From Ashes of Scandal to His Embrace (Laurinda) novel Chapter 111

Laurinda barely reacted after hearing everything. Honestly, she wasn’t surprised at all.

With a family that messed up, it was only a matter of time before things crashed and burned.

“Do you know why Abbott took Florrie outside, even though she was six months pregnant and it was dangerous?”

“It was because Aiken couldn’t keep his hands off Florrie. He tried more than once. He’s not just messed up, he’s dangerous. He couldn’t stand the idea of Florrie having Abbott’s baby. He even drowned Abbott’s six-year-old kid in a septic tank.”

“It sounds awful, right? But the worst part isn’t even that. It’s Belinda. To cover for Aiken, she took the blame herself. She even threatened to kill herself so Abbott would feel guilty and drop everything against Aiken.”

“And of course, Baily was mixed up in all of it. Honestly, today’s outcome was the best he could hope for.”

“Do me a favor. Tell Baily and Aiken that their precious Lance isn’t even theirs. He’s actually Jeniffer and the family driver Aaron’s son.”

“It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? They wanted Lance to inherit the Austin family, so they even set up my kidnapping. In the end, I was the one who made sure Lance got sent away.”

Adolphus pulled Laurinda close, wrapping her in a hug. His chest tightened for her. He couldn’t imagine how she survived that family. It was terrifying. No one in that house was normal.

“You’ve gone through so much…”

Laurinda shook her head. “It wasn’t me who suffered. It was Fidelia. She’s still in a care home, too scared to see anyone. If she hadn’t risked everything to protect me, I never would have gotten my chance to fight back.”

She checked the time, not wanting to get lost in the past any longer.

“It’s late. I should get back to the dorm. When New Year’s comes, I’ll take you to see Fidelia.”

“Alright, spill. When did this start?”

“It hasn’t,” Laurinda said, wide-eyed and innocent. They honestly hadn’t even started dating.

“It hasn’t? And he’s already hugging you in front of everybody? Isn’t that just harassment? So what if he’s good-looking? I’m calling the cops!” Shirley grabbed her phone, totally serious about reporting the guy.

The others saw how fired up she was and quickly let Laurinda go, rushing to stop Shirley.

Elaine snatched the phone out of Shirley’s hand and tapped her on the head. “You’re such a goof,” she sighed.

“Seriously, can’t you see it? Maybe they haven’t started dating, but it’s so obvious they know each other. The way he looks at Laurinda… it’s so gentle it could drown someone. Why would you call the police? He only hugged her because Laurinda let him, you silly girl.”