Page 178 of Broken Destiny

My father frowned immediately. “Caleb?”

“What is this, Mum?” I asked, my voice low and strained.

Her lips parted, but no words came out.

Sophia glanced between us. “What’s going on?”

I placed the laptop down and opened it with shaking hands. My breathing had turned shallow somewhere between the staircase and this room.

“Tell them,” I said quietly, staring directly at my mother.

Tears instantly flooded her eyes.

“Caleb, I?—”

“Tell them,” I roared, the sound tearing out of my chest before I could stop it.

The room fell silent.

My mother lowered her head and pressed trembling fingers against her forehead.

“I did it to protect you.”

A hollow laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

“Protect me?” I repeated. “By making me believe Jiya stole money from us? By making me believe she helped Jeremy kidnap your granddaughters? By making me believe she abandoned me?”

My mother had sabotaged my life.

My love.

My everything.

My chest tightened painfully as years of anger, grief, and regret crashed together inside me.

“You destroyed her.”

“That girl was dangerous,” my mother whispered weakly.

Every muscle in my body went rigid.

“Dangerous?” I barked.

“She came into your life carrying secrets, lies, trauma?—”

“Or was it because of the lies you created for her?” I snapped.

I yanked the photographs from the folder and spread them across the table.

“These.” My hand shook as I pointed to the pictures of Caroline and me. “You changed the dates and showed it to her, and she believed that Caroline and I were having an affair when we weren’t. Isn’t that right?”

“Caleb… I…”

A thought suddenly entered my mind.

“Was it you who sent Caroline to my penthouse that day? The day you asked Taylor and Martina to come over?”

“Caleb… I was… Caleb…”