, I was greeted with a warm smile from Jasper, who was standing in the doorway.
“Janet!” he called out, his face lighting up. “There you are. How are you? Was your night okay?”
He pulled me into a big hug, and I could feel how genuinely happy he was to see me.
“I’m fine,” I said, though I felt tired from the emotional night with Rowan.
“Come on inside,” Jasper said, leading me through the door. “Everyone’s been waiting for you.”
As we walked into the living room, I saw William, Dickson, and Peter all stand up with huge smiles on their faces.
“Janet!” Peter rushed over and hugged me tight. “We missed you!”
“It was only one night,” I laughed, but I was touched by their reaction.
William came over and ruffled my hair gently. “One night too many. How was the party?”
“Did anyone give you trouble?” Dickson added, his voice protective. “No one will dare ” I said as I smiled back to him.
I was surprised. They all acted like I had been gone for years, not just one night.
“The party was fine,” I said. “It was nice seeing Grandma Stella.”
“Just fine?” Jasper raised an eyebrow. “From what I saw online, it was more than fine.”
He pulled out his phone and showed it to William and Dickson. It was the video of me helping Mrs. Henderson.
“Look at our sister,” Jasper said proudly. “She handled that situation like a true professional.”
William watched the video, his eyes wide. “Janet, this is amazing. You were so calm, so caring.”
“I’m so proud of you,” Dickson added, patting my shoulder.
Peter beamed at me. “You’re like a real-life hero!”
Their pride made my chest warm, but I also felt guilty for not telling them the whole truth about why I was really there.
“Alright, boys,” Tracy said, appearing from the kitchen. “Let Janet rest. She had a long night yesterday. She needs to recover.”
“Tracy’s right,” Jasper nodded. “Go upstairs and get some rest. We can talk more later.”
I was grateful for the escape. I went up to my room, and Tracy followed me.
“How was it really?” Tracy asked, sitting on my bed. “You really did great back there in the party, not anyone can handle such in the public.” Tracy remarks. I can’t help but chuckle.
“It was… complicated, and I was just doing my job. And everything went fine.” I said, not wanting to go into details about Grandma’s illness or Rowan’s behavior.
“I missed you,” Tracy said, squeezing my hand. “Just one night, and I was worried about you.”
I spent most of the day in my room with Tracy, who couldn’t stop talking about how much dhe have missed to tell me and before
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we know it’s already evening. It felt so strange to have people care about me this much.
That evening, they called for dinner. I went downstairs and sat at the big dining table with all my brothers and Tracy.
During dinner, I couldn’t stop thinking about Mrs. Henderson. Her words kept playing in my mind: “Your mother used to say the same things.” Who was she talking about? And why did she seem so sure about it?
I was really bothered because I didn’t know how to bring it up or how my brothers would react. I needed to know what happened. Who were our parents? What was their life like before? And mainly, why was I separated from the family? Was it they don’t like me or what? Most powerful family like this mostly values their male child more than the female. Maybe that was my case too.
I couldn’t put my finger on what had happened, and it was eating me up.
“Janet, are you okay?” Jasper asked, noticing my silence. It was not easy for something to get pass him. He notices every move anyone around him makes.
I tried to smile. “I’m fine.”
William chuckled. “You really look bothered. You can feel free to say whatever you want to say.”
“Did anyone touch you?” Peter asked, his voice turning serious.
“If someone hurt you, I’ll make sure they rot in prison,” Dickson added, his jaw tight.” It’s fine,no one hurts me ?.” I forced my self to say even when I know they won’t buy it.
I looked around the table at all their concerned faces. These men barely knew me, but they were ready to fight for me.
“I’m really bothered about what happened to our parents. Why I never got to meet them. And how I was separated from the family. Was it because the family didn’t like me because I’m a girl? Did they just abandon me?”
The room went quiet. I could see guilt and pain flash across all their faces.
Jasper put down his fork and turned to me. “First, I already told you our parents are traveling. And you were separated from the family not because you’re a girl. We would never and will never abandon you.”
He took a sip of water, then looked directly at me.
“Twenty years ago, the Beckett family was targeted by one of our business rivals. They destroyed us. We went bankrupt and lost our empire, our cars, and all the houses we had.”
I could see how guilty my brothers looked as Jasper told the story. William stared at his plate, Dickson’s hands were clenched, and Peter looked like he might cry.
“After the bankruptcy, the family went into serious debt,” Jasper continued. “And during that time, you and our mother were kidnapped. Our mother hardly let you offer her sight she took you anywhere she is going to that was how you get involved while they kidnapped her.”
My heart stopped. “Kidnapped?”
“You were still little-about three or four years old then. When you were rescued, she sustained many injuries that really affected her mental health. She started hallucinating, sleepwalking, forgetting things.”
“Most times Mom would forget she even had children,” Jasper’s voice was breaking. “Most times she would forget our home. Whenever she’s been triggered it took a very long time for her to regain herself. And the most part of it is that you are always her anchor. Whenever she sees you, or you around mom used to be perfect. One day, she went to a children’s park with you just to have fun, and she was triggered one of a lady there went into argument with her and that’s how her mental instability hit her there.” Jasper said as he almost broke into tears.
William spoke up, his voice thick with emotion. “Mom got confused at the park. She forgot who you were, forgot she had
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Chapter 32
+15 BONUS
brought you there. She just… walked away and left you.”
“When we found her hours later, she didn’t remember taking you anywhere,” Dickson added. “We searched everywhere, but you were gone.”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “So she didn’t abandon me on purpose?”
“Never,” Peter said firmly. “She was sick. Her mind was broken from the trauma.”
Jasper nodded. “It was a great loss to the family. When Dad realized what happened, he took Mom away to find remedies for her mental health. Since you were separated, her health issues increased. She blamed herself, even when she couldn’t remember clearly what happened.”
“While he was leaving, he trusted us to search for you,” William said. “And over all those years, we’ve been following every lead we could find until we found you.”
My heart broke as I sank back in my chair. All this time, I thought I had been abandoned because I wasn’t wanted. But the truth was so much more painful and complicated.
“Where are they now?” I asked. “Mom and Dad?”
“Last I heard they are in Spain Dad said they went to see a specialist,” Jasper said gently. “Dad is taking care of Mom. Her condition is better now, but she still has good days and bad days. They don’t know we found you yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because we wanted to make sure you were ready,” William explained. “And we wanted to make sure Mom was stable enough to handle the news without it making her worse.”
I looked around the table at my brothers. Each face showed years of pain, guilt, and love.
“One of the greatest joys that ever happened to us was finding you and you coming back to us,” William said, his voice breaking. “And you will never be hurt again. Not while we’re here.”
Tears were streaming down my face now. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I brought this up. If I had known—”
“Don’t apologize,” Jasper cut me off. “If anything, we should be the ones apologizing for letting you be alone for all those years and not finding you sooner.”
“We failed you,” Dickson said, his voice rough. “Our little sister was lost, and it took us twenty years to bring you home.”
“You never gave up,” I said through my tears. “Even after twenty years, you never stopped looking for me.”
“Never,” Peter said firmly. “We would have searched for another twenty years if we had to.”
Tracy reached over and squeezed my hand. “You’re home now. That’s what matters.”
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