Chapter 192: The Shattered Mirror

Harper’s POV

I stared at the screen, the numbers blurring together. "What?"

"It has one point five million views, Harper."

My stomach twisted into a tight, sickening knot. "Oh, shit... oh, shit!"

Emma sat up straighter, her eyes darting between us. "What happened? Who called you?!"

"She saw it," I whispered, my voice trembling with raw panic.

"Who saw it?!" Emma demanded.

"My father’s wife."

A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the living room.

Noah stared at me. Then, to my utter shock, he let out a short breath and shrugged his shoulders. "Well... good."

I stared at him like he had suddenly grown two heads. "What?!"

"I’m glad it finally reached them," he said, his voice completely steady.

Emma and I looked at each other in utter disbelief.

"Noah," I said slowly, trying to keep my voice from cracking.

He looked right back at me.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I snapped.

"Nothing is wrong with me," he replied calmly.

"You’re not scared?!"

"Scared of what, Harper?"

"Of them finding us! Of them coming here!"

Noah dropped his phone onto his lap with a heavy thud. "I’m sorry, but I don’t understand why you are acting like Justin just committed some horrible, unforgivable crime against you!"

My mouth fell open in absolute shock. "He ran global ads without my permission!"

"Yes!"

"He pushed my mom’s private painful story everywhere!"

"Yes!"

"And now his crazy family has seen it!"

"Good!"

"Noah!" I yelled, jumping to my feet.

He stood up too, his tall frame towering over the coffee table. "Why are you so damn scared of him?!"

I stared at him, my chest heaving. "What?!"

"Why are you so terrified of Dad?!" he shouted back.

"I am not scared of him!"

"Then what is all of this?!" He gestured frantically toward my bag, my face, my shaking hands. "You have spent all these long months hiding! Hiding your location! Hiding job opportunities! Hiding from normal people! Watching every single word you say and every single thing you do because you are completely terrified that somehow Dad is going to find us!"

"Because he can hurt us, Noah!"

"So what?!"

I stared at him, completely speechless.

Noah’s voice rose, echoing off the thin walls of the apartment. "So what if he finds us, Harper?!"

"Because you don’t understand—"

"No, Harper! You don’t understand!" He was shaking now, his knuckles white at his sides. "I don’t understand why you are so furious at Justin!"

"This isn’t about Justin!" I screamed at him, tears stinging my eyes.

"It is about Justin!"

"No, it isn’t!"

"Then what the hell is it about?!"

I opened my mouth to yell back, but nothing came out. The air jammed in my throat.

Noah let out a bitter, lifeless laugh. "I’m sorry, Harper, but we cannot keep hiding from this man for the rest of our lives."

Emma sat between us, watching silently, her eyes dark with heavy emotion.

Noah stepped closer, his voice raw. "Mom deserves to tell her story."

"I know that!"

"If that story causes a massive domino effect in his precious little high-society life, then so be it!"

"Noah—"

"He abandoned us!" his voice cracked loudly, the sound echoing through the small room. "He walked out on us when we needed him the most!"

The entire room went dead quiet.

Noah’s chest was rising and falling in rapid, jagged breaths. "Where was Dad when Mom was sick in that hospital bed, Harper?"

I looked away, staring at the floorboards.

"Where was he?!" he demanded, stepping right up to me.

"Noah, stop it..."

"Where was he when we couldn’t even afford her basic treatment?!"

I couldn’t answer him. The memory burned like fire in my throat.

"Where was he when you had to take on extra exhausting night shifts just so we wouldn’t get thrown out onto the street?!" He pointed a shaking finger at my chest. "Where was he when Emma had to take a second job as a teenager just so we could buy groceries because Mom couldn’t work anymore?!"

Emma lowered her head, her hand covering her mouth as quiet tears spilled over her cheeks.

Noah shook his head bitterly, tears shining in his own eyes. "It was always about money."

I looked back up at him, my vision blurred. "What?"

"Everything was about money," his voice trembled, but he didn’t slow down. "Dad left us because his new rich wife had money. Her family had political influence and money. He knew he could benefit from them, so he tossed us out like trash!"

"Noah, please..."

"It was money!" He took another aggressive step forward. "Mom was sick and dying, and we couldn’t treat her properly. Why?"

I swallowed down a hard lump of grief. "Money."

"You had to work yourself to the bone until you almost collapsed. Why?"

"Yes..."

"Emma had to sell her things and work extra hours. Why?"

Emma gave a tiny, painful nod from the couch. "Money," she whispered.

"Exactly!" Noah yelled, turning and pointing directly at my phone. "So you cannot sit here in front of me and tell me that Justin shouldn’t have used his own money to push your video and make sure the world heard the truth!"

I stared at him, my heart breaking for my little brother. "Noah, that is not the same thing!"

"Why isn’t it the same thing?!"

"Because he should have asked me first! It was my choice!"

"Yes!" He threw his hands up in the air wildly. "Fine! He should have asked you first!" His voice boomed off the ceiling. "I agree with you on that! He crossed a line!"

He took a deep, ragged breath, trying to steady himself. "But do not turn Justin into some evil villain just because he wanted your mother’s story to finally reach people!"

"I am not turning him into a villain!"

"You are!"

"No, I’m not!"

"You are acting like he stabbed you in the back and betrayed you!"

"He made a massive decision about my life without consulting me!"

"And he made that decision because he loves you, Harper!"