Love's Redemption

Redmption 298



Conrad came in with a bouquet, his face etched with worry. "What happened to you?"

It seemed inappropriate to remain lying in bed, so I grabbed the bedside rail and heaved myself upright. Conrad hurried over to pin me against the pill

"I'm fine," I insisted as I tried to sit up. I never felt self-conscious while lying down while Brandon was around, which set him apart from the other men in my life.

Conrad stared at me. "So what happened?"

What was I supposed to tell him? That I went into shock after learning the gravity of my parents' accident?

It wasn't that I didn't know how to explain it to him, but that I didn't want to.

I wondered when I had grown tired of explaining and resorted to giving vague, if not untrue, responses. "Low blood sugar, that's all, I lied. When I caug

He parted his lips and humored me with a white lie in return. “It's not a big deal."

"Conrad," I bit out. "If there's something you need to tell me, go ahead. Beating around the bush only makes me anxious." once you get

"We'll talk about it better," he said.

Conrad had never been the straightforward type. It was probably the reason why I couldn't see him as anything but an older brother. He certainly woulNôvelDrama.Org owns this.

However, I knew how to get him to spill, so I urged, "You have to tell me because I know you've got something on your mind, and the secrecy is killing me. It won't do my recovery any good."

Exasperation flickered across his face as he relented. "Fine, I'll tell you."

There was a pause before he continued, "Did you hear that Chris got into a heated argument with my parents?"

"No," I admitted. When I saw Chris earlier today, he hadn't mentioned it to me, either.

Conrad sighed. "My mom threw

Jewel out of Chris' house, so he got mad and argued with her. My dad gave him a beating to straighten him out and told him they would disown him. He even threatened to kick Chris out of the company.

I had heard of Jewel getting kicked out of the house, but I hadn't heard about the latter half. I had a feeling things would turn out this way when Bree first mentioned she wouldcast out Jewel, but she refused to take my advice.

"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked. Conrad must have a reason for telling me now.

He winced as if debating whether to tell me the truth.

laughed, sensing the reason for his hesitation. "You want me to talk to your parents, huh?"

“I know I shouldn't drag you into this mess, Maddie, but my parents listen to you. Besides..." Conrad trailed off, but I knew what he would say. "Besides, this all happened because of me, right?" I finished his sentence for him.

“That's not what I meant, Maddie,” he began defensively.

A chuckle escaped me as I said, "Chris move in. It was one of the reasons why he going to give me that house as a present, but he let Jewel

left him. I told you an much."

Conrad pinned me with a hard stare, and I welcomed it "I never told your parents about it. As for how they found out about Jewel staying there, your g I paused for emphasis and continued solemnly, "I did not rat Chris out. If I didn't want Jewel in that house, I would have thrown her out the moment I s "Maddie, you've got it all wrong. I wasn't accusing you or anything. I was just..."

Conrad tried to explain, but I held up a hand to stop him mid-sentence. "Let me finish."

He stopped talking and remained

quiet as I went on. "Your mom told me about this over the phone. I told. her that this was in the past and she should let it go, but she insisted on seeing it through. Your father's

punishment of Chris remains

between them."

Surprise flashed in Conrad's eyes. He probably did not expect such heartless words from me. A few seconds later, he nodded. "I knew I couldn't come