Chapter 33
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“If you’re not afraid, why should I be?” Conrad looked at Geneva seriously. “I’m willing to follow you for life–be your right- hand man.”
His eyes burned with determination. He could’ve coasted on his family’s legacy and lived comfortably, but instead, he chose to work hard and chase something bigger. Geneva had to admit–she respected that kind of drive.
She smiled and said, “Alright.”
Geneva left quietly, without the Motley family knowing. They went ahead with their plan anyway, spreading rumors online that Geneva had cut ties with her parents.
It was their last card to play, hoping public pressure would force Geneva to come back.
But they quickly realized something was off–they couldn’t post anything. All their social media accounts were blocked.
One website doing this could be a coincidence, and two might be bad luck. But when every platform shut them out, they knew the government had stepped in. Pushing any further would be playing with fire.
They backed off immediately. Since online pressure didn’t work, they decided to confront Geneva in person.
They would go to the National Science Institute day after day, convinced she couldn’t hide forever.
But when they showed up, the guard told them Geneva had already been transferred.
The guard didn’t bother hiding his annoyance. “You folks drove Dr. Motley to the harshest region out there. She might never come back. What more do you want?”
Rocky felt like the ground had slipped from under him. He never thought Geneva would go that far, leaving a high–end research institute for the wilderness. She had to be out of her mind.
Now he couldn’t even find her. He might never see her again. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do.
The regret hit hard. And when Salena started blaming Geneva again, Rocky snapped. He slapped her. “This is all your fault! If you’d just treated them the same, she wouldn’t have walked away from the family.”
Then he turned on Tabitha. “And you–she’s your sister. If you’d acted like one instead of stealing her man, do you think she’d be gone now?”
Salena and Tabitha were furious. Rocky had stood by and let it all happen. He never stopped them. But now suddenly it was all on them.
Still, Geneva was gone. Blaming each other wouldn’t bring her back.
Tabitha’s eyes drifted to Barclay, a glimmer of hope in her lifeless eyes.
At least she still had Barclay. If Geneva–dumb as a rock when she was a kid–could become a scientist, then Barclay, who was sharp from the start, would definitely surpass her someday.
Even if she couldn’t measure up to Geneva, at least Barclay could bring honor to the family.
But Tabitha got so wrapped up in that dream that she never really raised Barclay right.
Twenty years went by. Barclay grew up believing he was destined for greatness. But instead of turning into some hotshot, he became a nobody, a jobless thug who spent his days loitering, never married, and had nothing going for him.
The gap between his childhood dreams and his sad reality was massive. And that bitterness turned into resentment toward
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Chapter 33
Tabitha. Their relationship was strained, to say the least.
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Tabitha wasn’t who she used to be either. She’d once dreamed of building a career of her own, hoping to prove she was every bit as good as Geneva.
But her ambitions had always outpaced her abilities. Every business she tried ended in failure, and she made such a mess that no company wanted to hire her.
Still, her pride wouldn’t let her face reality. She convinced herself those companies were the ones missing out, spending her days lost in fantasy, clinging to the belief that she was still something special.
Back then, Rocky and Salena helped her out, so she didn’t really suffer.
But over time, they realized most of Geneva’s living expenses were being funneled to support Tabitha, and their own quality of life steadily declined.
Still, Tabitha never once showed gratitude. Instead, she acted entitled, complaining if they skipped a single month.
That was when Rocky and Salena finally saw her for what she was: selfish to the core. They hardened their hearts and cut her off financially.
Life hit Tabitha hard. She had no choice but to work, taking on exhausting, low–paying jobs just to scrape by.
Two decades passed. The wear and tear of daily struggle left its mark. Her hair turned gray, her face was etched with deep lines, and she ended up looking just like the lower–class, middle–aged women she used to scorn. Love and dreams were a thing of the past–her spirit had gone numb.
One night after work, Tabitha walked in to find Barclay lounging on the couch, fooling around with a woman plastered in makeup, clearly not someone decent.
Her face turned stormy. She kicked the woman out without a second thought.
Barclay scowled at her. “What the hell, Mom?”
“How can you bring trash like that into my house?” she snapped. “Why can’t you get your act together–find a real job, marry someone decent?”
Barclay let out a bitter laugh. “You think I don’t want to, huh? Who the hell would hire me? What decent woman would go for a broken loser like me?”
“That’s because you’ve got no drive,” Tabitha said, voice shaking. “If you had even a little ambition, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“I’ve got no drive, huh? And whose fault is that?” Barclay shot back, eyes full of resentment.
Tabitha stood there, stunned. She could not believe that after everything she’d sacrificed for him, he actually blamed her.
“You ungrateful brat! Who do you think I’ve been busting my back for all these years? And now you turn around and blame me, huh? Do you have any shame?” she shouted.
“Why shouldn’t I blame you?” Barclay snapped. “If you hadn’t gone after Aunt Geneva’s man, maybe Aunt Geneva wouldn’t have walked away from the family.”
If Geneva had stayed, he could’ve used her connections to build a name for himself. Now, whenever he mentioned that Geneva was his aunt, people laughed in his face, calling him a liar.
“If you hadn’t ruined the Motley family, would they have gone bankrupt?” he continued.
If they were still rich, he’d have grandparents with money to fall back on.
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Chapter 33
“If you hadn’t messed around with Harrison, would the Wheeler family have cut me off?” he shouted.
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If Tabitha hadn’t faked the DNA test, he would’ve inherited the Wheeler name–and the family wouldn’t have tanked under bad management.
In his eyes, every part of his ruined life traced back to Tabitha. And he couldn’t believe she still had the nerve to call herself a sacrifice.
Tabitha felt like her world had collapsed. For years, she’d refused to admit she’d done anything wrong. And now, even ber own son saw her as the root of all their problems.
But Barclay didn’t care anymore. He brushed past Tabitha and stormed out the door.
