Chapter 391
Delilah eased her car into the garage with practiced precision, and as she stepped out into the cool evening air, she noticed Zach was still in the yard, waiting for her. She walked towards him with an unusual expression, “Why aren’t you inside?”
Zach’s gaze lingered on his mother’s face before he spoke, “Mom, did you meet with Summer tonight?”
At the mention of Summer, a shadow crossed Delilah’s face, and she took a moment before nodding, “Yeah,
she had something to discuss with me.”
Zach fell silent for a beat, “About Leo, right?”
A soft hum escaped Delilah, laced with a pang of sorrow. “I never imagined she could do something like this, completely disregarding years of sibling bonds.”
Had it not been for the call she received from Summer, Delilah would have been oblivious to the online debacle, and she wouldn’t have fathomed Summer’s personality becoming so radical.
“It’s probably because she feels we have wronged her somehow,” Zach said with a calm detachment.
He vividly remembered the day Summer turned her back on the Davis family, sneering at their modest means, eager to leave what she deemed a life too shabby for her taste.
Despite being raised with the finest of everything, from clothes to education, she still resented their family’s lack of wealth, craving a life of affluence that they couldn’t provide.
What was more ludicrous was that she might’ve not even remembered the reasons behind Nick’s departure to a foreign land.
Zach collected his thoughts and asked, “Mom, she wants you to get Leo to clear things up online, doesn’t she?”
Delilah’s smile was tinged with bitterness as she nodded. The daughter she had cared for had hurt her own flesh and blood; the irony of it all was not lost on her.
Zach’s lips twisted wryly. “I thought as much. Everyone has to face the consequences of their actions. You don’t have to put yourself in a difficult position over a sense of kinship that has lost its meaning.”
If Summer had any regard for family ties, she wouldn’t have done what she did. Now that she had crossed that line, why should they respond to her playing the family card? Forgiving her once would only pave the way for a next time.
With a shake of her head, Delilah turned and walked towards the house.
Zach watched her retreat, keenly aware of the struggle and hesitation of a mother for the child she had raised for over a decade.
He pulled out his phone and sent a text message to Summer.
The next day.
Summoning all her courage, Summer still went to school. She pretended not to hear the whispers of her classmates, burying herself in her books all day. Whether she absorbed a word was another matter entirely. When the final bell rang, she packed up and quickly left the classroom. Zach had asked to meet her.
Descending the school steps, Summer ran into Mirabella. Seeing Mirabella suddenly made the whispers of her classmates seem insignificant. It was only in the presence of Mirabella’s aloof demeanor that Summer
feit the biting sting of humiliation.
Clenching her fists, Summer called out to her.
Flanked by Jenna, Mirabella gestured for Jenna to go ahead as she walked with Summer toward the edges of the school field, where they could have some privacy.
Summer faced Mirabella with a gaunt expression devoid of her usual bravado. “Are you enjoying this?”
“Having another episode?” Mirabella arched an eyebrow, clearly not understanding why Summer would confront her with threats or accusations time and again.
With a twisted smile, Summer thought of Delilah’s reaction the previous night and Zach’s invitation to meet today, and suddenly, she threw her head back and laughed.
