laugh.
“I helped you start your business, and you got a taste of success. You went along with hiding the truth from your sister because you wanted to curry favor with me, to secure more of my support.
“Kai, ask yourself this. Would your sister ever have wanted you to help her like this?”
The harsh truth struck.Kai like a slap to the face, and his expression turned ashen. Callista would never have
wanted this.
Otherwise, why would he have gone to such lengths, conspiring with Luther to keep it all hidden?
“Callista was pregnant. She had an abortion. The baby didn’t make it.
“And her first child? The miscarriage was because of the pregnancy tonic my mother gave her,” said Luther in a cold, unrelenting voice.
Kai stood frozen. It was as if he was struck by lightning. His lips moved, but no sound came out.
“Look at yourself now. This is karma,” Luther said, though it was as much for himself as for Kai.
“Callista doesn’t want you anymore. You’re now nothing but a stray dog.”
“No… no, that’s not true. My sister…”
“Even if Callista comes back, Wren’s child will always be there to remind her of what you and I have done.”
Kai’s face was drained of all color. The house staff then dragged him out of Luther’s place and tossed him beyond the gates.
Kai then stumbled back home, bruised and battered.
As he reached his doorstep, a memory flashed in his mind. It was Callista’s gaze as she sat in the car he called for her that night. She had looked at him with a mix of heartbreak and finality.
His chest tightened with panic. Kai staggered inside and pulled up the surveillance footage from that night.
When he found it, his heart plummeted. The recording showed that right after he and Luther had entered the house, Callista had followed them in.
While he deliberately dawdled in the basement, Callista stood motionless in the living room, silently waiting. When he came out carrying the crates of beer, she had asked where Luther was.
1/2
Chapter 17
+25 BONUS
Now, looking back, Kai realized that had been her final chance for him. But, he had lied to her as he always did. That last look she gave him in the car wasn’t a glance of hesitation–it was one of finality. She had given up on him completely.
Kai collapsed into a chair while shaking his head in denial.
No. It couldn’t be true.
Callista had always been the one to love and protect him. Even during the darkest years after their parents‘ sudden death, she had never thought about leaving him.
He had made countless mistal
in the past.
During his rebellious teenage years, it was Callista who repeatedly dragged him out of internet cafés and nightclubs when he skipped school and ran wild, no matter how late it was.
Every penny she earned through grueling work had been spent on him, and not once had she truly blamed him. She had always said, “I won’t give up on you, and you’re not allowed to give up on yourself. Whenever you’re ready to start again, I’ll be there to help.”
She had forgiven him so many times. Why couldn’t she forgive him just once more?
Tears blurred his vision as Kai began pounding his own head in anguish. How could he have forgotten all of this? It had always been him who owed Callista. Callista owed him nothing.
“Cally, I’m sorry. I was wrong,” he whispered. His voice broke, and he finally collapsed into unconsciousness.
When Kai regained consciousness, he was in a hospital bed. Voices floated through the haze of his mind.
“Isn’t that Mr. Spencer’s mistress? I heard her baby is due any day now.”
“It’s so unfair. Mrs. Spencer was with him for five years, but she still couldn’t compete with a mistress who could give him a child.”
“Poor Mrs. Spencer. She didn’t deserve this.”
The voices faded as the speakers walked away, but every word burned itself into Kai’s mind. Kai’s fingernails dug into his palms as a chilling thought surfaced.
Luther was right–Wren’s child would always stand as a reminder of their betrayal.
But what if….
What if the child just… disappeared?
