My Mothre’s Guilt journal Became My Cancellation Notice Chapter 06

My Mothre’s Guilt journal Became My Cancellation Notice Chapter 06

The opportunity came quickly.

After the Graham family broke off the engagement, Celeste’s new invitation still had not been officially finalized.

The Graham family was probably waiting for Garrett to return from overseas.

My father grew anxious.

The Sullivan family could not afford a second public embarrassment.

So he hosted a family dinner.

He invited two senior relatives from our side, a senior representative from the Graham family, and Mrs. Graham’s personal assistant.

On the surface, it was meant to explain the misunderstanding between the two families about the engagement.

In reality, it was meant to make me accept the blame for the broken engagement in front of everyone.

When I arrived in the dining room, Celeste was already sitting beside my mother.

She wore a pale pink dress, with my pearl barrette pinned in her hair.

That barrette had been sent over by my grandmother for my fifteenth birthday.

I glanced at it but did not stop walking.

My mother still looked unwell. The accountability journal lay within reach beside her.

As soon as my father saw me, he went straight to the point.

“Ivy, since the Graham family has concerns, you should step aside. If Celeste can secure the engagement with Garrett instead, at least both families can avoid further embarrassment.”

Celeste immediately lowered her head, tears falling onto her skirt.

“Dad, I wouldn’t dare take Ivy’s engagement.”

She said she would not dare, but her hand gently touched the pearl barrette.

My mother opened the accountability journal, her voice low and tired.

“This is all my failure as a mother. I failed to raise them properly, and that is why things between my two daughters have come to this.”

She pushed the journal toward the relatives.

“Ivy has been stubborn all these years. The Graham family’s concerns are not entirely without reason.”

I stood in the middle of the dining room, my hands and feet cold.

It was not because I was afraid of them.

It was because my body remembered.

It remembered that every time my mother opened this journal, I was supposed to lower my head.

My father’s older brother sighed. “Ivy, since your mother has already said this much, you should be more reasonable.”

I raised my eyes and looked at the accountability journal.

The journal was open to the first page.

The ink had faded with age.

[My older daughter, Ivy Sullivan, was not properly taught as a child. She wounded her sister’s heart over a mere object.]

I walked over and placed a medical record on the table.

“When I was six, Celeste fell ill, but it wasn’t because I refused to give her the necklace.”

My mother’s hand stiffened sharply.

Celeste looked up at me.

I pushed the medical record toward the relatives.

“The nanny gave her the wrong dose of medicine. The hospital has the record, and the nanny was fired afterward. Mom knew.”

The dining room went silent.

My father’s expression darkened. “Where did you get this?”

“Mrs. Carter, who used to work for my grandmother, kept it.”

Then I took out the necklace and placed it beside the medical record.

The pendant landed on the glass tabletop with a soft sound.

Celeste instinctively touched her neck.

It was already empty.

“This necklace was a gift from my grandmother. My name is engraved on the back.”

I looked at Tara.

“Three days ago, you took it to a jewelry store and tried to have the words on the back buffed off.”

All the color drained from Tara’s face.

Celeste clutched her skirt, her voice tight. “Ivy, don’t make things up. Mom gave me that necklace.”

“Mom gave it to you?”

I turned the pendant over, revealing the words engraved on the back.

“Then why did you need my name removed?”

Celeste’s face turned pale little by little.

I looked at my mother.

“Mom knew all of this. But she still wrote the first page in the accountability journal and put the blame on me.”

My mother’s lips moved.

No sound came out.

I continued by taking out the copy shop order.

“What the Graham family received wasn’t just a few photos of the accountability journal. Someone had the pages scanned, organized, formatted, and turned into a file.”

Standing behind Celeste, Tara’s knees went weak, and she dropped to her knees.

Celeste immediately cried out, “Ivy, do you have to destroy me?”

I looked at her.

“You didn’t ask me that when you used my name to get yourself that invitation.”

Her crying stopped short.

I placed the draft note on the table.

[If the Graham family is still willing, Celeste is prepared to continue the engagement between our families in Ivy’s place.]

Mrs. Graham’s assistant’s expression changed.

The Graham family’s representative also stood.

My father snatched up the paper, his knuckles turning white.

“Who wrote this?”

Celeste shook her head through her tears. “It wasn’t me. It was Tara. She acted on her own.”

Tara collapsed to her knees and hurriedly begged, “Miss Celeste, you were the one who told me to go. You sent me the money yourself, and the texts are still on my phone…”

“Shut up!”

Celeste screamed so sharply her voice broke.

My mother suddenly coughed once.

Her voice was very soft, yet Celeste immediately closed her mouth.

“Enough.”

My mother looked at me. There was exhaustion in her eyes, along with deep reproach.

“Ivy, your sister made a foolish mistake. By laying all this out today, are you trying to ruin her life?”

I looked at her.

Even now, she still protected Celeste first.

I asked, “Then what about me?”

My mother fell silent.

I flipped the accountability journal to the newest page.

That page had not been finished yet.

[Today, my older daughter, Ivy Sullivan, refused to show consideration for her sister’s situation and harbored resentment. That is my failure as a mother.]

I lifted it up.

“Mom, even now, you’re still writing my name into this.”

My mother’s eyes finally reddened.

“I’m writing about my own mistakes.”

“But every page starts with my name.”

This time, she had no answer.