No Way Back (Jane and Hugh) by Anna Mac novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Anna’s nails bit into her palm as she glared furiously at Jane.

“Your father was right. Compared to Maddie, you’re nothing but a failure.

“I can’t believe I gave birth to a daughter who turned out to be as selfish and unreasonable as you are.

“I felt so guilty about what had happened to you, but all that guilt is gone now. It’s all thanks to you, Jane.

“I wish I had never given birth to you. I wish I had never tried searching for you. I wish that you had died 19 years ago. Why did you appear in my life again?”

Jane had driven Anna mad with anger.

Harsh words spilled from her lips without control.

This was the only way she could express her utter rage.

“Janie…”

Lila’s face paled as she listened to Anna’s gush of vitriol.

She couldn’t be bothered to argue with Anna at all. Instead, she turned her concerned gaze toward Jane.

She was worried about how badly Jane would take Anna’s words and that they would break her best friend’s heart into irreparable pieces.

Lila could feel her chest tighten and her heart shatter as she listened to Anna, even though Anna was nothing but a stranger to her.

How would Jane, Anna’s own daughter who yearned so badly for her family’s love, feel?

All humor fled Jane.

Her face stiffened into an expression devoid of any emotion.

Her heart, on the other hand…

hurt.

Why was she so weak?

She had had enough pain and disappointment in her past life.

She had decided not to get her heart broken over people who didn’t deserve her love in this life.

But…

Jane wasn’t as strong as she had thought she was.

A healed wound remained a wound.

You could hide it with a bandage, but the scar was still there.

It would hurt once in a while, the pain a reminder of the humiliating past that Jane had suffered.

This was the last time.

Jane would never show her weakness before a stranger again.

She would never be mocked again.

She would never break the hearts of her loved ones again.

“Well, I would rather be dead too. Unfortunately, I’m alive and doing well.

“I suppose this is God’s will. Without the Fowler family in my life, my life will only improve.

“I won’t d*e. In fact, my life will become better. I’m so sorry to disappoint you, Mrs. Fowler.”

Jane bit out as she tried to bury her sorrow deep inside her.

She would never forgive them.

Not in this life.

She would never forgive her supposed family for what they had done to her. The pain, the suffering, and the tears she had shed every night because of their heartlessness. The pain of being burned.

Jane would never forget any of that. It would stay with her until her dying breath.

Anna stared at the intense h*te burning in Jane’s eyes.

It pulled her out of her blind rage instantly.

Her face paled.

Oh my God.

What had she done? Why had she said all those things?

She had let her anger get the better of her.

She didn’t mean anything that she had said at all.

She had never said anything so vicious in her life.

She couldn’t believe that the first vicious vitriol she had spewed in her life was directed at her daughter.

The thought of that nearly drowned Anna in guilt. She was the proud, dignified wife of the chairman of the Fowler Corporation. She should be ashamed of herself!

“You’re right, Anna. You don’t need a daughter like her. She’s nothing next to Mad d*e.”

Diane sneered. She had wanted Anna to disavow Jane all along.

But she knew what Anna was like and had been prepared for a tough fight. She didn’t expect things to turn out her way so easily because of a chance meeting.

“No, Diane, I…”