Before the woman could finish speaking, I had already made my decision.
“My mother-in-law is unwell. Take her with you.”
At that moment, Josie gathered herself while being treated.
She suddenly grabbed the hem of my top and insisted that she would not board the plane.
“I can’t leave, Elise. If I hadn’t forced you to marry Lucas, we wouldn’t be stuck here today.
“I’m getting up there in age, and I won’t live much longer. I can’t let you sacrifice yourself for me.”
The warning siren for the earthquake rang out again. As the rescue team hurried us, I clenched my teeth and pried Josie’s fingers off me one by one.
“Don’t say that, Josie. If you hadn’t helped me financially, I would still be farming in the valley.
“In my heart, you’re like my own mother. The wrongs Lucas committed have nothing to do with you. Go. Everyone’s waiting for you.”
My parents were servants of the Devine family. Back when Lucas and I were still kids, he got kidnapped, and my parents lost their lives saving him.
Ever since then, Josie had taken me in and treated me as her own daughter. Everything that Lucas got, I had as well.
Lucas met Shevonne in university and was determined to marry her. Yet, the night before their engagement, there was a huge dip in the Devine Group’s share prices, and Shevonne ran off abroad with some rich guy.
Lucas was greatly hurt by this and drank every day to comfort himself. Once, after getting drunk, he mistook me for Shevonne and forced me into bed with him.
