“Son-” As soon as the call went through, Stefanie’s voice rang out. Alex, however, stared at his phone, silently looking at his mother who was seated on the couch.
Stefanie had a feeling that Alex wasn’t in a good mood. She was about to ask why when she noticed the bandage wrapped around his neck. She was instantly startled as she asked, “Oh my, what happened to your neck, son? Did you get hurt?”
Alex felt a little frustrated at the same time. He was so occupied with confronting his mother that he forgot he was injured. However, he only lost his composure for an instant as he quickly calmed down and said indifferently, “It’s nothing.”
Stefanie, however, asked in concern, “How did you get hurt? Is it serious? Weren’t you looking for Jewel? Why would you get hurt?”
Her words of concern caused Alex to feel like crying for one second. He knew that his mother loved and cared for him, but why did she treat the girl he loved like that? He looked at her, his eyes turning red. “I bumped into Damian.”
When Stefanie heard that, she looked stunned. Then, she feigned ignorance as she asked, “Damian? I-Is that the man who took Jewel away?”
Alex watched as his mother pretended to be clueless, a mocking smile appearing on his lips. If he hadn’t run into Damian, the incident his mother plotted back then might have stayed a mystery forever.
“Aren’t you the one who knows the answer the best?”
When Stefanie heard that, she suddenly lost confidence. What did he mean by that? Could it be that her son already knew about what happened?
No wonder he looked so upset. How did he find Damian? Also, why was Damian so foolish that he would expose everything?
She smiled sheepishly, feeling lucky as she said, ‘I just heard it from you.” Alex sneered. “Is that so? Why do I have a feeling that you knew each other a long time ago?”
Stefanie was so scared that she gulped instinctively. “What do you mean?”
Alex looked at her and said coolly, “You’re hiding it even at times like this. Are you thinking of hiding it from me forever?”
Stefanie panicked, saying, ‘Did you learn of something, son? That incident is in the past now. If she doesn’t do anything outrageous, I am not opposed to the idea of you dating her. Do you know how hard it is for me to say that?”
He scoffed, a sad tone in his voice as he said, “How shameless can you be to say things like that? Back then, when you gave Damian 70 thousand to hire some hooligans and told him to play along with you, were you the least bit hesitant or regretful?”
Those words rang out like thunder in Stefanie’s ears. Even the tiniest sliver of hope left in her heart was gone. Just as expected, he knew everything.
Stefanie knew that there was no point in hiding it anymore. She took in a breath and said, “Back then, I wasn’t able to separate you two. You refused to listen to me, and I was forced to do it because I was out of options. Don’t blame me for this, son.”
Alex looked at her, doing his best to suppress his anger. He held his breath for a long while, trying to hold back the tears welling up in his eyes.
“Then, why didn’t you just tell me that she’s Winnie’s daughter? I might have a better solution then! Do you know how important purity is to a girl? How can you harm her in such a vile way? You not only got some hooligans to humiliate her, but you even set. things up on purpose so that I would see her going out of the hotel with Damian. And just like you planned, I got mad at her and broke her heart. You turned me into your accomplice. How am I supposed to face her again?”
Stefanie’s eyes were filled with tears as well. “My husband fell for Winnie, and my son fell for Winnie’s daughter. I couldn’t make my husband stay, and now my son is leaving me too. Are you and your father so intent on proving to me that I’m a loser? Am I fated to lose to a woman named Winnie all my life? How can you expect me to tell you about such a shameful past?”
