Chapter: 3541

"I don't need your pity right now. Those events are etched in stone. No amount of sympathy will ever rewrite that past. If you hate me, seeing my family like this should give you some twisted sense of satisfaction."

Ainsley's voice cracked slightly, her thoughts a torrent she couldn't hold back, no matter how much she wished to silence them.

Janis' heart ached, twisting with guilt and sorrow as she struggled to find the right words. “Brinley, we never imagined your family would suffer like this. If only we had known..."

Ainsley cut her off. "What's done is done. The dead can't be resurrected, and the past isn't a wound that you can just stitch back together."

With a weary sigh, she slowly rose to her feet. Her face looked etched with a lifetime of exhaustion, her shoulders drooping under the crushing weight of her grief. She walked towards the door.