Right outside stood Vance, holding Josh in his arms. Phoebe stood beside him, holding Rowena’s hand gently.
They looked like the perfect family portrait.
But the moment their eyes met Estela’s, the smiles vanished.
Josh brightened for half a second–then quickly scowled, as if remembering something. He turned his head and buried it in Vance’s shoulder.
Rowena shot Estela a look of pure disdain, even acting like she was about to spit.
Phoebe, catching Estela’s expression out of the corner of her eye, gently patted Rowena’s hand and whispered to calm her down.
Vance gave a slow, deliberate smirk. His sharp eyes swept over the woman in the elevator, then down to the thermos in her hand.
‘Just as I thought. No matter how much she acts like she doesn’t care, she can never really let go of the kids. So that’s why she shows up this late–she was home making soup for Josh,‘ he thought.
“How convenient,” he said coolly. “Right on time.”
Estela didn’t respond. Her gaze slid past the four of them, calm and detached.
Internally, she sighed. ‘What rotten timing.”
The air turned stiff, silent.
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Josh peeked back at her and spotted the thermos in her hand.
He scoffed. “Oh, so now you show up with soup? I don’t want it anymore. Take your soup and leave!”
Since both Josh and Phoebe had fallen ill these past few days, most of the attention had shifted to them–leaving Rowena feeling neglected.
She was quietly resentful and took it out on Estela. “Mom, either come or don’t! Don’t show up whenever you feel like it–it’s so annoying! Now you bring soup? It’s too late! My brother and Phoebe are already better!”
‘If Mom had come earlier,‘ she thought bitterly, ‘she could’ve taken care of my brother. Then Phoebe wouldn’t have had to do it!‘
Phoebe gently bit her lip, her expression calm and gracious as she spoke up, “Estela, the kids are still young. Please don’t take what they say too seriously.”
Estela gave her a pleasant smile. “Finished?”
Before any of them could answer, she reached out and pressed the button for the tenth floor. The elevator doors swiftly slid shut, cutting the four of them off mid-reaction.
She let out a breath. ‘Much better.‘
She knocked on the hospital room door, but there was no response.
After waiting a few moments and confirming no one was inside, Estela sent Spencer a message.
X: [Something came up. Door wasn’t locked. You can wait inside. Be back soon.]
Out of habit and respect, Estela sat down on the bench outside instead
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of going in directly.
With everything quiet around her, her mind wandered back to the scene from earlier.
Josh’s fever seemed to have broken. He didn’t look nearly as bad as he did in the photo.
She remembered a similar scare when he was three–he had a raging fever that lasted an entire week. She’d been so terrified he might suffer brain damage, she cried nonstop for days.
When modern medicine didn’t help, she turned to spiritual solutions. She climbed a mountain to a church, praying for a safety charm to protect him.
And, miraculously, not long after, his fever subsided.
But later, Rowena accidentally let something slip.
Turned out, little Josh had faked the whole thing to avoid preschool. At just three years old, he’d snuck into the bathroom while everyone was sleeping and taken a cold shower to spike his body temperature.
And where had he learned the trick?
From none other than Phoebe–who’d apparently taught it to him as a “clever way to skip school.”
Looking back now, she felt foolish.
Maybe it was then–or maybe even earlier–that she’d already become an outsider in her own family.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group was still frozen in shock from how quickly Estela had left.
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Vance stood silently, his eyes locked on the elevator doors that had just closed.
Josh blinked in confusion. ‘Isn’t Mom here to see me? Why does she leave?’ he thought.
His lip trembled as he fought back tears.
Just then, the public elevator doors opened.
Rosalyn rushed out, worry etched across her face. The moment she saw Josh’s pale little face, her heart ached. “Oh, sweetheart! You poor thing! Come here–let Grandma take a good look at you.”
“Grandma!” Josh burst into tears, arms flung wide. Vance passed him
over.
“Mommy doesn’t want me anymore!” he sobbed in her arms, pouring out every hurt feeling and grudge he’d kept bottled up over the past few days.
“She what?” Rosalyn’s expression darkened instantly as she scanned the hallway. “Where is Estela? Her son’s this sick and she just disappears? What kind of mother does that?”
Josh cried even harder.
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