Yours, Until Needed
Chapter 149: Forgiveness

Chapter 149: Forgiveness

ELIANA

"Are you planning to sit in on the Trial?" Mom asked while brushing my hair.

It’s been a month since the confrontation with Alexa and Ingrid, and I haven’t had any close contact with them since then.

I really wanted to, though, but every time I saw them, my body would tense up in anger, frustration, or anticipation of revenge.

None of those were good for me and my baby.

"I don’t think so, Mom. But if possible, maybe it could be recorded for future use when I need some catharsis. I just don’t want them to leave a lasting effect on the baby."

It was okay for me to be angry, but why does my baby have to feel such awful feelings when he/she doesn’t even have anything to do with those jackals?

"That’s very wise of you, honey." She smiled and continued to comb through my hair as if she hadn’t been doing the same thing for a while now.

This started about three weeks ago.

We kept getting visitors who wanted to take care of me in some way. Even little Lily would zoom in from school, excited to read stories aloud.

The house had been so chaotic that Lucian had been up in arms trying to get a new one.

But he was probably rushing it, so he would have had better places to hide us. As it was now, there was really no hiding from these people. The open floor plan really did its job.

Life had really turned around after we finally dealt with those two.

I heard and saw photos of Alexa the day after we told her about her real identity and was too shocked to associate the woman I knew with the photos we received.

We also heard she ended up with some sort of psychological issue. From that day onward, it was impossible to hold conversations with Alexa, and she would repeatedly murmur the same things.

Ingrid, on the other hand, had issues with the other detainees she got in the holding cell.

Technically, there shouldn’t be any problems, but it seems like her gambling debt was too much. We learned that she had other detainees who got themselves caught just to beat her up.

They were likely looking for the offshore accounts that she used to stash her slush funds.

Of course, she had those.

Someone like her wouldn’t be caught dead without a last resort.

And that was her last resort.

She probably wanted to use that to hire a good defense attorney. All she needed to do was get the judge to allow her to post bail.

But it doesn’t really matter if she hired the best lawyers her money could buy when we were doing the same. We would go with billions if needed.

Ideally, someone would’ve saved her from being repeatedly beaten, but it seems like she pissed off the guards enough that they were willing to turn a blind eye.

Now, if there was someone who at least had a pretty good ending, it would be Aldrin, who managed to go back to school in peace.

Even though he opted to remove himself from the household registry as a minor—and a pretty chill one at that—we set up a fund for him to ensure that he would be able to maintain a steady life until he was ready to figure out what he wanted to do in life.

That boy probably had it as bad as I did and only wanted peace.

Now, while it was easy to deal with Aldrin, Uncle Alexander was a different thing altogether.

The guy may have had his reasons for doing things, but he did allow it all to happen.

While we understand that he felt threatened, he may have forgotten how he allowed all of us to be threatened to protect someone dear to him.

And it was because we understood this that we let him be.

My Dad and Lucian, in particular, would probably have the same opinion about saving us first before anyone else.

But, the difference was they wouldn’t allow themselves to remain in a position where there would be constant threats against their loved ones.

While we understand him, it wouldn’t equate to forgiving him as we directly experienced hell because of his indifference and tolerance.

And I was a child back then.

Growing up, I used to think that, well, at least, he wasn’t doing anything that bad to me (yet).

But just thinking of my baby receiving the same treatment and just having irresponsible adults stand around my child gives me hives.

No wonder my parents were angry and would probably remain that way for a while.

Then there was the Patriarch.

If there was someone I knew I didn’t want to see, it would be him.

Now, granted, this was me being petty and probably unforgiving, but if those two criminals were bad for our health, this would probably just send me to the hospital.

I mulled over this for so long. And even asked whether I was ready to forgive or anything along those lines.

But I realized, why would I do that when the person involved never asked for forgiveness?

My gripe was that despite everything and the number of possible chances over the last months, he never actually attempted to apologize to me or to us.

So, why would I grant forgiveness to someone who didn’t even want it?

I even had to consult my Dad to see if it was okay to feel like this.

"You don’t get to decide that, honey. If you feel like you’re still upset with him, then that’s what you’re feeling."

"The world can tell you to be a filial child and forgive an ailing old man, but when your heart isn’t ready for that, then it’s not happening."

"If you want to forgive him, do it for yourself and not because he might pass away without receiving your forgiveness."

"The same way he never gave you a choice, you’re not obligated to grant him the honor of one."

I gotta say, my Dad probably thought of this as much as I did.

Honestly, out of everyone who’s done something horrible, it was the Patriarch that hurt me the most.

The funny part was he never really hit me or anything, which was probably worse.

Because it was never out of impulse.

It was always a calculated decision, and he always chose to sacrifice me.

And now that there were no remaining Thornhills for him to pass his legacy on, he’d get to keep it all to himself.

So, when he woke up about two weeks ago, all we did was to ensure medical support until he was discharged.

We know he could afford it. Grandma even left him with enough wealth that he could pass on had there been anyone else.

I’m not one to close doors, but I’ll never get to that point of forcing myself to accept apologies for someone else’s peace of mind.

Not to mention that I had already been spoiled by my husband, who has learned to apologize like his life depended on it.

If such a guy could do it, then what excuse does he have?