BEARly Bitten by Natalie Kristen

Author:Natalie Kristen [Kristen, Natalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-18T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Lisa looked up when Ne-ma reached out and took her hand.

“Lisa,” Ne-ma said quietly. “Family isn’t about blood. You may be related to someone through blood, but that alone doesn’t make you family. Blood means nothing if there is no love and loyalty.”

“And sometimes...your blood relatives turn out to be your worst enemies,” Gramma said. “You have to choose your friends and family wisely. Yes, that’s right. You choose your own family, your own tribe. You have to know who has got your back...”

“...and who wants to stab you in the back,” Ne-ma finished.

Lisa blinked hard.

“You…you know what happened to me?” she whispered at last.

Gramma shook her head. “We don’t know your background. But we can sense your pain and loneliness, Lisa.”

“We really wanted to reach out to you, but you seemed determined not to let anyone get too close to you,” Ne-ma said. “You avoided eye contact with the townspeople and excused yourself in a hurry whenever someone tried to talk to you. You were trying to stay invisible. But...there was a certain longing in your eyes.”

“You wanted to belong,” Gramma said, putting her arm around Lisa. “You wanted to be part of our community. We noticed you the day you arrived in town, and we saw that you were alone so we did our best to look out for you while trying not to be too obvious and interfering.”

Lisa swallowed repeatedly. She was embarrassed at her own behavior and deeply moved that these two elderly ladies who hardly even knew her had taken the trouble to look out for her. They were just strangers, yet they genuinely cared for her well-being.

“I’m sorry,” Lisa blurted out suddenly. “I just wish...”

Gramma hugged her as Lisa broke down. She leaned on Gramma’s shoulder and cried for a long time.

Gramma and Ne-ma were right. Family isn’t about blood. The people who had plunged a knife into her back and twisted a blade into her heart were her own father and brother.

She had to face the awful, excruciating truth that she never had a real family. Philip and Gregg were related to her by blood, but they weren’t really her family. In fact, they were even worse than strangers. Mere strangers treated Lisa with more kindness and consideration.

Strangers didn’t try to sabotage her and destroy her. Philip and Gregg had set her up to take the fall for them. They had wanted her arrested and thrown into jail so that she would look like the guilty one.

They were hoping to point their fingers at her and pin all the blame on her. They were going to tell the investigators and prosecutors that Lisa was the one who had committed all those fraudulent acts, and that was why she was trying to steal the documents from Bryson to destroy the evidence of her crime.

Lisa dried her eyes and blew her nose noisily. “I...I don’t know what came over me...” she muttered.

“It’s good to give vent to your feelings. Cheer up, dear. Things will only get better from now on.

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