Chapter 2 Three Years Apart

At the top of the stairs, darkness swallowed everything. The only light came from a small skylight overhead which let in a faint bit of moonlight, barely enough to make out the shapes in the attic.

The air was thick with mold and dust, so suffocating it was hard to draw a full breath.

Stella swept her gaze through the dark until she found what she was looking for — a small figure curled up in the corner near a beaten-down sofa.

It was a child, terribly thin, wearing ill-fitting old clothes that were dirty and wrinkled.

His hair was matted to his forehead, his face streaked with grime, his features barely visible.

He held a wooden doll with flaking paint, pressing himself further into the corner as if he could disappear into the wall..

The moment Stella saw him, something inside her chest seized with a pain so sudden and deep it knocked the air out of her.

This was her son, Jared.

The same Jared she'd thought about day and night. The one who had kept her going as she clawed her way up from hell.

She'd pictured him so many times—he should have been plump and well-fed, dressed in something soft and clean, giggling in a room full of light.

Not like this. He looked like something the world had simply forgotten about, left in a corner to quietly disappear.

She slowed her steps, inching closer bit by bit. She didn't want to startle him.

"Baby..."

The small figure flinched like he'd been struck, shrinking so far back into the sofa's crease that he nearly vanished. A low, frightened sound escaped him.

Stella froze.

Her son was afraid of her.

She crouched down, softening her face into the gentlest expression she could manage, and stretched out her hand.

"Don't be scared, I'm your mother..."

Before her hand could touch him, Jared's eyes widened in terror, as if he were seeing some horrible monster, and he hurled the wooden doll at her!

It struck her temple. It didn't hurt, but in that instant, her heart shattered into pieces.

Jared's body shook violently with fear as he mumbled incoherently, "Bad... bad person... go away..."

Stella's hand hung in the air, still reaching, going nowhere.

She looked at Jared's eyes, full of fear and wariness, with not a trace of attachment to his mother—only strangeness and rejection.

Three years. What had Miles and Ella done to her child?

She suddenly stood up, no longer looking at the child who had just broken her heart, and rushed back down the stairs.

Like a gust of wind, she burst back into the warm, bright ballroom.

Stella ignored everyone and walked right up to Miles.

"Why treat him like this?" Her voice came out raw. "Miles, he's your son!"

Miles looked at her, losing control, the disgust in his eyes deepening.

He couldn't even be bothered to say much to her. He simply pulled a folded document from his suit pocket and threw it on the ground in front of her.

"My son?" He let out a short, contemptuous laugh. "Stella, have you lost your mind so completely that you've forgotten what you did? Open your eyes and look carefully—that's not my child at all. Even giving him food is charity!"

The papers scattered on the floor—a "Paternity Test Report."

The conclusion read: "Biological relationship excluded."

Impossible!

This absolutely couldn't be true!

Stella's legs nearly gave out.

She stared hard at Miles, as if trying to find even the slightest hint of guilt on his handsome but cruel face.

But there was none.

The guests around them instantly erupted.

"Oh, my God! So the child isn't Mr. Hudson's?"

"I knew it! How could Mr. Hudson let his own child live in an attic?"

"This woman has no shame—carrying someone else's child and daring to show up here!"

"Three years ago, when they said she committed business fraud, I was skeptical, but now it seems like there's nothing this woman wouldn't do."

The vile words crashed over Stella like a rising tide.

Miles was satisfied with this effect. This was exactly what he wanted—to ruin her reputation, to make sure she could never hold her head up in this circle again.

He leaned down, close to her ear, speaking in a voice only they could hear, "A crazy woman and a bastard child—you two are quite the match."

"You bastard!"

That sentence was the last straw that broke the camel's back.

The hatred and despair Stella had accumulated over three years exploded in that moment. She raised her hand and swung it with all her strength toward Miles's face!

But her wrist was caught mid-air by a hand.

Miles flung her away forcefully, throwing her to the ground.

"Have you gone crazy enough? Security! Throw this crazy woman out!"

Immediately, two large security guards stepped forward, grabbing Stella's arms from both sides and dragging her out without mercy.

"Miles! You'll regret this! You will definitely regret this!"

Her screams dragged out in long echoes as she was hauled across the cold floor, finally cut off completely by the heavy oak door.

Outside the villa, it had started to rain.

Raindrops pelted her body, instantly soaking through her thin jacket.

The guards threw her down like garbage at the bottom of the steps outside the villa entrance. The cold rain mixed with mud on the ground, splashing all over her.

She lay on the ground, her whole body trembling—whether from cold or from hatred, she couldn't tell.

Just then, a delicate lace-trimmed umbrella appeared above her head.

Stella slowly looked up to see a face with perfect makeup, wearing a victor's smile.

It was Ella.

"Stella, it's been three years—how did you let yourself become such a mess?"

Her voice was still like a snake's, cold and slick.

Ella crouched down, leaning close to her ear. "Oh, I forgot to tell you—that paternity test, and your psychiatric evaluation from three years ago, I arranged both of them."

Stella's pupils contracted sharply.

"Surprised?" Ella looked at her reaction, smiling even more happily.

"From beginning to end, Miles only believed me. He said a vicious woman like you doesn't deserve to bear his child."

She raised her left hand, showing off the diamond ring, waving it in front of Stella.

"Next month, we're getting engaged. When that happens, I'll completely get rid of that bastard child he's keeping in the attic. What do you think—where does an unwanted crazy kid end up? An orphanage, or... somewhere worse?"

Ella enjoyed her misery enough, then stood up satisfied, holding her umbrella, and walked away in elegant steps.

Leaving behind just one sentence.

"Stella, you'll never beat me in this lifetime."