Revenge amnesia upgraded to his brother (Norah and Lucien) novel Chapter 216

Chapter 216

Norah’s POV

Finished

The kids were taken away by the nurse, told they were going to have some tasty strawberry pudding and teddy bear cookies.

The door closed softly, and their voices and footsteps faded out. The room suddenly felt dead quiet, and not in a good way.

The sunlight was nice, but even though I had already made up my mind to tell him the truth, my heart was still racing.

I stood by the bed, staring at that blurry abstract painting on the wall. My fingers tightened without me noticing, and a dull ache spread through my right hand

“Norah.”

Lucien’s voice was rough and dry, weak like someone who had just been punched in the stomach.

I didn’t move.

“Why, Norah?” He grabbed my wrist, his voice shaking like he was about to break. “You told me the kids were gone. So why are they…?”

I looked him right in the eyes, didn’t pull my hand back didn’t look away.

Three years of hiding, three years of running, three years of using anger as a wall between me and the kids.

Now, it was time to tear down that wall with my own hands.

I took a deep breath and started telling the story, calm but steady:

“You said you saw me get into Mateo’s car on our wedding day.”

“I told you before, Amélie stabbed my right palm with a knife. Do you know what happened after that?”

“When the pain was so strong I was about to pass out, she came right up to me, ready to go for my stomach.”

Lucien’s breath caught, his eyes wide as plates.

“Mateo showed up, took me away, and rushed me to the nearest hospital.” I looked up at his pale face. “The doctors told me the babies were in a weak state. I had to stay in bed all the time, resting. And even then, there was no promise they would make it.”

I paused, and suddenly I was back in that cold, white hospital room in Washington, the place that smelled like hopelessness every single day.

“I was lying there all alone, Lucien.” My voice shook a little. “Every day, every hour, I was scared. Scared the pain would come back. Scared I’d see blood. Scared the doctors would say, ‘Sorry, we did everything we could.””

“Then the delivery went wrong. Early. Twins. I lost so much blood. On the operating table, I heard their cries, soft and weak. I thought I was going to lose them.”

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12:43 Fri, Jan 23 GDD.

Chapter 216

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Finished

Lucien’s hand shook harder. He held the bedsheet like was the last thing keeping him together, a painful sob stuck deep in his throat.

“Thank God they lived.” I whispered, my voice dropping low. “But what came after that? That was the real nightmare. The nerves in my right hand got damaged, and I couldn’t even do something as simple as holding the baby without my hand locking up and jerking over and over. My milk got stuck, and I had fevers. The two kids took turns crying all night, and I barely slept at all. Sometimes, I’d be holding Leo, who was crying nonstop, and I’d look over at Luna in her little crib, crying too, and I just couldn’t stay strong. I’d break and cry with them.”

I looked up at him. “It was Matco.”

Lucien’s body jerked hard, his eyes flashing with jealousy and pain.

“When I was about to break, when my right hand locked up and I couldn’t hold the bottle steady, he took it from me, awkward but patient, and fed Leo. He was the one walking around the living room at night, holding Luna, who wouldn’t sleep, singing off–key songs. And when I passed out from a fever caused by my infected wound, he stayed by the kids‘ beds.”

Leg

“Lucien, when I was at my lowest, feeling like a useless mess who couldn’t even take care of her own kids, it was he who stayed by my side, not you.”

17

Lucien suddenly curled up, wincing as his stomach injury tightened, a muffled groan of pain slipping out of him.

“Why?” he asked, his voice cracking. “Why didn’t you tell me? Even if it was just to say they were alive…”

I watched him break down, and my heart hurt like hell.

“I was scared,” I said, meeting his hurt look. “I was scared of Amélie, scared of the Veyron family. You’re married now, Lucien. I was carrying your kids–I couldn’t let them be in danger. Keeping it from you was the only thing I could think of to keep them safe.”

“I hated you,” I went on. “I hated that you lied to me, hated that you made every choice on your own, hated that you hid every plan, leaving me to look like an idiot–holding my anger at you and the pain of almost losing my kids as I walked off. Tell you they’re alive? What good would that do? Like I was begging you, like I was using the kids to pull you back. No way. I’m Norah Hawthorne. Even if I had only one hand left, I’d raise my kids myself.”

“Third,” my voice shook, showing the deepest fear I didn’t even want to face, “I was scared you’d only take us in because you felt you had to, because of guilt.”

I looked at him, and at last, tears slid down my face. “Lucien, in too many rich families, kids end up as pieces in some kind of benefit deal. They become excuses for parents to stay in a marriage, even when it’s falling apart. I’d rather my kids grow up without a father than in a home where there’s love but only from a mom. I don’t want some half–baked, guilt–based, forced kind of fatherly love.”

“I’m even more scared,” I cried, my voice cracking, “I’m scared that you’re only being kind to me because of the kids, because you feel sorry for me. That kind of love? I don’t want it.”

When I finished, the room was filled only with his rough, painful breaths and my quiet sobs.

The truth, holding all the fear, anger, pride, and doubt from these past three years, was finally put out in front of him.

Lucien suddenly pushed off the covers and tried to get off the bed!

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12:43 Fri, Jan 23 GDD

Chapter 216

“Lucien! Are you crazy?” I shouted, scared out of my mind.

He stumbled over and pulled me tight!

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