Shattered Rose He Held On Tight novel Chapter 56

hapter 56 Old Memories.

“Jasper!” Sylvia shouted after him, but he didn’t turn around.

She glared at his back, frustrated. What on earth is wrong with him now?

He had gotten the marriage he wanted, yet he showed no joy at all. Instead, he smoked more than anyone else and drank late into the night.

More than once, Sylvia had woken in the middle of the night to see his light still on, the smell of whiskey drifting down the hall.

When she asked if it had anything to do with Claudia, he insisted everything was fine.

But now he either disappeared or walked around lost in thought, and it drove her crazy.

The Lancasters were also displeased with Jasper’s attitude. Still, with Claudia refusing to show up at all, they didn’t have much ground to argue.

The families forced smiles and went on with wedding discussions.

Lydia, however, watched Jasper leave with a faint smirk curling at the corner of her lips.

The Fentons worried about their son’s state of mind, while the Lancasters couldn’t even find their daughter.

By the day before the engagement party, they still hadn’t heard from Claudia. With the party about to fall apart, Lottie finally couldn’t sit still. She went straight to Claudia’s apartment to look for her.

When Claudia first turned 18 and moved out, Lottie had secretly checked on where she was living.

Back then, Claudia had rented a cramped apartment with a senior near Brookfield to save

money.

The place was crowded and noisy, close to a strip of cheap food joints.

Lottie had been so mad that Claudia ignored her words and thought hardship would eventually drive her back home. Her heart ached for Claudia, but she didn’t intervene.

Yet Claudia was stubborn. She never bowed her head to the family.

Later, when Lottie wanted to step in and offer her a better place, Lydia told her that Claudia had already moved.

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Lottie simply assumed Claudia had accepted family money and upgraded to a nicer place.

From then on, they only met at public places or at the family house.

This visit was the first time in years that Lottie had seen where Claudia now lived.

Her first reaction was how small it was.

She was used to wide, open villa areas. This tiny apartment felt suffocating.

Sylvia’s words about favoritism came back to her mind, making her uneasy.

Even the smallest house they had given Lydia was nicer than this little apartment.

Sterling wasn’t home. Claudia welcomed Lottie in and poured her a glass of water.

Mother and daughter sat in awkward silence, unused to this kind of quiet talk.

Finally, Lottie took a deep breath. “This place is too small. Tomorrow I’ll ask Clarence to buy you a new house.”

“No,” Claudia said flatly. “I can’t accept that.”

Lottie bristled. “What do you mean, you can’t accept it? You’re our daughter. It’s just a house. Refusing makes it seem like your father and I never did anything for you.”

Claudia let out a sharp laugh. “I’m worried one day you’ll just show up and ask me to give it back.”

She remembered too well how things went when she left the family house. They had accused her of taking things that didn’t belong to her. They froze her credit cards, had the servant search her bags, and made sure she didn’t leave with anything valuable.

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