Before she could walk out of the room, Carn suddenly called out, "I’m sorry, Charlotte."
Charlotte stopped in her tracks and turned around, confused. "Why are you apologizing?"
Carn didn’t answer right away. Her eyes stayed locked on Priscilla, who was lying quietly on the bed, looking so fragile. After a long pause, Carn whispered, "All of your suffering ... started because of ."
If only she hadn’t allowed Priscilla to marry Ronan, maybe Julian would have never been born, and Charlotte wouldn’t have had to go through so much pain because of that monster.
Charlotte slowly walked back to her, sitting down beside her on the edge of the bed. "You don’t have to apologize for sothing that wasn’t your fault," she said gently.
"Every birth and every death, every path we take, they are all part of the fate written by the Moon Goddess. We don’t have the power to change it."
She smiled. "All the bad things that happened to , they weren’t because of you. It’s simply because ... Julian is a terrible person, that’s all."
For a mont, neither of them spoke. They just sat there quietly.
Charlotte glanced at Carn and finally found the courage to add, "And I would never bla you for caring about her. She’s your daughter, after all."
And deep down, Charlotte knew, Priscilla was a victim too.
Charlotte still wasn’t sure whether all the terrible things Priscilla had done to her were because of Ronan’s influence or her own choices.
But as soone who had lived through abuse herself, Charlotte understood how too much fear, pain, and pressure could break a person’s mind and heart.
Maybe this was just Priscilla’s way of surviving. Just like Charlotte had once hidden behind her obsession with beauty, perhaps Priscilla had coped by letting her bottled-up emotions explode onto others.
"Being a mother is hard, you know," Carn said softly as her eyelids drooped. "It’s really hard to raise our children well when we’re still carrying wounds inside our hearts."
Priscilla’s father, Samuel, had left too many scars on Carn. For so long, she lived in survival mode, always stuck between fighting or running away. She couldn’t even give the love her children deserved because she was too caught up in her own pain.
And those wounds? They didn’t just stay inside her. They spread and hurt the people she loved most.
When children grow up in a ho filled with violence and brokenness, so will accept it as normal. Others will grow up vowing to never live like that.
That’s exactly what happened to Carn’s family.
One of her daughters ended up trapped in the sa kind of abusive marriage, while the other swore to the Moon Goddess that she’d rather die than ever bow to her mate.
Their lives were falling apart, all because Carn couldn’t stay strong enough or give them the love they needed.
"I used to envy Mona a lot," Carn confessed, her voice shaking slightly. "We shared the sa husband, but sohow, she managed to heal. She never passed her pain onto her son."
It wasn’t fair.
They lived under the sa roof, married to the sa man, yet their children turned out so differently.
Louis beca a good husband and a loving father. Damon? He treated his mate with nothing but gentleness.
"Your daughters are still good people," Charlotte said softly, breaking the silence. "Priscilla beca like this because she forced her son to carry the weight of all his past mistakes, the ones he made to , and to his other victims. And Diana ..."
She smiled. "She’s cool. Honestly, Diana’s life is really impressive. She gets to travel around the world, live by her own rules, and on top of that, she doesn’t have to suffer by being stuck with a terrible mate."
Carn suddenly fell silent. It seed like she had focused too much on her daughters’ flaws and completely overlooked the good parts inside them.
"They ..." Carn took a deep breath and smiled softly as she looked at Priscilla. "You’re right. They’re not that bad after all."
"You can’t compare yourself to Mona," Charlotte said gently. "Even if you shared the sa husband and the sa house, your wounds are completely different."
Mona carried the guilt of destroying soone else’s family. She drowned in guilt and tried her best to make sure her sons wouldn’t grow up to be as cruel as their father.
anwhile, Carn had to endure the pain of watching her own family fall apart right in front of her eyes. The family she had built for years was suddenly shattered the mont her husband marked another werewolf.
On top of that, she also had to bear the sha and judgnt thrown at her family by others.
Samuel blad her, saying she made everything worse by taking the property dispute to the Nocturnal Order, forever tainting his na.
"But still ... I could never bla her," Carn said, her voice growing softer. "Back then, Mona was struggling just to survive. She had to pay off the debts left by her late father, and the loan sharks were ready to sell her to a brothel to satisfy those disgusting werewolves."
"If I had been in her shoes," Carn continued, "I probably would have let Samuel mark too, without a second thought. There’s nothing wrong with that."
At least, that’s what Carn had been telling herself all this ti. Even though she no longer hated Mona now, back then, it was hard not to.
"You’re too kind, Carn," Charlotte said softly, patting her shoulder. "Your daughters are lucky to have you."
When Mona gave birth to a baby boy, Samuel imdiately wanted to give most of his wealth to his son. However, Carn acted quickly. She brought the matter to court to secure her assets before Samuel could transfer everything.
Because of that, Carn managed to claim a larger share of Samuel’s fortune than he had intended.
It was one of the few victories she had during that painful ti, but it ca with a price. The bitterness, the bla, and the endless judgnt from others weighed heavily on her, even until now.
"Still," Charlotte praised her, "not every mother could do what you did. You made sure your daughters got what they deserved, and you even managed to humiliate your bastard husband."
Carn let out a weak chuckle, though tears still shimred in her eyes. "It didn’t feel like a victory back then. All I could think about was how broken everything was. The house, the family, the love ... all of it."
Charlotte nodded, understanding more than Carn realized. "Maybe it wasn’t a victory," she said softly. "But it was still sothing brave. You fought for them. You didn’t just let everything go."
Carn wiped the corner of her eyes and whispered, "Thank you."
The room fell into quietness, with only the sound of Priscilla’s soft breathing filling the space.
Despite the heaviness, Charlotte noticed a small change, Carn looked just a little less burdened, as if, after all this ti, soone had finally told her that she wasn’t a failure.
"When I returned to Northbridge, Damon and I discussed Priscilla’s situation," Charlotte said, her voice turning more serious. "What’s happening to her is closely related to her ntal state, so we’re planning to call a professional who specializes in cases involving werewolves like her."
Carn blinked, surprised. "A professional? You an ... like a therapist?"
Charlotte nodded. "Yes, but soone who understands werewolves. Soone who knows how to handle cases where the mind and the wolf are both affected."
Carn lowered her head, guilt flashing in her eyes. "Will that even help? She has suffered a lot ... I’m afraid it’s too late."
Charlotte gently shook her head. "It’s never too late, Carn. Priscilla is still here. As long as she’s breathing, there’s hope."
Emilia was a great therapist. Even though Charlotte still had many wounds left to heal, after having several sessions with Emi, she had beco much stronger.
Even when she lost her child, she didn’t choose to jump off a cliff or drown herself in the sea just to escape her frustration.
Damon had told her that Emi often worked with werewolves suffering from severe ntal illnesses, so there was no harm in letting her check on Priscilla first.
And if Emi couldn’t handle the case, at the very least, she could recomnd a doctor who would be more suitable for Priscilla’s condition.
"Then, let’s try it," Carn said firmly. "I’ll do anything to heal my daughter."
Charlotte could hear the desperation hidden behind Carn’s calm voice. Even after everything, Carn hadn’t given up. No matter how broken things seed, she was still willing to fight for Priscilla.
Charlotte gave a soft smile. "You’re stronger than you think," she said. "And you don’t have to do it alone this ti."
Carn lowered her head, wiping away a tear before it could fall. "Thank you, Charlotte," she whispered.
"You don’t have to thank ," Charlotte replied. "We’re family, rember?"
The room fell quiet again, but this ti, the silence felt a little warr, a little lighter. There was still a long way to go, but at least, Carn no longer had to carry the weight by herself.
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