Yvonne received a call from Courtney, who told her that the package she had mailed had arrived.
Yvonne acknowledged with a simple response.
Courtney asked, “What about that little bitch? You’re just going to let her off like that?”
Yvonne replied, “Of course not. There’s just no need to get my hands dirty.”
Courtney was relieved. Yvonne had never been the type to suffer losses. Even though she usually kept quiet, she had always been full of cunning back in the day. If the Stark family hadn’t gone bankrupt, Steven would never have been worthy of her.
Steven walked out of the café, driving aimlessly. Without realizing it, he had returned to their marital home.
He stood at the doorway, staring at the overturned furniture inside. After a long moment of silence, he suddenly stepped forward and began setting the tables and chairs upright. Then, as if in a hurry, he grabbed a mop and a towel and started cleaning.
He cleaned meticulously, wiping every crevice between the tiles over and over again.
Back when he and Yvonne made their first pot of gold, they spent all their money buying this house. Their renovation budget had been tight, so Yvonne had personally filled in the grout between the tiles.
She had worked for days, so exhausted that she couldn’t even straighten her back.
Now, the grout lines had been stained over time, and no matter how hard Steven scrubbed, he couldn’t make them look brand new again.
He threw the towel into the water with a heavy splash, droplets soaking his pant legs, but he was completely oblivious.
Standing up, he looked around at what had once been a warm and happy home. Now, it felt empty and disordered.
Steven walked to the sofa and slowly sat down. Suddenly, he felt something wedged between the cushions. He reached in and pulled out a small picture frame, no bigger than his palm. Inside was a black–and–white image.
It was a cropped scan from an ultrasound report. The picture wasn’t very clear, but in the center, a small, bean–sized oval shape could just barely be made out. Beside it was a name–Riley Chapin.
A memory surged violently into his mind.
“Yvonne, I’m sorry. This is all my fault,” Steven said.
“Steven, that was our first child,” Yvonne choked out. “It hurt so much.”
“Yvonne, this is on me. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have-” Steven kept apologizing.
“How did this happen? Why is our baby just… gone?” Yvonne sat on the bed, holding him as she wept.
Steven held her tightly, his eyes turning red. He took out the ultrasound scan and said, “Yvonne, our baby is still here. I gave it a name Riley, Riley Chapin. It’ll always be with us.”
“Riley?” Yvonne murmured.
“Yeah. Look, it’s so tiny.” Steven traced the image with his fingers. “It will always be in our hearts. Riley, Riley…”
Suddenly, Steven burst into uncontrollable sobs, his body trembling violently, as if his entire world had collapsed in that moment.
He clutched the frame tightly, as if trying to press it into his palm. Tears streamed down his face like a flood breaking through a dam, blurring his vision and falling onto the glass, creating tiny splashes.
1/3
Chapter 13
The picture frame holding Riley’s ultrasound was like a key, unlocking the most painful corner of his heart..
His cries echoed through the empty room, like a blade mercilessly carving into his soul.
Sharon returned home and, as soon as she pushed open the door, was immediately choked by the thick smoke in the room, coughing violently,
She saw Steven sitting in the living room, looking desolate. Smoke curled around him, as if he were completely engulfed in a mist.
The cigarette in his hand flickered faintly. The ash at the tip had grown long, yet he remained oblivious.
Frowning, Sharon strode over, opened the window to let in fresh air, then walked up to Steven and snatched the cigarette from his hand, pressing it out in the ashtray.
“What the hell are you doing? Smoking like this–are you trying to suffocate me and the baby?” she demanded.
Steven slowly lifted his head, glanced at her, then handed her a stack of documents beside him. “You can have this house, the car you always drive, and two million dollars in cash. Get rid of the baby.”
Sharon’s eyes widened in disbelief. “W–What did you just say?”
Steven’s expression remained indifferent. “I never loved you. You were always just a shadow of Yvonne to me. This child shouldn’t exist either. Take the money and get an abortion. After that, I never want to see you again.”
His voice was firm, leaving no room for doubt.
Tears streamed down Sharon’s face. “Steven, you can’t do this to me. I love you! I’m willing to have this baby for you!”
Steven mercilessly shook off her hand. “I don’t need your love, and I don’t want this child. This is your only option–otherwise, you get nothing.” He stood up, turning his back to her, refusing to look at her again.
Sharon collapsed onto the floor, the documents slipping from her hands and scattering around her. She shouted at him, “No way! You can’t just get rid of
me like this. I won’t abort this baby!”
Steven turned back and said coldly, “By tomorrow, I expect an answer. Otherwise, I won’t mind taking you there myself.”
With that, he pulled open the door and walked out.
In the middle of the night, Yvonne received a call from Steven.
It was his assistant on the line. The background noise was chaotic, and the assistant spoke cautiously, “Mrs. Chapin, Mr. Chapin has had too much to drink. He keeps calling your name, Could you come see him?”
Woken from sleep, Yvonne was mildly annoyed. Her voice, still drowsy, carried a lazy tone. “No. Find someone else.”
“Mrs. Chapin ” The assistant tried to say more.
Just as Yvonne was about to hang up, Steven’s voice, thick with alcohol and emotion, came through, choked with suppressed sobs.
“Yvonne, I’m sorry. I told her to get rid of the baby, he said. “I never expected her to be pregnant, and I don’t want any child other than Riley. Can you come back to me?”
Yvonne replied, “Steven, no one is going to take responsibility for your mistakes. And-”
She paused for a moment. Then her cold voice drifted through the phone like a ghostly whisper. “What makes you think I would want a filthy man like you?”
On the other end, Steven froze. His entire body went rigid, and in that instant, it felt as though the alcohol clouding his mind had cleared just a little.
2/3
11:52 Mon, 23 Jun⚫ G
Chapter 13
7”
His lips trembled slightly, desperate to explain, but the words got tangled in his throat, turning into an incoherent mess.
“Yvonne, it’s not what you think. I–I always-” Steven stammered, his voice thick with emotion, laced with panic.
His grip on the phone tightened, his knuckles turning white, as if holding on like this could somehow keep Yvonne from slipping away.
“I don’t want to hear the details of you and her. If you don’t sign the papers in three days, I’ll take legal action,” Yvonne said. “Steven, by then, your company’s plans to go public will be nothing but a dream.”
“Yvonne, do you really have to be this ruthless?” Steven said, his voice hoarse. “You once said the company was yours, too. If it doesn’t go public, it won’t do you any good either.”
Yvonne chuckled softly. “I’ve fallen from the sky before–what could possibly be worse than that? I can support myself now, and if I have to, I’ll just start
over.
“But Steven, you’ve fought so hard to reach where you are today. Are you really willing to gamble it all?”
“Yvonne, just give me another chance, please?” Steven pleaded, his voice growing louder, almost a desperate roar. “We’ve been through so much together. You can’t just give up on me, on us, so easily!”
His body trembled slightly, and for the first time, the alcohol seemed powerless against the sheer terror and anxiety surging through him.
But all he heard in response was the sound of the call being disconnected.
Steven stared blankly at his phone, listening to the beeping sound, as if the entire world had gone silent.
+
His hand dropped powerlessly to his side. His eyes, hollow and unfocused, stared ahead, his face etched with despair and helplessness.
AD
