David continued his tirade, his voice cold and cutting. The humiliation spread through her entire body in a flush of hot shame. He listed restriction after restriction.
The maids standing beside David didn’t intervene or question.
Her heart throbbed with deep, aching pain.
But she didn’t make a sound.
“Get out! Go reflect on yourself!” David, having vented his rage, tiredly waved his hand.
Amelia turned indifferently. Her legs were numb from standing rigidly through his tirade for so long.
She stumbled, then, step by step, walked toward the study door.
Outside the study room, Beatrice’s face showed undisguised mockery. “Amelia, looks like your position as Mrs. Rowe won’t last much longer.”
As the Harlows’ real daughter, Beatrice looked down on everyone and thought she could always crush Amelia, the imposter, into the dirt.
But who would have thought Amelia would luck into marrying Ethan Rowe?
Amelia glanced at her coolly. “What, if I don’t last long, you want to take my place?”
“Still talking tough in this situation!” Beatrice taunted.
Amelia couldn’t be bothered with her and stood there expressionless.
But Beatrice continued to mock maliciously in her ear. “For all your airs, you can’t even compete with a widow with a kid. How pathetic.”
Amelia didn’t engage in any pointless argument with Beatrice and left the estate indifferently.
She called a rideshare.
As she waited, the night wind brushed past. Under the harsh glare of the streetlights, she felt utterly defeated, lost in her thoughts.
But that feeling was nothing compared to the hurt of Ethan leaving without hesitation.
When she got home, she didn’t see Ethan or Hannah.
But upstairs, the light in the main bedroom was on.
Amelia immediately went upstairs.
Pushing the door open, she found Isla seated at the low table in the bedroom, forcefully twisting a robot figurine.
It was the gift she’d given Ethan on their third anniversary.
No Sex for Six Years Because of Her? I’m Done!
Amelia’s heart clenched.
Ethan usually enjoyed looking at firearms and mechanical things.
So back then, she’d gone to great lengths, pulling countless strings to find over a dozen different types of decorative bullet casings.
She’d spent an entire week piecing the bullets together into an imposing robot figure.
When she gave it to him, Ethan’s reaction hadn’t been particularly enthusiastic. He’d raised an eyebrow, held it in his hands and examined it carefully for a long time, then finally said, “You put a lot of thought into this.”
But Amelia knew he liked it.
And from that day on, the robot had always been displayed in the most prominent spot in the bedroom.
But now, something she’d poured her heart into was being maliciously destroyed by a child.
“What are you doing?” Amelia said coldly to stop her. “Put it down.”
Isla jumped in fright, her movements stopping.
But when she turned around and saw it was Amelia, her expression became arrogant.
Not only did she not put it down, she hugged the robot even tighter.
“Ethan already gave me this room to stay in! Everything here is mine. I’m not giving it to you.”
Amelia almost wanted to laugh at this backward logic.
She looked down at this spoiled child, her eyes devoid of warmth. “Is that so? Then wait until he actually becomes your father.”
“Isla, what’s going on?”
Just then, Ethan and Hannah’s footsteps came from downstairs as they headed up.
Hearing the familiar voice, Isla became even more emboldened.
She huffed at Amelia triumphantly, then suddenly raised the figurine in her hands and smashed it hard on the floor.
The robot instantly shattered into pieces, bullets and parts scattering everywhere.
Isla immediately covered her eyes and burst into loud tears.
“What’s going on?”
The moment Ethan stepped into the bedroom, he saw Isla crying her heart out while Amelia stood frozen in place, her face ghostly pale.
And on the floor, the figurine he’d always treasured lay in pieces.
His heart ached inexplicably, as if something important had been forcibly broken apart.
Hannah followed right after.
Isla immediately found her support and threw herself pitifully into Hannah’s arms, crying while completely twisting the truth. “Mommy! I just thought this looked pretty and wanted to pick it up to look at it.
“But the moment Ms. Harlow came in, she yelled at me! She even said I deserved to have my daddy die! Wahhh … and then she deliberately smashed this thing, saying Ethan would be really angry when he saw it and would kick me out … “
Listening to these completely fabricated accusations, Amelia almost wanted to laugh from anger.
She’d never known a child’s schemes could run this deep.
And at this moment, Hannah’s performance began too.
Her eyes reddened as she looked at Amelia with grief and indignation. “Ms. Harlow, I know you’re angry at us for appearing at your grandfather’s celebration. If you’re mad, take it out on me. Why take it out on a child? Isla is only six years old, and her head is still injured. How could you treat her like this?”
Amelia straightened up.
She looked at them with their touching performance and said coldly, “Just because she’s young, she can mess with other people’s things?”
Just then, Hannah seemed to notice the shattered, distant look in Amelia’s eyes.
She immediately released her daughter and reached out to grasp Amelia’s arm, her posture extremely humble. “Ms. Harlow, I’m sorry. It’s all our fault for coming … “
Her grip was firm. The unwelcome contact made Amelia shake off Hannah’s hand forcefully.
“Ah!”
Hannah cried out and went limp, falling to the floor.
“Mommy!” Isla screamed and rushed over like a madwoman, pounding Amelia’s legs with her small fists. “You bad woman! You hit my mommy! You want to kill my mommy!”
“Enough!”
Ethan finally stepped forward and picked up the hysterical Isla.
He frowned, speaking with displeasure.
“Amelia, Isla is just a child. She didn’t mean it. Did you really need to lose your temper like this? And push someone?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.