Hanley had always blamed himself, thinking that because he hadn't listened to his mother and had framed Terence, she wanted to cut him off completely.
Now, hearing his grandmother say such things, his heart ached even more, as if an even heavier stone had been placed upon it.
“So Mommy wants Lucas and Liana, not me!”
“That’s right. Natalie doesn’t want you, and she especially doesn’t want him going to see her again. She just doesn’t want to be the bad guy, so she’s using this as an excuse instead of being direct!”
Just then, Darren walked in. “What are you telling him now?” he said angrily. “We’ve already achieved our goal. We shouldn’t be filling a child’s head with these kinds of thoughts.”
“Am I wrong? Do you really think Natalie is eager to have Hanley? If Hanley keeps going to see her, do you think people will assume the Lockwood family is okay with it? What part of what I said was wrong?”
“Daddy, Grandma’s not wrong. Mommy really thinks Lucas and Liana are more important than me. When I argued with them, Mommy always took their side.”
“What did you say? When you argued with those two, your mother took their side?”
Victoria’s voice was so shrill that it made Darren’s stomach turn.
He roared.
“Enough! Not another word.”
Victoria was speechless. He had yelled at her again!
Darren looked at Hanley and said, “Don’t overthink it. Once your aunt is rescued, you and your mother can sort things out.”
With that, Darren turned and left, his mind in turmoil.
As he walked out of the hospital room, he overheard some people talking.
“The Lockwood Group’s stock plummeted by fifty percent today. That’s the biggest drop in its history.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Caught Him Cheating My Life Restarted (Natalie)