Chapter 16
The twins looked at each other. ‘That. doesn’t sound right,’ they thought.
Josh muttered, “Actually, Phoebe asked to wear them.”
Phoebe’s face visibly tensed.
Callie clasped her hands behind her back and puffed up like a little adult. “Oh, so she’s the mistress.”
Estela couldn’t help it–a soft laugh escaped her. Callie really was trying to defend her.
“Enough!”
Vance’s face was like stone, his icy gaze locked onto Estela. “Is saying sorry really that hard for you?”
Estela stared back without flinching. “Then tell me–what exactly am I apologizing for? For loving my kids too much? Or for not showing up the moment my husband brought Ms. Silva into our home and dressed her in my clothes?”
Disappointment clouded Vance’s eyes. “You’ve really become so combative.”
Estela gave a small, bitter smile. ‘Combative? So that’s what he sees in me now, she thought.
‘If it had been I who’d had the allergic reaction, would Vance have even come to check on me?‘ She already knew the
answer–no.
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Her only crime was that she wasn’t the one he wanted to protect. That was all it ever came down to.
And honestly, she was just. tired.
She lowered her eyes, her pale lashes trembling slightly.
“Vance,” she said quietly, “Let’s get a divorce.”
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Before the weight of her words could even land, a piercing scream shattered the hallway’s stillness.
“Ah!” A woman in a hospital gown came tearing down the corridor, hair disheveled, eyes wild, a fruit knife glinting in her hand.
“You disgusting cheaters! If I’m going down, you’re all coming with me! DIE! You’re all coming to hell with me!”
Panic erupted around them–patients and family members screamed and scattered.
Phoebe went pale. “Vance!”
Without thinking, Vance pulled her and the kids behind him.
In the chaos, someone shoved Estela. She stumbled straight into the woman’s path and fell hard to the floor–trapped, with
nowhere to run.
“Vance!” she cried out instinctively.
But what she saw was Vance she’d once loved shielding Phoebe with his whole body.
Tears welled in her eyes. Even now, at a life–or–death moment, when it came to choosing–she was the one he left behind.
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Vance’s heart gave a jolt. He reached toward her. “Estela!”
“Mom!” Josh called out.
“Dad, don’t go! It’s dangerous!” Rowena tugged his arm in panic.
The deranged woman steadied herself against the wall, raised the knife high, and laughed maniacally. “Die, bitch!”
Estela squeezed her eyes shut. A hot tear rolled down her cheek.
‘If there’s a next life,‘ she thought, ‘I don’t want to be someone’s wife. Or someone’s mother. I just want to be myself!‘
CLANG-
A rush of clean sandalwood filled the air, followed by warmth- a presence that wrapped around her like a shield.
She could still hear the woman screaming, the sound of fabric tearing–but the pain never came.
Estela blinked.
A tall stranger stood in front of her, barehanded, gripping the knife.
He was striking–strong bone structure, dark and deep–set eyes. He must have been close to 6’3“, his sharp features softened only slightly by the gold–rimmed glasses he wore. Refined, elegant, but with a dangerous edge just beneath the surface.
Blood seeped through the sleeve of his white shirt, but he
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barely seemed to notice. With one hand, he pinned the attacker to the ground.
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In the crowd, Callie was encircled by a group of bodyguards. She called out, panicked, “Spencer!”
The man–Spencer Rangel–turned his head slightly, a flicker of amusement in his gray eyes behind the lenses.
Estela stared at him, stunned–but the dizziness hit her too
fast.
She collapsed into the crook of his injured arm.
Just before her world went dark, she heard a low voice murmur, “You little brat. fainting already?”
Not far off, Vance’s face darkened as he watched them. ‘Did she forget she was still a married woman?‘ he thought.
Josh tugged his sleeve and said quietly, “Dad. I think Mom’s afraid of the sight of blood.”
At Josh’s words, Vance finally relaxed his tense brow and
turned to leave.
But just as he stepped forward, Rowena–still pale and teary- eyed–suddenly cried out, “Daddy! Phoebe fainted!”
Hospital staff and the police arrived on the scene quickly, and the chaos was soon brought under control.
“She lost it after finding out her husband was cheating with her best friend while she was nine months pregnant,” a nurse whispered nearby. “Her oldest daughter even helped them. hide it. The shock caused her to miscarry, and her mental health completely deteriorated. No one knows what triggered
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her today.”
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Later, after regaining consciousness, Estela overheard the story from hospital staff.
The woman’s madness–it had been the final straw.
Estela bit her lip. “I’m not in a position to press charges. She hurt the man who saved me–it should be up to him.”
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