Chapter 2

2

Sylvia suddenly rushed over and grabbed my wrist.

"Stella, how can you slander us like that? Hudson and I didn't do anything!"

I shoved her away with everything I had.

Sylvia stumbled back, her body swaying as she headed straight for the corner of the heavy wooden table.

"Ah!" She let out a piercing scream.

Hudson lunged forward like a lightning bolt.

"Stella Sterling! How dare you touch her!"

He shoved me back with brutal force.

My body, weakened from the recent delivery, couldn't hold its ground. I crashed heavily onto the floor.

The pain from my fresh C-section wound felt like a hot iron searing through my skin.

It hurt. It hurt so much I couldn't breathe.

Blood began to soak through my nightgown immediately. My vision blurred as cold sweat broke out across my forehead.

But Hudson didn't even look at me. He was already at Sylvia's side.

"Sylvia! Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?"

He checked her over frantically, his hand gently stroking her forehead.

He completely ignored me as I lay there in a pool of my own blood.

"Hudson, I'm fine… please, go look at Stella," Sylvia whispered weakly, tears streaming down her face.

My mother-in-law screamed. "Oh my God! Call 911!"

My father-in-law fumbled with his phone to call for an ambulance.

The room descended into pure chaos.

I lay on the floor, feeling the agonizing rip in my flesh. I watched Hudson's back as he cradled Sylvia.

So, this was my worth in his heart.

I wasn't even worth as much as his former sister-in-law.

The paramedics arrived quickly.

As they lifted me onto the stretcher, Hudson was still busy comforting Sylvia.

"Don't be scared. I'll go to the hospital with you for a checkup."

I closed my eyes.

My heart had officially turned into a block of ice.

In the operating room, the doctors had to restitch the tear in my incision.

The anesthesia made me groggy, but the ache in my soul was sharper than any physical pain.

I don't know how much time passed, but it was late at night when I finally woke up.

The hospital room was empty and silent.

Hudson finally showed up, pushing the door open with a weary look.

His eyes were bloodshot as he walked to my bedside.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you so hard," he said, and a tear actually fell from his eye. "I was just afraid you'd hurt Sylvia. She's so fragile."

I stared at his tears.

They were the tears of a crocodile.

"Is Sylvia okay?" I asked tonelessly.

Hudson blinked, surprised that I would even ask.

"She… she just has a minor bruise. They've already bandaged it."

"That's good."

I closed my eyes, unable to look at his face any longer.

"Stella, we need to talk."

Hudson sat on the edge of the bed. "I know you're angry, but we can't just end everything over a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" I opened my eyes and locked onto his.

"You were half-naked with her in that memorial room. You call that a misunderstanding?"

"Stella, we really didn't do anything!" Hudson insisted. "Sylvia just misses her sister. We were just talking about Seraphina."

"Since when do you need to take off your clothes to talk?"

Hudson was left speechless.

I turned my head to look out the window at the city lights.

"Have your lawyer bring the divorce papers tomorrow."

"Stella!" Hudson stood up abruptly. "Do you have to be like this? Seraphina is gone. Are you really going to hold a grudge against a dead woman?"

I laughed, a dry, hollow sound.

"Hudson, do you know what I was thinking just now?"

He stared at me, confused.

"I was wondering if I died today, would you miss me the way you miss Seraphina?"

"But I realized you wouldn't."

"Because you never loved me."

Hudson's face went pale.

"That's not true, Stella. I love you."

"You love me?" I cut him off.

"A man who loves his wife doesn't leave her alone during a life-threatening fever to be with another woman."

"A man who loves his wife doesn't grope her sister in front of a memorial."

"The person you love was never me."

"You love Seraphina's ghost, and you love Sylvia because she looks like her."

Hudson tried to argue, but I shut my eyes again.

"Bring the papers tomorrow."

"Otherwise, I will make sure the whole world knows exactly what kind of man the CEO of Sterling Group really is."