C207 Wounds And Regrets

Ben looked down for a moment then looked straight towards sarah. His eyes were red. He continued, "You've always been my little sister." "When you were studying abroad..." "I counted the days until you came home." "I always prepared something for you." "I brought you gifts." "I bragged to everyone that my sister is pure and innocent." "Even Chris and Mike knows that." "I bragged about you and what did you do?" "You went on and slept with him."

A tear escaped Sarah's eye. She remembered every word. Every gift. Every time Ben had picked her up from the airport himself. He had never once complained. Ben laughed bitterly. "But what happened after you came back?" "You took my position." Sarah immediately shook her head. "I never wanted it..." "It wasn't my decision." Ben nodded. "I know." "But tell me..." "Did you ever once refuse it?" Sarah opened her mouth. Nothing came out.

Ben continued. "You knew becoming Director meant taking my rights as the heir." "You knew what had happened." "You knew I had lost everything." "Yet..." "You accepted it." Sarah's voice trembled. "I only accepted because it was to benefit the company." "I never wanted to compete with you." "I only wanted to protect the company until everything settled."

Ben smiled. "Exactly." "You wanted to protect the company from me right?" "You didn't even stop there." "Now you have taken my vice director's position." "Worse part is you gave it to Chris." Those words pierced Sarah's heart. She lowered her head. Unable to answer. Ben continued. "And that wasn't the end." He looked directly into her eyes. "Out of everyone in Scotland..." "You chose Christopher Chambers." "You married him without hesitation."

Sarah instinctively held her stomach. "I..." Ben laughed. "My greatest enemies..." "The people responsible for my humiliation..." "The people who testified against me..." "The person who stood beside Mike..." "You fell in love with him." His breathing became heavier. "Tell me..." "When you were with Chris..." "Did you ever talk about me?" Sarah quickly shook her head. "No!" "Never!"

Ben smiled sarcastically. "So..." "You never defended me either." Sarah froze. "I..." Ben continued. "Did Mike know that you are pregnant?" Sarah slowly nodded. "...Yes." "He knew." Ben laughed again. "So my own sister..." "My greatest enemy..." "And his brother..." Were all keeping secrets together." He slowly looked around. "Tell me..." "Should I feel happy?" No one answered.

Sarah finally stood up. Her eyes were already filled with tears. She walked toward him. "Brother..." "I never betrayed you." "I truly love Chris." "I never chose him because he was your enemy." "I chose him because..." "He treated me sincerely." "He respected me." "He accepted me." "And..." She smiled through her tears. "He loves our child." Ben remained expressionless.

After a long silence... He quietly replied, "I hope..." "He never hurts you." Sarah burst into tears. "Brother..." She wanted to hug him. But Ben stepped aside. He slowly turned toward Samantha. The atmosphere instantly became heavier. Samantha's heart began pounding violently. She already knew... What was coming. Ben stared at her quietly. For several seconds... Neither of them spoke.

Finally... He smiled sadly. "Sam..." His voice had become softer than before. "So soft..." That it somehow hurt even more. "Tell me something honestly." Ben looked into her eyes. "Didn't I try?" "I wasn't the best husband." "I admit that." "I made terrible mistakes." "I hurt you." "I disappointed you." "I even betrayed your trust." He laughed bitterly. "I did what I did back then because I truly loved you." "My methods were wrong but my intentions were pure." "I wanted to be with you." "I wanted us to build a future together."

Samantha lowered her eyes. Ben continued. "I kept telling myself..." "If I treated you better..." "Maybe..." "You'd eventually love me." His smile slowly disappeared. "But every single day..." "I lost." He looked down. "I wasn't competing against another man." "I was competing against someone's memory." Samantha's tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.

Ben continued. "You always spoke about Mike." "Even at night..." "You dreamed about Mike." "There is always Something that reminded you of Mike." His voice became hoarse. "And every night..." "I pretended to be asleep." Samantha suddenly froze. Her breathing stopped. Ben looked directly into her eyes. "But I wasn't." "I heard everything." Every word struck Samantha like lightning. "I heard you crying." "I heard you whispering his name." "I heard you apologizing to him."

Samantha completely broke down. Her legs gave way. She collapsed onto the floor. "You knew..." Ben nodded slowly. "Every single night." "I knew." Tears streamed down Samantha's face uncontrollably. Ben continued, "You were mourning someone..." "...who was still alive." His voice trembled. "And I..." "I was the husband lying beside you." "But no matter what I did..." "I could never replace him."

Silence. No one dared interrupt. Ben took a slow breath. "The only hope I had left..." "Was for you to give birth to a son." A faint smile appeared. "I thought..." "If we had a son..." "He would inherit the Wood family." "I would teach him." "I would watch him grow." "And maybe..." "Our family would finally become complete." "And you would start loving me."

He looked toward Monica, "I love my daughter." "I truly do." "But..." His expression became lonely. "A son would continue the Wood family name." "A daughter..." "One day..." "Will marry." "And belong to another family." He looked at Samantha. "Just like you." "You were once a Heaps." "Today..." "How often do your parents even see you?" Samantha lowered her head. Unable to answer.

Ben looked toward Tracy. "Mom always says..." 'A daughter and a son are equal.' "Maybe to you." "But to me..." "They aren't." The room fell into complete silence. Tracy could no longer hold back. She covered her face. Crying openly. "My son..." "I'm sorry..." Kelvin remained standing. Like a statue. His eyes had become red. For the first time in many years... The man known throughout Scotland as the Iron Chairman... Felt completely defeated.

He had always believed... That even though Ben had committed unforgivable crimes... His heart had turned evil. Only today... Did he finally understand. His was Broken. Ben looked at every member of his family one last time. His voice became calm once again. "I don't expect any of you to understand me." "I only wanted to tell you all how i feel.." Without waiting for anyone to stop him... He turned around. Opened the front door. And quietly walked out.

The door closed behind him. No one moved. No one called after him. Inside the dining room... Only the sound of muffled sobbing remained. Tracy buried her face in her hands as tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks. Samantha remained seated on the floor, crying uncontrollably. She had spent so many nights grieving Mike... Never realizing... That the man sleeping beside her had heard every tear, every whispered apology, and every broken confession. But what hurt her the most was Ben's last sentence. Her family. The heaps Family.

Sarah silently wiped her own tears. For the first time... She understood that her happiness with Chris had unknowingly become another source of pain for the brother who had once doted on her. Kelvin slowly sat back down. His shoulders slumped. He stared blankly at the empty chair Ben had occupied moments ago. All this time... He had believed he understood his son. Now... He felt that perhaps... He had failed him the most.