The Billionaire's Forgotten Wife
Chapter 34: A Daughter’s Guilt

Chapter 34: A Daughter’s Guilt

Julian stood in the doorway for a moment, cold and unreadable, before letting out a dry, sharp scoff.

"So you do remember the way home."

Without waiting for a reply, he strode across the room and sat down on the couch, right beside Cassidy, though still with a deliberate distance.

Cassidy said nothing. Her fingers clenched, nails digging into her palms. Her voice came out steady, but laced with anger.

"Why did she do it?" she asked, eyes fixed ahead. "Why did Mom feel the need to take such a... desperate step?"

Julian didn’t answer.

His silence, once a symbol of control, now felt like a weapon. Cassidy turned her head slowly toward him, fury building in her chest.

Cassidy’s voice trembled, but her words were sharp.

"Are you still the same?"

"Still cheating on her?"

"Still barking orders, picking at everything she did, like nothing was ever good enough?"

She laughed, bitterly, just once.

"God, I don’t know why I’m even asking. Of course you are. You never stopped."

Julian’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say a word.

"You crushed her. Day by day. With your silence, your temper, your damn pride. And we all let you."

She shook her head, her chest rising and falling. "But now look where we are."

That made him snap.

"If you came back just to accuse me, then don’t bother," he snapped. "I won’t sit here and be attacked in my own house."

Cassidy rose from the couch, her expression unreadable, until her words cut through the air like a blade.

"Attacked?" she echoed, with a bitter laugh. "You think this is an attack? No. This is me finally asking the questions no one else dares to."

She took a slow step forward, eyes locked on him.

"Is that what this is all about?" Her voice dropped, quiet and biting. "You’ve got some child out there, don’t you? Some kid we don’t know about?"

His jaw tightened, but she didn’t stop.

"A bastard," she added, voice cold and flat. "Is that the plan? Slip him into the family? Let him inherit everything while we pretend nothing ever happened?"

She took a sharp breath, eyes glittering with restrained fury.

"You already had sons. A wife. A family. But none of us were ever enough, were we?"

Julian’s hand shot out. He grabbed the crystal Gucci paperweight beside him and hurled it to the floor.

SMASH.

The sharp crash sliced through the silence. Shards skittered across the floor, echoing in the hollow space between them.

Mr. Wayne appeared in the doorway, alarmed.

"Sir—?"

Julian didn’t even glance at him.

His eyes were locked on Cassidy, blazing with fury.

"You think this is all my fault?" he spat. "You think you can disappear for four damn years, cut off your mother, cut off this family, and then waltz back in like the savior?"

Cassidy stood frozen.

Julian stepped closer, voice trembling with rage.

"Where were you when she started to break? When she cried at night, wondering why her daughter wouldn’t speak to her? When she blamed herself for losing you?"

He let out a bitter laugh, sharp and raw.

"You left. You ran, Cassidy. Because it was easier to hate us than face your own damn wounds. And now, now you come back, pointing fingers like you weren’t part of the reason she ended up in that hospital bed."

Her breath caught in her throat. She opened her mouth, but the words wouldn’t come.

Julian’s voice dropped to a cutting whisper.

"You’re not just angry. You’re guilty. And deep down, you know it."

Cassidy’s chest rose and fell with uneven breaths. Her hands shook. But still, she said nothing.

Julian turned to Mr. Wayne.

"Escort her out."

Mr. Wayne looked uncertain, but Cassidy didn’t wait.

She nodded once, stiff, trembling, and walked out on her own.

Shoulders squared. Chin high. But behind her eyes, something cracked.

Because no matter how hard she tried to deny it...

The truth had already sunk in.

***

As soon as the taxi pulled away from the mansion, Cassidy leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

But the silence inside the cab didn’t bring peace. It just made the noise inside her louder.

Her father’s voice still echoed in her head:

"Where were you when she needed you?"

She clenched her jaw.

She hadn’t been there.

Not because she couldn’t. Not because she didn’t know.

But because, at the time, she honestly didn’t care.

She had been pregnant. Alone. Carrying the child of a man she couldn’t even talk about. Her ex-husband. A man she once shared a bed with but never really shared a life with. No one had known. No one could’ve known. And she had wanted it that way.

She didn’t run just because she was scared.

She ran because she was done.

Done with being treated like a pawn in her father’s empire.

Done with a mother who watched everything but said nothing.

Done with the house that never felt like home.

She had packed her bags, booked a flight, and left without looking back—not because it was brave, but because it felt like the only way to survive.

She didn’t leave thinking of anyone but herself and the tiny life growing inside her.

Not her father.

Not her mother.

Not her siblings.

She had walked away from all of them.

And now... now her mother was lying in a hospital bed, unconscious. A ghost of the woman who’d once stood so quietly in every room.

Cassidy’s throat burned. Her fingers pressed against her eyes, trying to stop the tears. But it was no use.

The tears came hard.

Fast.

Real.

She turned toward the window, her shoulders shaking.

The driver glanced in the rearview mirror. His voice was careful.

"You okay, miss?"

She didn’t answer.

"Do you want me to stop somewhere?"

She shook her head. "Just drive. Please."

He nodded, turning the radio down low.

Cass whispered, barely audible, "The Lucent Hotel... on Fifth."

And the car kept moving.

She hated that she was crying like this. That she felt this much for a woman she’d emotionally written off long ago.

But no matter how distant her mother had been...

She was still her mother.

And Cassidy had walked away without giving her a chance.

What kind of daughter just leaves like that?

What kind of daughter doesn’t care until it’s too late?

She didn’t know how to make it right.

She didn’t even know if she could.

And that, more than anything, was what broke her.

***

Back at the hotel, Cassidy sat in the quiet of the suite’s sitting room. The city lights filtered in through the tall windows, casting soft glows across the walls. Her eyes were tired, her body heavy, but at least the sobs had stopped.

She wasn’t crying anymore.

Just... sitting. Breathing. Letting the weight of the day settle into her bones.

Her phone buzzed beside her. Georgia.

Cass hesitated before picking it up.

"Hey," she answered, her voice a little hoarse.

"Hey," Georgia replied gently. "I was just checking in. Did you... end up talking to him?"

Cassidy stared ahead, her eyes unfocused.

There was a long pause before she whispered, "Yeah."

Georgia didn’t say anything. She waited.

And finally, Cassidy said it, voice trembling, barely holding together.

"I’m a bad daughter."

And just like that, the tears returned, not loud or messy, just quiet drops that slid down her cheeks before she could stop them.

Georgia’s voice softened through the line.

"No, Cass. Don’t say that."

But Cassidy didn’t argue. She covered her face with one hand and let herself break, all over again.

Georgia’s voice softened, like she was trying to wrap Cassidy in a hug through the phone.

"Cass... please don’t do this to yourself. You’re not a bad daughter."

Cassidy shook her head, even though Georgia couldn’t see her.

"You didn’t hear him," she said, voice cracking. "You didn’t see how he looked at me, like I was the reason she’s lying there."

"You know that’s not true."

"It feels true," Cassidy whispered, curling up on the hotel couch. "I left. I cut everyone off. I didn’t even think about her when I left, Georgia. Not once."

Her voice broke again. "I didn’t care."

There was a pause. Then Georgia spoke gently, her words steady.

"You were pregnant, Cass. And scared. You needed space. A fresh start. I knew that, even if you didn’t say it."

Cassidy’s throat tightened. Her arms wrapped around herself as if trying to hold everything in.

"You were protecting yourself. And Claire. That doesn’t make you selfish. That makes you human."

Cass didn’t respond. Her chest ached with the weight of everything she’d been carrying.

"Don’t let what he said stay in your head," Georgia added. "You know how he is. Always looking for someone to blame."

Cass let out a breath that was half a sob. Wiped at her eyes.

"She never said anything, Georgie. She never reached out. She just... stayed silent. And I was so angry at her for that."

"I know," Georgia replied. "But you’re here now."

Cassidy’s voice trembled. "But what if she never wakes up?"

"Then we stay. We be here. For her... and for each other. That’s all we can do now."

***

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