Crowned by the Man They Feared (Amelia and Jeremy) novel Chapter 544

Chapter 544 Failed as a Mother and Wife

She still remembered what her husband had said to her by the hospital bed back then.

She hated herself for not answering him-hated herself even more for failing to take care of this family.

She could’ve taken better care of the kids. She could’ve had more chances to figure out what really happened to her biological daughter—and the burdens her husband had been carrying.

But again and again, she poured all her attention and energy into that damn adopted daughter.

Again and again, she was fooled-played like a clown.

Ending up like this … it was karma.

Sometimes she truly wanted to go with her husband.

But death would be too easy. Only living could be atonement.

“Amelia…” Emery called softly.

Amelia’s lashes trembled. She pressed her lips together and didn’t answer.

Emery wanted to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.

She didn’t feel she had the right to explain anything anymore.

Neither of them spoke. There was only silence-and memories of what used to be.

Emery looked at her husband’s photo, then at her daughter, and the bitterness and grief spread through her again.

How could she not love her own daughter? Amelia was the child she’d carried-flesh of her flesh.

Back then, her daughter had vanished in an instant at a gala.

She’d gone mad, sending people out every day to search, staring blankly at her daughter’s photo day after day.

The longing crashed over her like a flood.

And that was when she fell into depression.

From mild… to moderate

to severe.

…

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She’d thought about ending it countless times.

She secretly saw doctor after doctor, swallowed pill after pill, and forced it down.

The grief and longing crushed her until she could barely breathe, yet she didn’t dare tell her family.

Every day, she still put on a sunny smile—carefree and bright, like nothing was wrong.

“Smiling depression.” It was a nice academic label for something terrifying.

Until one day, her husband brought Gianna into the Nygards.

Back then, it felt like Emery had found something she could redirect herself toward.

She poured every ounce of longing and love she had for her biological daughter onto Gianna.

That desperate transfer was something even she couldn’t control.

It felt like the only way she could breathe.

But that extreme coping mechanism turned into a habit, day after day, until it warped into something twisted and meaningless.

Even after her biological daughter returned, she still couldn’t stop that frantic overpouring, that distorted mental spiral.

She’d already invested all the feelings she once had for her own daughter into Gianna-the adopted one.

And after Amelia came back, Gianna kept provoking and splitting them apart until Emery was even more trapped.

She kept pouring love into the substitute.

She was sick.

She knew her mind was seriously ill.

Now her body was failing, too.

She was a complete failure.

She used to think she had lucky-happy-children who adored her and a husband who cherished her.

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Looking back now, she’d failed as a mother-and failed as a wife, too.

She couldn’t help with her husband’s company. Even after he died, she still didn’t understand what had really happened.

His hardships, his pressure, his silent endurance-

She helped with none of it. Instead, he had to handle everything for her.

At that point, Emery felt like the most worthless person in the world.

The darkness and pain inside her made tears slip down again.

They didn’t speak. They didn’t make a sound. They just sat there, each lost in their own daze.

She didn’t know how long had passed before they finally separated and left.

Emery felt guilty toward her daughter. She didn’t think she’d been a qualified mother at all.

She wanted to say something, but she didn’t know where to begin.

She figured Amy didn’t want to talk to her either, so in the end, she left without saying a word.

Amelia saw the grief and struggle on her mother’s face.

She wanted to say something too, but her nature made it even harder to open her mouth.

Nothing could go back to how it used to be.

They couldn’t pretend nothing had happened anymore.

Meanwhile, elsewhere-

“I didn’t expect Amelia to show up at Raymond’s funeral. Didn’t she have a terrible relationship with the Nygards?”

Esmond looked at Regina as he asked.

Weren’t they saying she’d cut ties completely-never speaking again-strangers at best,

enemies at worst?

“Their relationship really is awful. Gianna was still at the Nygards’ back then-she knows all the inside details.

“She said Amelia wouldn’t even go back. Even if they ran into each other outside, she’d act like she didn’t know them-while those idiots would only nag, accuse, and preach.”

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