Let Me Go, Mr. Howard Chapter 27

The isolation room was a storage closet in the Seymour Villa—dark, damp, with no windows. When Scarlett was young, Brianna would lock her there whenever she was displeased.

Edith's eyes flashed with secret delight at David's words, unable to hide the smile tugging at her lips.

Scarlett's heart sank completely. Looking at David, at Brianna's venomous glare, at Edith's smug smile, she suddenly found it all absurdly laughable.

She slowly raised her head, her gaze sweeping over all three of them before settling on David's face. 

Her voice carried a nearly desperate calm, yet every word was crystal clear. "David, you'd better think this through. I'm not a child anymore. You can't keep me locked up."

"Edith is about to get engaged to Sebastian. You know the Howard family better than I do. If you dare lay a finger on me, I'll go straight to George tomorrow and tell him everything about how the Seymour family has treated me all these years."

"I'll tell everyone how Edith destroyed my mother's belongings and set traps for me. Then we'll see if the Howard family still wants to marry a woman with such a poisonous heart."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried a desperate resolve, like a cold blade precisely striking David's weakness.

David's face instantly turned ashen. He pointed at her, too angry to speak.

Edith was stunned too. She hadn't expected Scarlett to dare threaten them like this. She momentarily forgot to cry, just staring wide-eyed.

Brianna trembled with rage, pointing at Scarlett. "You ungrateful little bitch! After all these years the Seymour family has raised you, this is how you repay us?"

"Raised me?" Scarlett laughed, almost to the point of tears. "You treated me like a servant, made me live in the attic, let Edith bully me repeatedly. Now you've destroyed the last of my mother's possessions. This is what you call 'raising me'?"

She took a deep breath and straightened her back. "I want those necklace fragments back. And as for locking me up—just try it and see what happens."

David stared at her intently, his chest heaving violently, clearly furious. But he knew today's Scarlett wasn't as easy to control as she had been as a child. Over the years, she'd grown bolder—capable of following through on her threats.

If this matter reached George, Edith and Sebastian's marriage would be jeopardized. The Seymour family had worked too hard to connect with the Howard family to ruin everything now.

He finally gritted his teeth and forced out, "I'll keep the fragments for now. When you learn to behave properly, I'll have them repaired for you. However—if you continue being this defiant, you can look for them in the trash!"

With that, he clutched the gemstone pieces and stormed out.

Brianna shot Scarlett a vicious glare before following David, muttering curses under her breath. 

Edith looked at David's retreating figure, then at Scarlett. She stomped her foot in anger before running out after them.

The attic finally fell silent, leaving only Scarlett and the mess surrounding her. She slowly crouched down, no longer able to hold herself up, and collapsed onto the floor.

The tears she'd been holding back finally fell, dropping one by one onto the cold floor, onto the broken photographs. She reached out, carefully picking up a fragment of her mother's photo—just half of her smiling face.

That had been her only memento. Now, even that was gone.

Scarlett pulled out her phone. The screen lit up, and she instinctively opened her chat history with Sebastian. The latest message was still from yesterday, telling her to "behave."

She stared at the screen for a long time, her finger hovering over the input box, unable to type a single word.

Once upon a time, whenever she suffered mistreatment at the Seymour Villa, Sebastian was the first person she thought of. 

She would run to his villa, cry in his arms, and temporarily forget all her troubles in his passionate embrace.

Sebastian would subtly create problems for the Seymour family when he noticed her distress—maybe causing issues with David's projects, or making sure Brianna couldn't get the bag she wanted.

Back then, she foolishly believed he cared about her. She had even secretly fantasized that one day, he would step up to protect her, pull her out of the Seymour family quagmire. They would stand in the sunlight like a normal couple.

But now? He was Edith's fiancé, her "brother-in-law." He had joined their side, watching unmoved as she was bullied, as her hard work was destroyed, as her memories were torn to pieces.

She remained his hidden lover, only able to endure his possession and coldness in the dark of night. How ridiculous.

Scarlett gave a self-mocking smile and turned off her phone. She slowly stood up and silently gathered the fragments from the floor, carefully placing them in an old box.

The next morning marked a new day. Scarlett readjusted her mindset and went to work as usual. 

If Sebastian wouldn't let her leave, then she couldn't leave.

She had no choice. With her current abilities, she couldn't possibly stand against the Seymour family or Sebastian. Now the Seymour family had even secured Sebastian's powerful backing.

Perhaps time would heal everything. After Sebastian married Edith and grew tired of her, he might give her a large sum of money to get out of his life. Then everything would change.

When Scarlett arrived at the company, she noticed people looking at her strangely. 

She didn't think much of it—she'd been the center of gossip these past few days. She was used to this subtle malice.

But when she reached the design department and sat down, the printer in the corner made an odd noise, as if jammed, then began frantically spitting out page after page of photos.

At first, no one paid attention, until the first photo fluttered to the ground—a woman in a high-slit red dress leaning against a bar, her eyes seductive. It was her mother in her younger days.

Someone gasped.

Then came the second, third, fourth... The printer, like an out-of-control beast, kept spewing photos of her mother. One even showed her standing beneath the Golden Night Club sign—a work photo, her smile professionally sweet yet distant.

On the back of each photo, written in red ink, was the same poisonous curse: [Like mother, like daughter—what good can come from a whore?]

The air instantly froze, then erupted with buzzing discussions.

"Is this really Ms. Scarlett Seymour's mother? So the rumors were true?"

"My God, her mother really did work at that club."

"No wonder Scarlett always seems so cold—she's been faking it?"

Several male colleagues' gazes turned explicit. Someone whistled lewdly, just loud enough for everyone to hear, "No wonder Ms. Scarlett Seymour is so seductive. It's in her blood."