Chapter 1062Â
Silas’s face turned ashen from the pain, yet stubbornness still clouded his eyes.Â
“What do you mean by ‘chose to side with the thief who stole your family‘? Victoria is innocent!Â
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I don’t believe Mom would ever say something like that. Sharon must have put those words in your mouth!”Â
Thomas looked at him with cold contempt.Â
“You’re hopeless. You never stop to question your own actions. I must have been out of my mind to waste my breath reasoning with a fool.”Â
With that, he brushed past them toward the stairs.Â
Scott suddenly moved to block his path. “You didn’t finish.”Â
Thomas shot him a sidelong glance.Â
“Wasn’t I clear enough? You and your mother were never on the same page—your values, your ambitions, they were all at odds. Shayla saw the writing on the wall. That’s why she chose to cut her losses.”Â
Cut her losses.Â
The words hit Scott like a physical blow. By the time he regained his composure, Thomas was already gone.Â
Thomas climbed the stairs, turned the corner, and was about to knock when he stopped. A slender figure stood motionless in the dim hallway shadows, as if she had been waiting for some time.Â
“Sharon?” he said softly.Â
She looked up. “Did you bring the documents?”Â
“I did.”Â
She nodded and turned toward her room.Â
She didn’t take the files from him, and that was all Thomas needed to understand–she wanted to talk.Â
It wasn’t his first time in her room.Â
The first thing that caught the eye was Shaluna, displayed prominently in a glass case. Papers and folders were scattered across the sofa, evidence she had been studying them before he arrived.Â
Sharon took the file from him, quickly verified its contents, and gave a nod of confirmation. Then she lifted herÂ
gaze.Â
“How did you know my mother visited them? That she sent them gifts every year?”Â
“I guessed,” Thomas replied.Â
“…Guessed?” she echoed.Â
Chapter 1062Â
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He met her eyes calmly. “Judging by how deeply your mother cared for you, she must have loved her children fiercely. If she showed you that much devotion, I refuse to believe she would ignore her three sons all these years.”Â
Sharon looked at him, her expression complex. “Even an outsider like you can see that… yet they never could. They just keep blaming her.”Â
She turned toward the wall, where Shaluna shimmered faintly under the light.Â
“It’s true,” she said quietly. “Mom did visit them every year. She always found a way.Â
11Â
Before her death, Shayla had left Sharon a letter. It contained no accusations against Richard, no bitterness toward her sons, and no plea for reconciliation.Â
She simply wrote that every year, she found opportunities to see her three sons–sometimes disguised as a mascot, secretly delivering birthday gifts to them.Â
But over time, she realized something heartbreaking: her sons treated Victoria–the daughter of the woman who had destroyed their family–like a precious treasure.Â
Shayla understood Victoria was innocent. Yet she was not that magnanimous, nor that forgiving. Everyone had their own path to walk–she couldn’t control theirs, but she couldn’t absolve them either.Â
Even at her death, she could not forgive Victoria or Victoria’s mother. Their existence was the indelible stain onÂ
her life.Â
“Last month, Mom’s lawyer contacted me. He said that when my brothers were gaining experience at the Kalen Group, Mother secretly helped them, posing as an investor and collaborator.Â
“Even Rick’s legendary comeback–the one that made his reputation–was only possible because Mom funded him from the shadows.Â
“So while she did leave me an inheritance to secure my future, she didn’t abandon them. She helped them, too… just from the shadows.” 1Â