The Ex-Wife's Redemption: A Love Reborn Chapter 206

"Grandma, wake up! My brother has been dead for years—and Sophia is the one who killed him!"

Ava's shrill voice echoed through the hospital corridor, her words slicing through the air like a knife.

I froze mid-step, my hand still supporting Harper's frail body.

A week earlier, Ava had been ambushed and beaten by strangers whose identities remained a mystery to her.

The attackers had been merciless, leaving her bedridden for a full week. Unable to identify her assailants, she'd immediately blamed me for orchestrating the attack.

This thought consumed her as she lay recovering, her mind filling with venomous plans for revenge.

Learning that today was the day her grandmother would be released from the ICU—and knowing I would certainly be there—Ava had dragged herself to the hospital, determined to make me suffer.

If she couldn't be happy, why should I be?

The moment she saw me guiding Harper down the hallway, something inside her snapped. All her pent-up rage erupted at once as she blurted out the secret I'd kept hidden for six years.

I stood there, completely blindsided, my body suddenly numb. Despite all the mental preparation I'd done over the years, nothing could have readied me for this moment.

The truth about Sam's death—violently thrust into the open—made my heart feel like it had been plunged into freezing water.

Every time I thought about losing him, my chest constricted with pain.

Now, with Ava's cruel announcement, it was as if someone had struck me from behind with a blunt object. I couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't even think clearly as I stood there, my face draining of all color.

Harper's reaction was immediate, her voice quivering with disbelief. "Ava! What nonsense are you shouting? Your brother is on a special assignment—that's why he hasn't been in touch with us. He still communicates with Sophia occasionally. How dare you wish such terrible things on him?"

Her milky eyes, though blind, seemed to search the space where she'd heard her granddaughter's voice.

"You're becoming more and more disrespectful! What's happened to you?" She spat on the ground, then quickly made the sign of the cross. "Take back what you just said! I forbid you to speak of your brother that way!"

Ava shot me a venomous glare, clearly relishing my shock.

With cruel deliberation, she repeated herself, this time even more forcefully.

"Grandma, he's been dead for six years! Sophia has been lying to you all this time!" Her voice dripped with spite. "This is the woman you treat like your own flesh and blood—she treats you like a fool, deceiving you for years!"

I remained frozen, unable to defend myself, my face completely pale. Seeing my reaction only fueled Ava's satisfaction.

"Grandma, you don't even know the half of it," she continued, her voice growing almost excited. "After my brother died, this woman had his heart transplanted into another man. That family was so generous—they gave us several million dollars and bought us an apartment in the county. How incredibly generous of them!"

She let out a bitter laugh. "But do you know what several million means to a man like that? Nothing! Absolutely nothing at all!"

With each revelation, Ava's voice grew more animated, her eyes darting between Harper and me.

She derived vindictive pleasure from our suffering.

Harper still couldn't—or wouldn't—believe what she was hearing. She clutched my hand so tightly that her nails dug into my skin, leaving marks.

"Sophia," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "What she's saying... is it... true? Is Sam really..." Her voice broke. "Tell me! I need to hear the truth!"

Harper had raised three children on her own. Sam, as the oldest, had always been the most responsible. From the age of five, he'd helped with household chores and looked after his sisters. To support the family, he'd enlisted in the military right after high school graduation.

Even while serving, he never forgot to send money home, always reminding his grandmother to take good care of his sisters. He'd even paid for my education.

"Sophia, please tell me," Harper pleaded, her voice growing increasingly desperate. "Tell your grandmother the truth, will you?"

In her heart, she already knew the answer. Her grandson had been so dutiful—how could he possibly go six years without calling her?

I had always told her that Sam was busy with classified missions, that he could only occasionally contact me. But this was the modern world, with countless ways to communicate. How could he never reach out to his family?

Such an obvious lie—how had she believed it for so long?

The pain in my chest was still unbearable, leaving me struggling to breathe normally. If not for Harper's grip on my hand, I would have remained lost in my grief.

I had kept Sam's death a secret, fearing the news would be too devastating for Harper's fragile health.

Out of concern for her physical well-being, I never revealed that he had died in the line of duty. I'd handled all the funeral arrangements alone.

In the end, I personally carried his ashes to the military cemetery, placing a small bouquet of daisies on his grave.

When the person I loved most in the world died, I was inconsolable.

At the time, I was pregnant but not yet showing. During the burial, I hadn't shed a single tear.

Only after everything was settled did I finally break down, sobbing uncontrollably until my entire body convulsed with grief.

Those memories flooded back now, the cruel past resurfacing to rip open wounds that had never truly healed, leaving my heart raw and bleeding all over again.

My prolonged silence and the tears streaming down my face told Harper everything she needed to know.

"Sophia," she said softly, "I've lived a long life. I've seen everything. Birth, aging, sickness, death—these are the inevitable things we can't control." Her voice trembled slightly. "You shouldn't have kept Sam's death from me."

She paused, her blind eyes searching for my face. "I know you meant well—you were concerned about my health. I don't blame you for that."

Her voice suddenly rose in volume. "And yet, I can't help but blame you! When my grandson passed away, I, his grandmother, couldn't even send him off properly. That will be my regret for the rest of my life!"

The last sentence was almost a scream, as if she were trying to expel the pain from her very organs.

Seeing Harper yell at me like that delighted Ava. She stood there with her head tilted to one side, reveling in my misery, her eyes gleaming with vindictive satisfaction.

Sophia, if I can't be happy, neither can you!

Terrified that the shock might be too much for Harper, who had just left intensive care, I held her hands tightly, trying to calm her.

"Grandma, please don't be like this. When Sam left us, you were his biggest concern." My voice broke with emotion. "Grandma, if you need someone to blame, blame me. Hit me, scold me—what happened back then was all my fault."

Harper's face had turned ashen white, her unseeing eyes staring into nothing. She gripped my hand so tightly that the back of it turned purple. Her entire body trembled violently, barely able to remain standing.

"Grandma, you're scaring me! Grandma!"

Just as I was trying to soothe her, Harper's eyes closed, and her body pitched forward.

I immediately called for a doctor, and Harper was rushed back to the emergency room.

Harper had been out of the ICU for barely five minutes before being sent back for emergency treatment—thanks largely to Ava's cruel revelation.

Rage building inside me with nowhere to vent, I turned to see Ava sitting casually on a bench, swinging her legs with smug satisfaction. Something in me snapped.

I stormed over to the seemingly oblivious girl, raising my hand and slapping her hard across the face. "Who told you to do this? Why would you do such a thing?" My voice rose with each word. "That's your grandmother!"

Ava shook her head, rising slowly from the bench. She spat out a mouthful of blood, then tilted her head to look at me with pure contempt.

"Didn't you claim to love my brother?" she sneered. "If you loved him so much, why did you marry another man?"