Resent Reject Regret by Aqua Summers

Chapter 81 I Owe Her This Much

Brendan was not going to shy away from a hard conversation. He stepped closer to Madame Brighthall and said, "Do you know what happened to her?"

It took all his willpower to suppress his rage. "By the time I found her, she was drugged and set up to be raped under the influence! The aphrodisiac they used on her damaged her body enough that her life is hanging by a thread. She just came out of the ER, but she's still unconscious!"

"What?!" Madame Brighthall cried in disbelief. She then leaped to her feet. "How did that even-? No, who would commit such an atrocity in this age and society? It's barbaric!"

He took a deep breath. "Just because you're blissfully unaware of it, it doesn't mean cruelty has ceased to exist."

Madame Brighthall furrowed her eyebrows. "Oh, so this is you looking for someone to crucify, isn't it? And to you, I happen to be the one who caused all of this, right?" she retorted. "As if that woman wasn't the one who drove a wrench into Lena's and your relationship! As if she wasn't the one who broke Lena's leg! What kind of attitude do you demand I assume when facing someone like that, huh? Am I supposed to kiss the back of her hand? Curtsy? Arrange for someone to buy her a luxury house and hire a retinue of live-in nurses after seeing her off?"

Brendan suddenly felt really tired. "There's something you need to know, Mom. The truth is, Deirdre is actually the one you-"

"B-Bren!" Charlene blurted out in a panic, her voice shaking. What was he planning to do-tell Madame Brighthall the truth about those two years of marriage?

Had he

gone mad?! Did it not occur to him just what sort of peril he would put her in

with these... insane actions?!

Charlene pushed all of her terror to the back of her mind. Outwardly, she feigned dejection. "If you're looking for someone to blame, Bren, blame it on me, okay? It was my fault for not stopping Miss McKinnon when I should have. It was all my fault. I shouldn't have come between the two of you!"

"Oh, Lena, you poor thing! Stop it, this isn't your fault," Madame Brighthall cooed, sounding heartbroken. She turned back to Brendan and shot him a glare. "Fine! I'll take the blame for what happened to Miss McKinnon. But does that absolve you of your vices, hmm?

"Must I remind you what happened back then? Lena saved you from the fire. I

thought monetary compensation was enough, but you were the one who wanted more. You brought Lena to my house for two years in an attempt to move me-to make me accept her. And then I did. I gave my blessing and treated Lena as my daughter-in-law...

"And then what happened? You just had to take after your deadbeat father! Do you remember that he abandoned his wife and son? Do you remember that he spent his time with all kinds of women out there?!" Madame Brighthall had always been graceful and poised, but the claws of her deepest wound cracked her composure. She began to shake.

Brendan was genuinely weary now. "There's nothing wrong with me and Lena, mom," he said with a sigh. "There are no cracks to stress over because it's impossible to break us apart."

"Well, if you value what you have so much, then break up with Miss McKinnon and never see her again!"

"No way!" Brendan retorted.

Charlene and Madame Brighthall were stunned. Even Brendan himself was shocked. by his own response-it had come out of him before he had consciously known he was about to say it. He had not even known he had been about to object.

But he knew there was only one thing on his mind. Deirdre could not leave him-both because she was incapable of it and because he would never let her. All she had done was go missing for a day and the world had immediately preyed on her, drugging and tormenting her until she had almost died. If he abandoned Deirdre... If he abandoned her....

Her life would be doomed.

"You wretched..." Madame Brighthall was so mad that her temple was hurting. "How dare you? I am your mother! Is this a declaration of defiance?"

"It is," Brendan replied, seeming unfazed. "Did you know that she's blind? She wasn't born that way, Mom. She went blind because of me. Your son! I owe her. She has nothing left of her own-no family, no friends. If I leave her, she will die.

"Aren't you the one who taught me the concept of sin and redemption? This is my redemption, Mom. I am doing all I can to pay back what I owe her. If I abandon her now, then I'll be besmirching the entire Brighthall family's reputation!"

His moral rebuttal choked a few words out of his mother. "Lord, do you really think I can't tell when you're spouting nonsense, Brendan?! Even if you're the one who caused her blindness, you could have compensated her with a house and a live-in

nurse! All that is well within our financial capabilities! What you didn't have to do is make her stay with you! How the hell are you going to hand-wave that away, huh?!"