Chapter 106 Old Love Ruins Good People
Lenora stared at her grandmother like the woman had just spoken another language.
“Explain properly,” she said.
Her grandmother folded her hands calmly on the table.
But Lenora noticed it now.
The carefulness.
The way she chose every word like it could explode if handled badly.
“Years ago,” the older woman began, “your mother and his father were involved.”
Lenora frowned immediately.
“Involved how?”
A pause.
“In love.”
The word hit harder than expected.
Lenora leaned back slightly.
“No.”
Her grandmother didn’t react.
“That relationship ended badly,” she continued. “Very badly.”
Lenora shook her head again.
“This makes no sense.”
“It doesn’t need to make sense to you yet,” the grandmother replied.
“There you go again.”
The older woman ignored the comment.
“After things ended, your mother married your father. His father built his own family. Everyone moved on publicly.”
“Publicly?” Lenora repeated.
That word mattered.
Her grandmother nodded once.
“But some people don’t move on privately.”
Silence settled heavily again.
Lenora’s thoughts were moving too fast now.
The hockey boy.
Their families.
Pamela knowing something.
The setup.
Then one thought cut through all of it.
“Does he know?” she asked quietly.
Her grandmother’s eyes lifted to hers slowly.
“No.”
Lenora exhaled sharply.
“So this entire time—”
“You were walking into something older than you understood,” the grandmother finished.
That irritated her instantly.
“Stop talking like I accidentally joined a mafia war,” Lenora snapped.
The grandmother’s expression sharpened slightly.
“Watch your tone.”
Lenora laughed once.
Short.
Disbelieving.
“No,” she said. “Because everybody keeps acting like I’m supposed to calmly accept all this cryptic nonsense while my entire life falls apart.”
The room went quiet.
Then—
For the first time—
Her grandmother looked tired.
Actually tired.
“You think I wanted you dragged into this?” she asked quietly.
Lenora crossed her arms tighter.
“I think you knew this would happen eventually.”
Silence.
That silence answered enough again.
Lenora stood up immediately.
Chair scraping sharply against the floor.
“You knew.”
Her grandmother stayed seated.
“I knew reconnecting the families could become dangerous.”
Lenora stared at her.
“And you still let it happen?”
The older woman’s voice lowered.
“I underestimated how far someone was willing to go.”
Pamela.
The rumors.
The stalking.
The setups.
Someone wasn’t just bitter.
They were deliberate.
Lenora ran a hand through her hair slowly.
Trying to breathe through the mess in her head.
“So what now?” she asked finally.
Her grandmother looked at her carefully.
“You stay away from him.”
Immediate.
Final.
Lenora laughed again.
This time sharper.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“That’s your solution?”
“It’s the safest one.”
Lenora stared at her for a long second before shaking her head.
“No.”
The grandmother’s expression hardened slightly.
“You’re becoming emotionally involved.”
“And?” Lenora shot back.
“And emotional people make reckless decisions.”
Lenora stepped closer to the table.
“No,” she said quietly.
A pause.
“People hiding secrets make reckless decisions.”
That one landed.
Her grandmother looked away briefly for the first time in the conversation.
Interesting.
Lenora noticed immediately.
“You still care about what happened,” she said slowly.
The older woman didn’t answer.
That silence said enough too.
“Oh my God,” Lenora whispered.
Her grandmother looked back at her sharply.
“It’s not what you think.”
Lenora almost laughed again.
“How would I know what to think? Nobody tells me anything properly.”
Her grandmother stood slowly this time.
The room suddenly feeling smaller again.
“You need to understand something clearly,” she said.
Lenora held her gaze.
“The people creating this chaos are counting on emotions repeating history.”
Lenora frowned.
“What does that even mean?”
“It means,” the grandmother said carefully, “your mother and his father destroyed lives because they thought feelings mattered more than consequences.”
Silence crashed into the room.
Lenora stared at her.
Destroyed lives?
“What did they do?” she asked quietly.
But before her grandmother could answer—
A phone rang sharply.
The older woman looked annoyed immediately.
Pulled her phone out.
Answered.
“Yes?”
Her expression changed almost instantly.
Lenora noticed.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
“What happened?” the grandmother asked sharply.
A pause.
Then silence.
Long enough to become terrifying.
The grandmother stood completely still.
Lenora’s stomach tightened.
Then the older woman ended the call slowly.
Too slowly.
“What?” Lenora demanded.
Her grandmother looked at her directly.
“The hockey boy was injured at practice.”
Everything inside Lenora dropped instantly.
“What?”
The grandmother’s expression stayed unreadable.
“There was an accident.”
Lenora grabbed her bag immediately.
“What happened?”
“We don’t know yet.”
That wasn’t enough.
Not even close.
Lenora was already moving toward the door.
“Lenora.”
She turned sharply.
Her grandmother’s eyes held hers carefully.
“This is exactly what I warned you about.”
That sentence stopped her cold.
Because suddenly—
It didn’t sound like concern anymore.
It sounded like knowledge.
And Lenora hated that.
Hated the timing.
Hated the feeling creeping into her chest.
Because what if this wasn’t random either?
What if somebody had just made another move?
And this time—
They used him.