Goodbye You Never Loved Me novel (Martha and Stefan) novel Chapter 549

Now that everything had settled down, Martha felt it was time to go back and see Jimmy.
Hearing Stefan's idea of leaving Z Country in three days, King Ducasse nodded lightly without saying anything.
On the second day after Clark was sentenced, King Ducasse had Catherine Queen Dowager brought back.
After Catherine was brought back to the royal palace, the director of Loyal Hospital prescribed some medicine, and told King Ducasse that as long as Catherine Queen Dowager was properly cared for, she would soon rid her body of all toxins.
The next day, Catherine couldn't wait to have King Ducasse call Martha and Stefan into her palace.
This time when Martha and Stefan saw Catherine again, they weren't as angry as before.
Stefan even looked somewhat embarrassed at his mother, not knowing what to say.
Since what happened last time, he knew clearly that Catherine was his mother but still didn't know how to get along with her.
Martha also felt a little awkward seeing Catherine again, because after all she had misunderstood the latter before.
But instead of being embarrassed like them both, Catherine got up happily towards them, saying, "You're here."
"Um," they both responded softly, standing awkwardly on one side, not knowing what to say.
Finally it was Catherine who broke the silence first-- "Martha, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have treated you like that before nor should I have treated your mother like that."
"It's okay, now that everything is cleared up. It was my mistake thinking you killed my mother."
As Martha looked at Catherine, she paused slightly when she saw gray hair on either side of Catherine's face.
Catherine was actually born in same year with Martha's mother.
If Martha's mother were still alive, she would look just like this too.
"You can forgive me, it's really great," Catherine Queen Dowager said with a smile on her lips upon hearing Martha forgiving her.
"Catherine, you're too kind."
Martha thought about what happened earlier, and felt sorry for Catherine.
She thought Catherine was the mastermind behind all of this, but she turned out being so pitiful.
After resolving issues between herself and Martha, Catherine, full of expectations, turned around and looked at Stefan.
From the reaction of the two when they were locked in the dark room last time, Catherine knew exactly how important Martha was to Stefan.
Now that she had received Martha's forgiveness, her son would not reject her anymore, right?
Thinking like this, she called out expectantly, "Stefan."
"Um."
Stefan responded softly but couldn't bring himself to call her "mother".
Catherine was patient. When she heard Stefan replied to her, she was already very happy inside.
She smiled wryly and pulled Stefan to sit on the chair next to hers.
Then she turned around and saw Martha still standing there and quickly said with a smile, "Martha, you should sit too."
"Okay."
Martha replied softly without speaking again.
She knew that Catherine was obviously trying to get them talking now.
The next second, Catherine's slightly choked voice echoed through the bedroom which made both Martha and Stefan stiffen their bodies.
"Kids, let me tell you about my past story," Catherine said.
"Before I married the late king, I was already in love with Stefan's father. Although at that time, the late king had to choose his wife, I was not a candidate because the Lucas family had far more power than the Hopper family."
"So because of the Lucas family, it was impossible for me, the Hopper family's daughter, to become a queen."
"My parents were clear about this, so they allowed me to be with my husband with whom I later gave birth to Stefan."
When Catherine spoke of it, her vision became blurred but there was a smile on her lips.
That was happiness brought by memories from past times which she still remembered now.
She was immersed in memories of the past as she parted her lips again and continued, "Everything had been predetermined, but everything changed suddenly on the eve of Elsie's wedding with the late king."
"Elsie ran away from marriage. The Lucas family went out looking for her but didn't find any trace of her. Since an auspicious day was chosen by Master for the late king's wedding day, the day cannot be changed, Also, because the late king just succeeded to the throne and needed to stabilize his position, he must marry a daughter of a big clan."
"So, all of this raised hopes of the Hopper family."
"While I had just given birth to Stefan after nine months of pregnancy, my parents forced me to leave my husband and child and marry the late king."
"I was unwilling in every way possible. But I never thought my parents would kill my beloved man, just to force me to marry the late king."
As Catherine spoke these words, tears flowed down her cheeks.
Her voice was tinged with a sobbing tone but she didn't stop speaking.
"Even my beloved child was said by my mother to have been drowned in the sea. I fell seriously ill at home; all I wanted was to commit suicide."
"But later on, they saved me and told me if I didn't marry the late king, then the Hopper family would be over."
"Later on, I married the late king and began hating Elsie as well."
A hint of bitterness appeared in Catherine's eyes as she enveloped herself in sadness.
Then her voice became low again as she spoke helplessly.
"I don't understand why Elsie ran away from marriage right before it happened. The late king didn't even blame her for it. If it wasn't because of her running away from marriage, then how could my parents hope for me to become a queen?"
"So I think all this suffering is caused by Elsie," Catherine said before breaking down into sobs.
Stefan's deep voice interrupted, "It's all over now".
Catherine wiped away tears from her eyes forcefully while looking sideways at Stefan who sat beside her.
"Luckily enough, my son has good fortune, so he is still alive," Catherine said with relief.
Stefan stiffened slightly before nodding, acknowledging their relationship.
The next second, he asked doubtfully "How did you find out about my identity?"
Catherine smiled at him, saying, "Because of your birthmark shaped like an eagle on your chest."
After pausing briefly, she continued saying, "I always thought you were already dead until I found your birthmark that day in the dark room, so..."
"So you went ahead with paternity testing?" Stefan interjected, finishing off what Catherine hadn't completed.
Catherine nodded gently, the curve of her lips unconsciously widening.
"I didn't believe you were my son at first, so I went to my mother to confirm. She said she wasn't that heartless to kill her grandson and just left you in a small basin for you to drift on the sea."
"Speaking of which, I also have to thank your parents abroad. If it weren't for them, you wouldn't have turned out so well now."
After saying this, she looked at Stefan with pride.
She felt sorry for everything her child had gone through but was also grateful that he had met his previous foster parents who had educated him so well.
Stefan only completely unlocked his last shackle after listening to all of this.
In fact, Catherine hadn't done anything wrong herself and was even the one who suffered hardships before.
Now what right did he have not to forgive her?