Chapter 572
“What did you just say?” Leon, Sebastian, and Isla looked completely stunned.
Even Anathea paused and turned to look at Hannah.
But Hannah’s voice was calm and devoid of emotion. “Let them di I’m done.”
“You ungrateful bitch! What the hell are you saying?” Sebastian snapped first. “Don’t you forget, if it weren’t for us, you would’ve been sold off as someone’s child bride! You wouldn’t have gone to school and become a celebrity! How dare you turn your back on us-”
“You didn’t raise me!” Hannah finally cracked. The memories of her childhood were painful. They were something she never wanted to revisit for the rest of her life.
But at this moment, she forced herself to peel back that old, long–healed scar, exposing it raw and bleeding once again.
“I raised myself. I scavenged through trash for discarded bottles and cardboard and sold them at the recycling center for money.
“I waited outside supermarkets at midnight, hoping the clerks would throw out expired food so I could bring it home and not
starve.
“I ran errands and did odd jobs every single day, breaking out in rashes in the summer and chilblains in the winter, just so I could scrape together enough food and money to pay for your treatments. I’m the reason you’re still alive now!”
Hannah pointed at Isla and Sebastian and continued sharply, “I never owed you anything! If anyone’s ungrateful, it’s you!”
They had repeatedly sided with the scumbag who gambled away their pension and guilt–tripped her for money.
The only reason they hadn’t shown up at her workplace and caused a scene was because they knew it was their pipeline for cash.
Hannah had once thought maybe this was just her fate. Maybe she would live her whole life weighed down by them.
But then Sebastian’s words earlier had shattered her restraint.
“I raised myself. And it was Thea who helped me get through school,” Hannah said.
If it weren’t for Anathea, Leon would’ve snatched away every single cent of her scholarship money before it ever reached her
hands.
It was Anathea who became her friend and helped her break free from the grip of that toxic family. She was the one who helped Hannah secure a scholarship so she could keep studying.
It was also Anathea who secretly gave Hannah her pocket money to help ease her burden and improve her life.
“Oh, please. What you got was nothing more than her charity.” Leon scoffed in contempt.
“You treat her like your savior, but for all you know, she might see you as nothing more than a pathetic beggar! Yet you clung to her little kindness like it was everything? Now you have the nerve to talk back to us because of her?”
Hannah fell silent.
Anathea frowned and glanced at her with worry. She wanted to tell Hannah that it was never pity or charity. She’d always seen
Hannah as a friend.
But Leon pushed on, trying to sow discord. “Wake up. No one’s that kind. Everything you believed in was just your own wishful thinking!”
“Well, you’re dead wrong.” After a long beat, Hannah finally looked up, eyes blazing. “Only someone like you with a beggar’s mindset burned into your bones would see kindness and call it charity.“.
Anathea had given her brand–new clothes, school supplies, and essentials after asking what Hannah liked. That wasn’t charity. That was respect. That was friendship.
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Chapter 578
+25 BONUS
If she turned on Anathea just because of a few bitter words from these people, that would be true ingratitude and real foolishness.
“Hannah…” As Anathea looked at Hannah, her expression was a mix of emotions.
“I’m okay.” Hannah gave her a reassuring look.
Her tone was firm and unwavering as she said, “I’ve never owed them anything. All the money I’ve given them over the years was more than they ever deserved. So this time, there’s no way I’m giving them another cent.”
Hannah lifted her chin. Her slender neck gave her the graceful yet distant air of a black swan. She stared coldly at the three clowns across from her, especially Sebastian and Isla, who’d been helping Leon and relentlessly pressuring her.
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