11
Pedro cornered me in front of my family’s estate. The moment he saw me, he lunged, trying to grab me.
“Stella, you’re finally back! I knew you couldn’t live without me! You have no idea what my life has been like these past few months. Debt collectors are harassing me every day. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep… Stella, I realize now that you’re the only one who ever truly loved me.”
“I’ll divorce Lily right now. Can we please get back together?”
He clung to my arm desperately. Just as I was about to shove him off, I saw Lily standing a short distance away, her face a mask of thunder.
I laughed. “I thought Lily was the love of your life. Isn’t that why you always stood me up for her, left me alone in the hospital for her, and even had a child with her right before our wedding?”
Pedro shrieked, “That’s different! Lily is fine as a friend, but she’s a terrible wife! She has no money, no talent, and she’s just a broke kindergarten teacher! What kind of life can a mother like that give our son?”
His eyes suddenly lit up with a supposed revelation. “I get it, Stella! You’re upset about my child with Lily. Don’t worry! If you agree to marry me, I’ll cut off all contact with her immediately. From now on, we’ll only have our own children, okay?”
I stared at his selfish, contorted face. See? This is what a man like him truly is. When his own interests are at stake, his supposed true love, his own child-they’re all just stepping stones.
Before I could respond, Pedro’s parents and sister scrambled out from behind a hedge.
“That’s right, sister-in-law!” his mother cooed. “We were blind before. Your sister here apologizes. We can all be one big happy family again.”
Pedro’s sister, all her previous arrogance gone, plastered a fawning smile on her face. “Sister-in-law, if you just help us pay off our debts and get our company back on its feet, we’ll make sure my brother treats you right.”
His father added his own sycophantic plea. “My dear, you are the only daughter-in-law our family has ever wanted. Pedro only married Lily to make you jealous. The moment you agree to take him back, they’ll get a divorce.”
Chapter 2
19.08
Lily looked like she was about to be sick.
I watched this family groveling at my feet and found it hilarious. They were never this polite before. In the past, they would accept the expensive gifts I brought, then promptly show me the door, while welcoming Lily with open arms, declaring that she was the only daughter-in-law they would ever accept. A little bit of money meant nothing compared to a true connection, they’d said.
And now, they couldn’t stop calling me their “dear daughter-in-law.”
I smiled sweetly. “So, you don’t need me to kneel and beg you to take me back this time?”
Pedro’s sister’s face went white. Then, with a thud, she dropped to her knees. “Sister-in-law, it was all ou fault. We’ll kneel for you.”
With that, the entire Lynn family knelt before me, bowing their heads to the ground again and again, just as
they had once forced me to do for their amusement.
When they were done, Pedro grabbed my hand, his eyes shining with hope. “Stella, are you happy now? Car
we be together again?”
I yanked my hand away. “Please, call me Ms. Sterling. My first name isn’t for just any stray to use. And you
wife is standing right there. She might get upset if she hears you talking like this.”
Lily strode over, her face pale with rage, and tried to pull Pedro away. But he violently shook her off.
“Don’t touch me! It’s all your fault! All of it!” he screamed at her. “If it weren’t for you, Stella would have never left me! Why did you have to have that damn kid? Why?!”
He started kicking and hitting her, all while screaming my name in a desperate, broken voice. “Stella, I’m going to divorce her right now! Please, can we just be together again?”
Pedro’s sobs were pathetic, but I didn’t look back. Just like he hadn’t looked back all those years ago when he left me alone on that mountain for Lily.
I knew, after today, the nightmare that had haunted me for seven years was finally over.
