Dennis Lane bit his lip, his nose twitching as tears welled up in his eyes. He looked utterly miserable, arms reaching out as he tried to hug Andrew Lane.
“Dad, please don’t be like this…”
Andrew Lane merely lowered his eyes and said, “Stand up straight.”
His voice was calm, but there was an authority in it that made it hard to look him in the eye.
Dennis’s arms dropped stiffly to his sides.
Isabella Austin’s mother’s heart ached for her grandson. “Andrew, he’s just a child…”
Andrew Lane’s tone stayed cold and unyielding. “That’s enough. If he won’t apologize, he can stay right here.”
Emily Blair was a little surprised by how uncompromising Andrew was—he was determined to make Dennis apologize to her. She’d thought Andrew, like Isabella’s parents, spoiled Dennis and let him get away with anything.
Her mind flashed back to her previous life, to the image of Dennis, flanked by bodyguards, bullying her daughter. A shadow passed through her eyes.
Dennis clutched the hem of his shirt, sniffling as he shuffled over to stand in front of Emily. Reluctantly, he mumbled, “Sorry…”
His voice was barely a whisper, trembling so much Emily could hardly make out the words.
Before she could respond, Andrew Lane’s brows snapped together and he barked, “Say it louder.”
Dennis blurted out the apology, then instantly turned and ran into Isabella Austin’s mother’s arms. At the sound of his father’s voice, he flinched, burying his face against his grandmother and crying out, “Grandma!”
Isabella Austin’s mother’s expression hardened as she glared at Andrew. “That’s enough, Andrew! Dennis is your son—Emily Blair is an outsider! Isabella just left us, and instead of comforting Dennis, you’re taking an outsider’s side and bullying your own child?”
Andrew’s stance didn’t waver. “This isn’t about anything else. When you do something wrong, you apologize.”
She pushed Dennis into Isabella Austin’s father’s arms and marched up to Andrew. “Dennis has already apologized. What more do you want? He’s my grandson. If you don’t care about him, I do.”
Andrew’s jaw tightened, a faint crease forming between his brows.
Isabella Austin’s mother shot Emily Blair a look of pure dislike.


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