Love Beyond the Mask novel Chapter 1259

“Ever since I learned the truth, all I’ve felt is regret. Regret that I waited all those years to find her. Regret that Tina grew up missing out on a mother’s love. Regret that Sandy lost her memory and had to live all alone, trying to piece her life back together.

She was barely twenty when she had my daughter. She gave up college, her dreams, and her future because of me.

You both know what’s right and fair. Don’t you think I owe it to her to make things right, to give her a second chance at the life she could’ve had? I owe her—so much more than I can ever say.”

Shane’s voice grew heavier, like the room itself was closing in.

Sandy’s eyes shimmered, turning red around the edges.

He’d glossed over how they first met—but he told the truth about the mess that came after.

None of it would’ve happened if Florence hadn’t been so cruel. Sandy wouldn’t have had to give birth during a crisis, get into that car wreck, her education in ruins, tail between her legs, forced to come back home.

She really did lose years of her life to all this.

Maybe, if things had gone differently, she wouldn’t be so quiet and withdrawn now. Maybe she’d still have that spark Shane always talked about.

What about now?

Sandy felt the tears slip down her cheek. Her shoulders shook, just a little.

Whitney saw her and wanted to reach out, to comfort her. Losing those memories was more than a blow—it was like being erased.

But Shane got there first.

He pulled Sandy close, holding her as she started to fall apart. He looked down at her, his eyes full of pain and something deeper. “I’m sorry,” he said, voice low and rough. “I’m sorry for tearing open old wounds in front of my parents, for making you relive all this. It’s too much, isn’t it?

Sandy, let me spend the rest of my life making it up to you.

What mother would ever believe her son was just a victim here? Sandy, some nobody, taken in by the Sheldons and bullied like a stray puppy, and then Shane just fell for her?

Impossible. Shane had grown up in privilege; he’d seen every trick in the book. Girls had been throwing themselves at him since he was a teenager, and he’d never cared for any of them.

So why, after just one business trip to London, did he end up tangled up with Sandy?

You expect me to believe Sandy didn’t use every trick she had?

Mrs. Nelson wanted to believe—but doubt gnawed at her. Still… Sandy had a child and then vanished for four years. Maybe the amnesia was real. Maybe she really was hurt, really was a victim. Maybe it was all just one tragic misunderstanding.

“So, let me get this straight,” Mrs. Nelson said, turning to Shane. “You’re saying it was Ms. Sheldon who tore you two apart? But Florence is dead now. There’s nobody left to ask for the truth. I just have your word for it, don’t I?”

She was speaking to Shane, but Sandy could hear the suspicion in every word. Mrs. Nelson still didn’t quite believe her.