Abandoned In Prison, Now They Regret!

CHAPTER 008

Helen’s lips trembled, but not from remorse. Her pride was an unshakable fortress, and no truth however sharp—would break it down.

She straightened her shoulders, sneering as if she hadn’t just been cornered by Steven’s revelations.

“Even if this family failed to change your school,” she spat, “we have a driver. A driver, Steven! Why on earth would you walk twenty kilometers every day? Were you choosing to look pitiful so people would pity you?”

A wave of gasps swept through the room.

Steven froze. His temples throbbed, his head pounding. Did she really just twist her cruelty into his failings?

His voice cut through the murmurs, sharp and unflinching.

“You want to talk about drivers? Fine. The Milton family had a driver, yes—for Jackson. I remember the day I asked to tag along, just one time.”

He paused, eyes locking on Helen.

“Jackson glared at me and said he wasn’t used to sharing a car with anyone let alone strangers. I was thirteen. And what did you do, Helen?”

The crowd leaned closer, breath held.

“You pulled me out of that car, slammed the door, and told me I had no manners. You said if I was used to an orphanage, I’d better act like it. That I had no manners, then, as punishment, you told me to walk.”

A collective gasp erupted, sharper and louder this time.

One guest whispered, “She did what?”

Another murmured, “That’s… that’s their own blood.”

Steven’s voice didn’t rise. He didn’t need to shout. The calmness in his tone carried its own weight, heavy and merciless.

“From that day on, I never tried again. I walked. Every day. Rain or heat, sick or tired, I walked. And since no one gave me pocket money, I worked after school, did menial jobs, just to afford lunch. That was my life, Helen. A life you designed.”

He said it like he was reading an obituary, not just any, his!

One that had already been buried under their negligence.

The guests weren’t silent now. They were outraged.

“This is sick…”

“Who treats their blood brother like that?”

“If this is true, the Miltons are monsters!”

Helen’s face flushed crimson. She took a step forward, her voice rising above the murmurs.

“Even if what you said were true, you still lived under this roof for years. Do you know what that means? You owe rent, Steven. Rent!”

Her words landed like a slap, but Steven only nodded once, almost amused.

“Rent. Fine.” He tilted his head, eyes glinting coldly. “But as far as I know, servants don’t pay rent either.”

Helen’s mouth twitched.

“I only called you a servant to protect your identity. It was for the surprise we had planned!”

“A surprise?” Steven’s voice cut like a blade. “So I cooked lunch every day, did every chore, scrubbed your marble floors until my hands bled, washed your clothes, including Jackson’s socks and that was all just part of the surprise?”

He stepped closer, his presence radiating the kind of danger that made even Jackson shift uneasily.

“Tell me, Helen, was I paying rent when I worked like a domestic servant for you? Or was I paying off a debt I never owed?”

Helen blinked rapidly, as if trying to process his words.

“Wait, what do you mean you cooked lunch? Jackson…”

Steven’s laugh cut her off. It wasn’t warm, it wasn’t even human, it was sharp and hollow.

“Those lunches you loved so much? The ones Jackson ‘so graciously’ delivered every day? I made them. Every meal. Every single day.”

Silence followed that if a pin had dropped, it would have been noticed, before a collective gasp swept across the crowd again.

Helen’s mind flashed back to the lunches, the delicate seasoning, the perfect cuts, the effort she had always thought was Jackson’s way of bonding with her.

She had cherished him for that, and favored him even more because of it.

But if Steven was telling the truth, then every tender thought she had ever given Jackson… had been built on a lie.

Her throat tightened, but her pride kicked in, snapping her spine straight.

“You expect me to believe that? Jackson wouldn’t lie to me. He wouldn’t take credit for something he didn’t do.”

Steven’s smile was slow and dangerous.

“Wouldn’t he? Then tell me, Helen, when I went to prison five years ago, who suddenly stopped delivering those lunches? Did Jackson suddenly forget how to cook? Or was it just that his chef was gone?”

Helen’s face faltered. For a flicker of a second, there was confusion, even doubt, but it hardened quickly into stubbornness. She crossed her arms.

“You’re manipulating this. Twisting the truth to get pity from strangers. You’ve always been that way.”

The crowd was no longer whispering; they were speaking openly now.

“This is disgusting.”

“So he was basically a servant all along?”

“And they still favored the adopted one… over him?”

Helen turned, eyes darting across the crowd, seeing her image as the acting CEO of Milton group, her power slipping from her hands like water. She snapped back at Steven, voice trembling with rage.

“You think you can humiliate me like this and walk away clean? You’re still tied to this family legally, Steven. You still owe us!”

Steven’s gaze hardened to ice.

“No, Helen. After tonight, there’s nothing tying me to you. Not legally, not emotionally, nothing.”

He turned slightly, eyes sweeping the room deliberately, then landed on Jackson.

“And you. You stood by all these years, watching me scrub your shoes, watching me walk twenty kilometers to school while you rode in comfort, and you said nothing.” Steven smirked; “Enjoy your empire, Jackson. It’s all yours now.”

Jackson’s jaw flexed, but he stayed silent, feigning sorrow with downcast eyes.

Sarah sobbed again, falling to her knees.

“Steven, please… don’t do this. We can fix it. We can—”

Steven cut her off gently, but firmly.

“No, Mrs Sarah Milton! You had years to fix it, this isn’t a sudden decision, this is me finally choosing myself.”

Helen’s hands shook as she shouted after him, her pride now raw and desperate,

“If you walk out that door, Steven, don’t ever come back. You hear me? You’re no brother of mine!”

Steven had always been a coward, but the person he is now wasn't!

Steven’s eyes softened, not with forgiveness, but with finality.

“That isn't news to me! You made that clear long ago with your actions.”