4
Hearing that cry, I pushed through the crowd.
Seeing Nina’s small face, red from being
smothered, my heart clenched, and rage
exploded within me.
I lunged forward, snatched Nina back, and
then, like a maniac, I started kicking and
stomping the man. “Why did you try to steal
my baby? Why? WHY?!”
I roared, tears streaming down my face.
L
The man, seeing things were going bad,
turned and fled.
I couldn’t tell if I was shaking from fear or
anger. My legs gave out, and I collapsed to
the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
The crowd around me gradually dispersed.
I was a wreck, trying to comfort Nina even as
I fell apart.
Suddenly, a tissue was offered to me.
It was the woman who had helped me just
now.
I wiped my tears and knelt before her. “Thank
you, thank you so much for stopping him!”
Seeing me like this, tears welled up in the
woman’s eyes too.
She gently helped me up. “You don’t need to
thank me. In a way, I was helping the woman I
used to be.”
The sadness emanating from her stunned me.
Seeing me alone with a baby, a bandage on
my forehead, she asked with concern,
“Where’s your family? How could they let you
manage all this alone?”
I looked down, thinking of Landon, whose
phone went straight to voicemail. A bitter,
heartbroken smile touched my lips.
“I’m an orphan. Besides my child, I have no
family.”
The woman paused, opening her mouth as if
to comfort me, but then closed it, remaining
silent.
My phone was dead, and I had no cash on
- me.
I looked at the woman, finding it hard to ask,
“Ma’am, could you possibly lend me some
money for a cab? My phone died.”
The woman agreed without hesitation.
On the way home, I learned her name was
Susan Holland. She was from out of town,
searching for her daughter who had been
L
missing for over twenty years.
Speaking of her daughter, a deep sorrow
enveloped Susan.
“But I don’t know why, seeing you and your
baby at the hospital, I felt such a strange
connection.”
The car pulled up to the Forrester mansion
just as Mrs. Forrester’s former assistant was
arriving.
Something clicked in my memory. I quickly
handed Nina to Susan and hurried over to
him.
He gave me a manila envelope and left.
I tore it open.
Seeing the agreement inside, a wave of relief
finally washed over my face.
Landon stormed out, with Vivian trailing
behind him, wearing one of my nightgowns.
The moment he saw me, his hand shot out
and slapped me across the face.
“Stella Miller, are you fucking asking for it?
Look at this video! Are you really that
desperate for attention, you’d do anything to
go viral?”
Landon threw his phone at my face. I didn’t
dodge in time. It hit my wound, and the pain
made my vision go black for a second.
The phone clattered to the ground, its screen
still playing the video.
It was the scene from the hospital, me
wrestling to get Nina back.
I looked up, my gaze sweeping over Landon.
Then I saw Vivian behind him, a malicious
smile twisting her otherwise indifferent
expression.
I understood instantly what had happened.
Landon suddenly grabbed my throat. The lack
of air made my face flush red instantly.
I stared at Landon’s face, hatred and fury
exploding inside me. I gripped the envelope
L
and swung it hard at his face.
The documents inside scattered.
Vivian picked up the agreement. Her eyes
widened in unconcealed delight. “Stella,
you’re divorcing Landon?”
Hearing this, Landon froze for a few seconds.
He let go of me, snatched the papers from
Vivian, and when he saw “Divorce Agreement”
at the top, his face instantly darkened again.
I stumbled back a few steps, gasping for air.
“Stella Miller, so you like to play games, huh?
Fine, I’ll play along!”
Landon scrawled his name a_cross the
signature line with a flourish. “Stella Miller, I
hope you don’t come crying back to me,
regretting this!”
I gathered the agreement.
I pulled out the two plane tickets from the
envelope.
I let out a quiet breath.
L
Leaving you, Landon, is the one thing I’ll
never regret.
5
The heavy front door of the Forrester
mansion creaked open again.
Vivian Calloway stood on the staircase, a
queen surveying her domain.
With Landon gone, her ambition was on full
display, sharp and glittering.
She tossed a canvas duffel bag at my feet; it
was stuffed with my old clothes.
“Stella Miller, be a dear and deal with your
garbage yourself.”
Her voice dripped with contempt.
“Landon asked me to tell you, the divorce is
on, but don’t even dream of getting a single
penny.
“However,” she added, a sly smirk playing on
her lips, “I did put in a word for you. If you’re
willing to crawl back in there right now, get
く
on your knees and beg him for forgiveness,
he might toss you twenty or thirty thousand.
A little parting gift.”
I just stared at her, a cold laugh building
inside me.
Then, right there in front of her, I pulled out a
lighter and set the clothes ablaze.
My eyes fell to the ring on my left hand.
Three years of marriage, and this cold, metal
band was the only proof we’d ever been bound together.
A shackle.
Vivian’s shriek brought Landon running. Across the leaping flames, I locked eyes with
him, my face an emotionless mask.
I twisted the ring, the shackle I’d worn for three agonizing years, off my finger.
Without a second thought, I tossed it into the
heart of the fire.
For a fleeting second, through the baze of bic
<
fury, I thought I saw a flicker of something
else in Landon’s eyes.
Panic, maybe?
But what did it matter?
Whatever he was thinking, whatever he was
feeling, I didn’t give a damn anymore.
I turned my back on him, on the burning
remnants of my past, and walked away.
Landon lunged, as if to grab me, but Vivian
Calloway, ever the actress, chose that exact
moment to crumple into his arms, whimpering
about a sudden pain.
He didn’t even hesitate.
He just scooped her up, cradling her like she
was made of glass, and carried her back into
the house.
I took Nina from Susan Holland’s arms, my
cheeks burning. “I’m so sorry you had to
witness that disaster.”
“And thank you, truly, for bringing me back.”
L
Then, clutching Nina tight, I walked away
without a backward glance.
I didn’t see the unspoken words, the worry, in
Susan’s eyes as I left.
I walked until I reached the main road at the
bottom of the hill before I finally flagged
down a cab.
Just then, my phone buzzed.
Good news from the police.
“Ms. Miller, the trafficker confessed. You
were abducted from South City all those
years ago!”
“We’ve contacted the South City PD to check
records of families with missing children, but
you need to get there as soon as possible for
a DNA test!”
My shattered heart, so heavy with pain, suddenly felt a wild surge of hope.
I quickly typed back “Okay,” a tear escaping and tracing a path down my cheek.
L
The plane tickets Mrs. Forrester had
arranged? I ripped them to shreds.
Then, I booked a new flight on my phone
one–way ticket to South City.
The earliest I could get was six the next
morning.
–
The three million dollars Mrs. Forrester had
promised as “compensation” was already in
my account.
I took Nina and found a cheap hotel near the
airport, just needing a place to crash for the
night.
As I was gently toweling Nina dry after a
quick wash, something caught my eye.
A small jade pendant, tangled in the folds of
her tiny clothes.
My eyes widened.
a
I fumbled at my own neck, pulling out the jade
pendant I always wore.
I held them side by side.
<
They were two halves of a whole, fitting
together perfectly.
Where had this other half come from?
I racked my brain. Who could have dropped
it? Was this some bizarre coincidence?
Before I could dwell on it, my phone shattered
the silence.
I answered.
Landon’s voice, cold and imperious, crackled
through the line.
“Stella Miller, I’m giving you one last chance.
You come back here, right now, this instant,
and I’ll pretend tonight’s little… outburst…
was just a bad joke. Otherwise…”
A bitter, sarcastic smile twisted my lips.
The Landon Forrester I knew never backed
down, never admitted fault.
And now? Now it was far, far too late.
I hung up on him.
Then, I pulled out the SIM card, snapped it
