Chapter 76

Lorraine seemed to realize her earlier explanation sounded misleading. She quickly corrected herself, "He's my stepmother's son," she said, her tone softening. I nodded, vaguely recalling her mentioning how complicated her family situation was. "And?" I prompted. "He doesn't really have a proper job. All he does is ask for money. My family's decently well-off, but not to the point where we can entertain endless handouts, so…" Lorraine trailed off. "So, you're all ignoring him, but then he saw the news about you and decided to show up, desperate for cash?" She sighed, nodding. "Exactly. He's always been persistent like that. This time, though, he just snapped." "Because of the news?" "Yes." I frowned, already piecing together the potential consequences. "If this is how he acts just from seeing news articles, what do you think he'll do if it goes beyond that?" Lorraine looked apologetic, with guilt written all over her face. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to affect you."