Yvonne was the kind of person who would always stand her ground. She never let anyone mock or taunt her without responding in kind. She could sense the jabbing tone in Guinevere’s words earlier, and whether it was intentional or not, Yvonne wasn’t one to let it slide. She had to fight back.
After Yvonne spoke, the atmosphere around the table shifted. Guinevere’s face hardened, her expression turning cold and blank. The air became thick with tension, and an uncomfortable silence fell over the room. No one knew how to break it.
Yvonne absentmindedly twirled her spoon, unsure of what she had said to make the mood so heavy. Lucas, ever the quiet observer, pushed more food onto Yvonne’s plate, silently urging her to eat. Yvonne accepted it without a word, her mind still preoccupied with the conversation’s shift.
She knew that Guinevere was uncomfortable with the fact that she had a child out of wedlock. Guinevere’s desire for a pure and noble reputation had been tarnished by such a thing, but she tried to convince herself that it didn’t bother her. The discomfort was clear, though. Guinevere might pretend that it didn’t matter, but it clearly did.
For Yvonne, the situation didn’t faze her. She didn’t care about the circumstances surrounding a child’s birth—things like that happened, especially when a couple had spent a long time together. But what she found amusing was that Guinevere looked down on people in similar situations, despite the fact that she herself had had a child with Weston before marriage.
Yvonne never intended to bring up such a sensitive topic at the dinner table. She had always been the type to avoid causing offense or anger. If Guinevere hadn’t teased her earlier, she would have been just as respectful as ever. But now, the silence around the table was palpable.
Weston, unfazed by the tension, calmly continued his meal. He cut his steak into smaller pieces with a graceful precision before exchanging his plate with Guinevere’s. The gesture, though wordless, spoke volumes. He was showing his devotion to her without a single word. The room, still silent, could feel the weight of his actions.
Stella, noticing the exchange, immediately lowered her head, focusing on her food. She gripped her thigh tightly beneath the table, her fingers digging into her skin, but her face remained unreadable. She couldn’t help but remember the first dinner she had with Weston after their marriage. They had been in a fancy restaurant, just like this, eating steak. Weston had cut her steak into bite-sized pieces, just as he was doing now, as if it were his duty. At the time, she had thought it was a small, kind gesture, a sign of his tenderness.
Now, she realized how foolish she had been to read into that gesture. It wasn’t a special moment—it was simply a habit that Weston had formed during his time with Guinevere. The realization stung.
Guinevere, on the other hand, was slowly regaining her composure. She looked lovingly at Weston, her expression softening. “Didn’t I tell you,” Weston suddenly spoke, his voice calm as he wiped his hands, “that I will always care for you and our baby, even if we’re not married? A marriage license is just a piece of paper.”
Yvonne couldn’t help but pout, a mocking smile tugging at her lips. She could see right through Weston’s words. He was trying to defend Guinevere. Before she could fire back with another comment, Lucas suddenly reached under the table and grabbed Yvonne’s hand, silently warning her to stop. He held her hand firmly, signaling that it was time to move on.
Stella, meanwhile, had not spoken a word the entire evening. She kept to herself, trying her best to stay unnoticed. The sight of Weston and Guinevere acting as a happy family made her stomach churn. The mention of their child, already born, made her think of her own. She remembered her baby—her child, so full of promise, now lost. Her heart twisted with pain as she thought of the unfairness of it all.
Why did they deserve such happiness while she was left with nothing? They had taken everything from her, including her only child, and yet they continued on with their lives as though nothing had happened. And now, she was forced to change her name and run away to another city, hiding from the world they had made her part of. She had been nothing but a pawn in their game of love, a worthless plaything to be discarded when they were done.
As Stella placed a piece of fish into her mouth, a wave of nausea suddenly overwhelmed her. Before she could stop it, she gagged, and the food threatened to rise up. The rush of sickness caught her off guard, and she quickly covered her mouth, trying to hold it back, but it was too late. The bile rose in her throat, and she felt the bile threatening to spill out.
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