The Heiress They Couldn't Break (Amelia and Jeremy) novel Chapter 676

No one knew if it was a botched cosmetic surgery or some kind of eating disorder.

Regina looked like a walking skeleton; it was honestly terrifying.

"And there's something else about why Mom was released so quickly," Miguel continued.

He paused, as if weighing his words.

After a long moment, he finally said it. "Mom has severe depression. Clinical major depression. And … some other mental health issues.

"I used that, along with official reports from several top hospitals proving she has a documented psychiatric history. That's why she was cleared and released."

If it was ruled self-defense combined with a diagnosed mental illness, then even if it counted as accidental manslaughter, it could be settled with financial compensation.

The Nygards and the Currans didn't lack money. If money could solve it, then it wasn't truly a problem.

Miguel gave all the credit to Jeremy.

In truth, he and Maxwell hadn't slept for two straight days, scrambling to handle everything.

But that didn't matter anymore.

Who got the credit didn't matter.

All of them had come to realize that family was what truly mattered.

Their father was gone. And they had never even known their mother had been battling such severe depression.

As sons, they had failed her.

They grew up in privilege, handsome and accomplished, admitted into top universities.

They had always thought they were the best of the best.

Now they understood that none of it meant anything.

If your family fell apart, if the people you loved drifted away, then no amount of money or status meant a damn thing.

Amelia talked with Miguel for a long time.

After she hung up, her heart wouldn't calm down.

She never imagined this was the reason Emery had escaped prison.

She didn't know whether to feel relieved or heartbroken.

So Mom fell into depression years ago, and no one noticed.

That timing… it was when I went missing from the Nygards.

So my disappearance wasn't met with indifference. They weren't cold or uncaring.

Just like Dad, they searched for me frantically.

Emery had been consumed by it, unable to let go, sinking into depression because she couldn't pull herself out.

But the atmosphere at home back then had been suffocating. She didn't dare talk about it and kept it all inside.

Seeing Raymond favor Gianna, the brothers and Emery naturally assumed Amelia was the problem.

And Amelia herself had always been quiet and stubborn, never explaining, never trying to smooth things over.

The misunderstandings snowballed. Until eventually, it reached the point where she completely fell out with her parents and brothers.

Looking back, the outcome wasn't any one person's fault.

It wasn't something that happened because of just one side.

After Regina and Gianna's true faces were exposed, and Emery realized she had wronged her biological daughter all along, she had already been deeply shaken.

Then Raymond's sudden death dealt her another devastating blow.

Her depression worsened. And that was how everything spiraled into what it became.

After learning the full truth, Amelia's tears began falling again, one after another.

"Amelia."

Jeremy seemed to sense it instinctively and hurried to her side.

"I always thought my brothers … and Mom and Dad … stopped loving me. I thought they only ever sided with Gianna.

"But now I see that it was never just one person's fault.

"I was too stubborn. I wanted their care so badly, but I refused to say it out loud. All I did was push them further away with my silence and distance."