Chapter 11
The scandal ripped through New York’s elite circles like wildfire. The Delaney family, with their impeccable military heritage and social standing, watched their carefully cultivated reputation crumble overnight.
At the Pentagon, where Elias had once been the golden boy, senior officers avoided eye contact in hallways while their wives whispered behind manicured hands. Even worse, their children had created a playground rhyme about “Crazy Delaney’s bloody wedding day” that spread through private schools like a virus.
Elias’s commanding officer summoned him to his office, not bothering to rise when Elias entered. The general’s expression remained granite–hard as Elias stood at rigid attention, his uniform impeccable despite the chaos of his personal life.
“Delaney,” the general began, his voice heavy with disappointment, “I always believed you were the most promising officer of your generation.” He shook his head slowly. “Instead, you’ve proven yourself to be catastrophically reckless. You’ve made a mockery of this uniform and everything it represents.‘
He slid a folder across the polished desk. “Your name was at the top of the promotion list for this quarter. I’ve personally removed it.”
Elias accepted the news with a wooden n’od, his face expressionless. Let them strip me of rank entirely, he thought. If it would bring Charlotte back, I’d surrender every medal, every commendation, every achievement without hesitation.
When he returned to his family’s estate that evening, his parents were waiting in the formal living room. The moment he stepped through the door, his father–a decorated retired general himself–crossed the room with surprising speed and delivered a stinging slap that rocked Elias’s head back.
“You legally severed ties with Charlotte?” his father demanded, voice vibrating with barely controlled fury.
Before Elias could respond, his father continued, “Have you forgotten everything we taught you about honor? About loyalty?”
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The Moment I Let Go My Uncle: Escaping the Forbidden Past
“Do you even remember how Clayton Whitmore died? He threw himself on a grenade to save your worthless hide in Fallujah! And this is how you repay his sacrifice? By
abandoning his daughter?”
Each accusation landed like physical blows, and Elias welcomed the pain. He deserved this
and worse.
“Scarlett needed a kidney,” he said, his voice hollow with self–loathing. “Charlotte was the only match. Her condition for donating was to legally separate from our family, so I signed
the papers.”
His father clutched his chest, momentarily speechless. “Are you telling me,” he finally managed, “that the kidney Scarlett had–the one you just had forcibly removed–was
Charlotte’s?”
Elias nodded, unable to meet his father’s eyes.
“My God,” his father whispered, staring at him as though seeing a stranger. “Listen to me very carefully, Elias. Charlotte Whitmore owes this family nothing. On the contrary, we owe her a debt we can never repay. Her father gave his life for yours.”
His mother, who had been trying to calm his father, now turned on Elias with equal horror. “What kind of monster have you become?” she asked, her voice breaking. “What did that poor girl endure that made her willing to give up an organ just to be free of you?”
The full weight of his actions crashed down on Elias like a physical blow. Memories flooded back–Charlotte’s pale face after her liver donation years ago, her quiet acceptance of his cruelty, the way she had never once complained despite everything he’d done to her.
“I never meant to hurt her,” he said, the words sounding pathetically inadequate even to his own ears. “I just wanted her to stop loving me.”
Let them condemn me, he thought. If their disgust could somehow summon Charlotte back, I would stand here and take their judgment for eternity.
Elias left his parents‘ home in a daze, his steps unsteady as though the ground beneath him
had turned to quicksand.
At the private hospital, Scarlett regained consciousness to find Elias watching her with cold, dead eyes. She immediately shrank back against the pillows, truly afraid of him for the first
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The Moment I Let Go My Uncle: Escaping the Forbidden Past
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Chapter 11
time.
She had never imagined he could be this ruthless–having her kidney surgically removed
without anesthesia after discovering her deception. Whatever affection had existed
between them had clearly been incinerated.
“What else have you been lying about?” His voice was flat, emotionless, though inside he
was a maelstrom of rage and self–loathing.
Scarlett trembled, knowing he would uncover any further deceptions eventually. “When
Charlotte fell down the stairs,” she whispered, “I pushed her.”
Something snapped inside Elias. In one swift movement, he had his hand around her throat, squeezing just enough to terrify but not enough to permanently damage. The image
of Charlotte tumbling down those marble stairs–while he had reached for Scarlett
instead–burned in his mind like acid.
He couldn’t believe the depths of her cruelty. If his love for Scarlett had once been
all–consuming, his hatred now burned with equal intensity. Because of this woman,
Charlotte had suffered. Because of this woman, Charlotte was gone.
In that moment, Scarlett saw death in his eyes and began sobbing, begging him to let go.
Just when she thought he might actually kill her, he released his grip, his voice arctic. “Killing you would be too merciful.”
Elias pulled out his phone and dialed a number. “Dr. Ramirez? This is Elias Delaney. Remember that Global Frontier Volunteers project we discussed? The one in the Peru–Brazil
border region?”
He listened for a moment, his eyes never leaving Scarlett’s terrified face.
“Yes, the uncontacted tribe study. The one with the rumored cannibalistic traditions.” He paused. “I have the perfect candidate for your language documentation team. She’s particularly suited for the shamanic medicine research component.”
Another pause. “I understand the extreme risk classification. The potential for disease, getting lost in the rainforest, cultural misunderstandings, and hostile encounters doesn’t concern me in the slightest.”
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Chapter 11
His lips curved into a cold smile as Scarlett began to sob harder. “How soon can you take
her?”
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