Too Late For Redemption Chapter 02
Her face deathly pale, the woman pressed a slip of paper with a phone number into her hand, and closed her eyes forever.
“Mom—!”
A heart-wrenching scream echoed across the entire floor as Luna, her eyes bloodshot, gathered her mother’s emaciated body into her arms.
Her whip wounds split open, the seeping blood staining the snow-white bedsheets red.
As the body was pushed into the incinerator, she answered Leo’s call in a daze.
The man’s voice was as careless as ever: “You go ahead and arrange the bone marrow donation first. I’m taking Mia to Vienna for a few days to make it up to her.”
“Leo, you need to focus when you’re out having fun with me.” a woman’s coquettish voice came from the other end, followed by the call abruptly hanging up.
Luna was in so much pain she could barely straighten her back.
She had nothing left; even the person she loved most had been effortlessly snatched away by Clara.
She recalled the doctor’s final words: “Mr. Carter suppressed the news about the bone marrow for two weeks. Madam was already in poor health, and seeing your video that day sent her into a fatal shock from sheer anger…”
Cradling the urn, Luna followed the address and found her way to the door.
When she took out the note her mother had left, the elderly couple immediately pulled her into their arms and burst into agonizing tears.
“My sweet granddaughter, Grandma will book you a flight right away. You bring your mother home…”
Luna swallowed her tears back down her throat.
“Grandma… please book the flight for a month from now. I will bring Mom home then.”
Once she finished handling the divorce proceedings, she would make a clean break and leave this city forever.
The miscarriage and whip wounds had severely depleted her body. After packing her things, Luna ran a fever for several days, eventually drifting into a dizzy, feverish slumber.
When she woke up, a post titled “Luna Brought It Upon Herself” was being frantically forwarded in the inner circle’s large group chat.
“Did you guys see the news? Luna was totally faking it, no wonder Mr. Carter didn’t go save her!”
“Yeah, a couple of days ago I ran into her in West Kingston District holding a small box on the street, and she almost ran a red light! Who is she putting on a show for?”
“Honestly, I’ve been sick of Luna for a long time. How does a woman of such low status get to shamelessly cling to Mr. Carter under the guise of being a sister?! What’s the big deal about accepting Mia?”
Nearly everyone in their elite circle scorned her. Even though the two were married, many from the upper class still tried every possible way to thrust women into Leo’s arms.
Yet the man only had eyes for her; despite the objections of the family elders, he endured endless public backlash just to bring her into his home.
Leo had always strictly forbidden any rumors targeting her from spreading. There was only one reason they were escalating now—he was the one who deliberately leaked the news.
The next moment, her phone rang.
“Luna, I am teaching you to accept the rules of the upper class.”
Luna froze for a moment.
He once said that the girl he raised should live more freely than anyone else; now, to force her to accept Mia, he was making her accept the “rules” of the upper class.
When Luna woke up again, Leo was sitting by the hospital bed, holding the divorce agreement in his hand.
“Throwing a tantrum with this? Luna, this thing is useless against me. It seems I’ve spoiled you too much; your temper hasn’t changed one bit.”
The man sneered, tearing the divorce agreement into pieces and tossing them out the window.
“I’ve already spoken to your assistant and arranged for you to end all your work after your final runway show. You will stay home and properly learn how to be a qualified wife of the upper class.”
Luna clenched her fists tightly, blood seeping through her bandages.
Her feverish voice was hoarse as she spoke through gritted teeth.
“I. Will. Not.”
Mia pushed the door open and walked in. With extreme familiarity, she intertwined her fingers with the man’s and looked provocatively at Luna.
“How can you not do it? Leo promised me that I’ll be the finale model for my little sister’s last grand show.”
Luna abruptly sat up.
“Using my final show as a stepping stone for her modeling career? In your dreams!”
Remembering the video she had sent to provoke her mother, she grabbed the woman’s clothes. Her slap was about to land, but her arm was tightly caught by the man.
Mia, her eyes brimming with tears, collapsed into the man’s embrace.
“Leo, this is the gown I’m supposed to wear for the runway tonight…”
The man’s eyes gleamed with an icy chill.
“Someone! Lock my wife in the basement to finish making the clothes, and hold the final grand show in a week! I’ve already notified the media in your name about the grand show next week.
The penalty fees for the models and the venue are astronomical, so you’d better think this through!”
Luna looked at him in disbelief. She hadn’t even emerged from the trauma of her kidnapping, yet he was forcing her to face the nightmare all over again.
She was dragged down the hallway like a rag, her shoes scraping off and her toes rubbing until they bled.
“Leo! Are you listening to me! My mom is dead! Mia killed her!”
She looked back.
Through the crack in the door, Leo was lowering his head, gently wiping away Mia’s tears.
