Vanessa's POV
For a moment, all I could hear was the echo of the slap.
I held my cheek as it burned. My eyes watered—not from the pain, but from the humiliation.
I had kept this secret buried for three years, and now it was scattered across the open floor. Everything I had gained from the lies… I felt it slipping away in seconds.
Mrs. Styles stood in front of me, her expression so calm it made my heart beat faster.
"I don't know why I'm not surprised," she said, looking at me from head to toe. "Perhaps… it's because I always expected the worst from you."
My chest tightened. "Mum… please… please let me explain—"
"Explain?" Her brows arched. "Do you think there is anything you can say that will justify this?"
"Yes," I said firmly.
She stared at me, incredulous, as if I had just cracked a joke. Her broad smile made my stomach twist.
Julian stood a few steps behind her—frozen.
The eyes that once looked at me with love were now filled with coldness and disbelief.
"Julian…" I called softly, reaching toward him.
He flinched.
That tiny movement terrified me more than anything.
He stepped forward slowly, jaw clenched so tight the veins in his neck stood out.
"You said you wanted to explain," he said.
FLASHBACK — Several Years Ago
Vanessa and Elena sat in a café, eating cakes and drinking hot chocolate. Vanessa noticed Elena's mood drop.
"Girlie, what is it?" Vanessa asked.
Elena looked up and sighed.
"Come on," Vanessa urged, reaching across the table to hold her hand. "You can tell me anything."
"Really?" Elena whispered skeptically.
"Of course. We're best friends, right?"
Elena leaned forward, and Vanessa mirrored her.
"Don't tell anyone, okay?" Elena whispered.
Vanessa nodded and sealed it with a pinky promise.
"Julian and I went for a medical test to check if we're compatible. We are… but…" Elena paused.
"But what?" Vanessa pressed.
"You remember the accident Julian had a few months back?" Vanessa nodded. "I think it affected him. We did a fertility test. I picked the results yesterday. It showed Julian can't make me pregnant."
Silence hovered between them. Elena sipped her hot chocolate.
"What are you going to do?" Vanessa asked carefully.
"I'll just tell him I lost the result. When we're married, I'll explain everything."
"That's great," Vanessa said with a smirk, taking another sip of her drink.
FLASHBACK ENDS
"A few days later," I continued, my voice trembling, "I changed the story. I told you Elena was the one who couldn't get pregnant. My ex, Daniel… he slept with me before he broke up with me, and you slept with me the next day. I didn't want a child out of wedlock so I—"
"So you changed the story," Julian cut in, his voice pained. "You let an innocent woman take the blame—for a devil like you."
"I didn't know," I said quickly. "Julian, I swear on my life, I didn't know. I thought—"
"You thought what?" he asked quietly. "That I wouldn't find out? That your infidelity could be hidden forever?"
Each word was a dagger.
"Julian, please. He's still your baby. You raised him. You held him. You—"
"That isn't the point, Vanessa."
His tone trembled—not with anger, but with devastation.
Mrs. Styles stepped in sharply.
"You will leave this ward immediately. My grandson—" she paused, lips tightening, "—my son's child is in a vulnerable state. He does not need an indignant, lying whore of a woman."
Her words slapped harder than her hand.
I stepped back, shaking. "Please… I'm still his mother—"
"For now," she muttered. "Until we decide what to do next."
My pulse raced. What were they planning to do?
I looked toward Murphy's bed. I could see his tiny arm from where I stood, his chest rising and falling softly.
I tried to move toward him, but Mrs. Styles blocked my path like a wall.
"No," she said coldly.
Julian's voice broke the silence.
"Go home, Vanessa."
I shook my head desperately. "No. I need to be here. He needs me."
"Right now," he said through clenched teeth, "I need you to leave."
Tears spilled down my cheeks. "Julian, please don't shut me out. Please don't listen to her. I didn't plan this. I didn't know. I swear, if I had—"
"If you had known," he said quietly, "would you have told me?"
The question knocked the air out of me.
I opened my mouth—
But no sound came out.
Because I already knew the answer.
Julian's eyes hardened.
"That's what I thought."
He turned away from me.
Mrs. Styles raised her hand. "Security."
Two guards appeared immediately.
I stumbled back. "No… please. Don't do this. Don't take me away from my son—"
"Take her out of this ward," Mrs. Styles ordered. "She is not allowed back in until further notice."
I struggled, tried to push past them, but one guard held my arm firmly.
"Ma'am, please cooperate," he said softly.
My legs nearly gave out as they pulled me away.
"Julian!" I cried. "Julian, please—look at me!"
He didn't even spare me a glance.
*
I sat in the hospital lounge, trembling. My knees shook as I awaited my fate.
I didn't blame them. No, I blamed myself.
I could have stayed with Murphy. I could have been smarter. But luxury made me comfortable… and I was dragged out of it violently.
The door opened, and Mrs. Styles stepped in. She sat opposite me, immediately placing a stack of papers on the center table.
"I have arranged this in a way that benefits both parties," she said calmly. "You will sign these divorce papers and an agreement relinquishing all parental rights to Murphy. You will never be a part of his or Julian's life again."
She slid a check next to the papers.
"Fifteen million farqus."
"And what if I refuse?" I asked, forcing myself to meet her eyes.
She didn't blink. "There are many ways to kill a rat."
"I'll sign," I said quickly.
Fifteen million farqus wasn't massive—but it was still something. I signed everything and passed the papers back to her, then picked up the check.
A thought struck me.
"What about Julian?"
She stood, leaned closer, and said:
"Julian will go before the week ends to beg Elena for forgiveness. She loves him… and she'll make a wonderful stepmother."