Chapter 140 - Cemetery Before Care: Hazel's Gambit
The silence in the dingy motel room was suffocating. I stared at the pathetic figures before me—my once-powerful father withering on a cheap bed, and my stepmother hovering nearby, her desperation palpable.
"Well?" Eleanor pressed, breaking the silence. "Are you going to help your father or not?"
I laughed, the sound sharp and jarring in the small room. "Help? That's rich coming from you."
A movement at the door caught my attention. Ethan, my half-brother, slipped into the room, his eyes downcast. He'd grown taller since I'd last seen him, lankier, with the haunted look of someone who'd seen their privileged world collapse.
"The whole gang's here," I remarked dryly. "How touching."
"We tried contacting your aunt first," Ethan muttered, not meeting my eyes. "She wouldn't even let us through the door."
I smiled at that. Aunt Patricia, my mother's sister, had more backbone than I'd given her credit for.
"Smart woman."
