Chapter 281

Chapter 281:

Damn it! He was on a business trip just when she was ready to confront him. He had gone too far this time.

Stella was enveloped in an angry aura all day, making her colleagues tremble with fear. They didn’t know what had happened but kept their distance.

After work, Stella rushed to the hospital to visit Adrian, who immediately asked her where “Bad Uncle” had gone.

“Your bad uncle was sold to South Africa by human traffickers to become a bride,” Stella replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Oh? What’s a child bride?” Adrian asked curiously.

“Er... A child bride is... well, in the old days, she was a girl bought to be the wife of a rich man’s son...” Stella struggled to explain, realizing how unusual her son’s questions were.

“Oh, so a wife can be bought? Did bad uncle buy you back then, Darling?” Adrian’s innocent question left Stella speechless.

In a way, his analogy wasn’t far off.

She had, indeed, been like a dowry maid marrying into a family in ancient times, used as a placeholder. And once the noble lady recovered, she was nothing but a decorative piece.

How sad.

Though she was free now, her wish fulfilled after six years, there was still a part of her that hadn’t fully let go. Perhaps if she had never returned, she would have lived the rest of her life in peace.

But she did come back, and now she had to face RK again. Knowing his character, it was impossible for him not to find out the truth when he saw Adrian. Yet, she still tried to hide it. In the end, their encounters always ended in conflict.

Six years ago, when she left with her suitcase in hand, she never thought of returning. X City no longer felt like her home. It was just a place in her past.

Exclusive chapters at gⱯlnσν푒ls.com That afternoon, Stella decided to take some time off. Instead of heading to the hospital, she went to the cemetery.

When her mother passed away, Stella hadn’t fully understood what death meant. As a young girl, she kept asking when her mother would come back. At first, her father, David, had been patient, but eventually, he grew frustrated and told her the truth.

Stella still remembered how it felt when she realized her mother wasn’t coming back. Though she didn’t understand death fully, she had felt a deep sense of despair, a hopelessness that remained etched in her heart.

That same feeling of desperation had washed over her when she almost lost Adrian. She had been terrified, and though she had always thought of herself as a competent mother, at that moment, she realized how unprepared she truly was. Instead of acting, she had been paralyzed with fear, just like a child who needed protection.

She had often made fun of RK, but in truth, he was far more patient with Alia than she was with Adrian. Despite RK’s flaws, when it came to Alia, he was kind, gentle, and always caring. Compared to him, she felt inadequate as a mother.

Maybe she wasn’t as fit to raise Adrian as RK was. Perhaps it was time to consider letting Adrian live with his father, where he might grow up happier and healthier.

“Did I do something wrong?” she whispered to the silent cemetery. “I couldn’t take good care of Adrian... so why did I insist on having him and raising him on my own? He’s suffered so much with me... have I made a terrible mistake?”

The cemetery was still, offering no answers. Stella stroked the photograph on her mother’s tombstone, gazing into the familiar eyes that once looked at her with love and care. Memories flooded back—happy moments when her family had been whole, and her mother had always been there for her.

“I remember once I cut my hand with a knife,” Stella began softly. “I cried and cried, and you bandaged it up. I thought I was going to lose all my blood. You told me I needed to eat more vegetables to make up for it. I ate them every day for weeks because you said it would help.”

She smiled faintly at the memory.

“Another time, I hit a classmate with a stone in kindergarten. You took me to his house to apologize, only to find out that his parents were your former classmates. You both ended up chatting, and by the end of it, I became good friends with that boy.”

Stella paused, her voice growing quieter.

“I still remember the first time you and David fought. I don’t know if it was your first fight, but it was the first one I remember. You were usually so calm, but that day you raised your voice. I was so scared... I hid behind the door and didn’t dare make a sound.”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she continued, “I knew, even back then, that David was having an affair. And later, I found out that it had been going on for a long time. But you... you never knew.”

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