Chapter 438
Aveline took it, looking completely lost.
She glanced down.
But with just a single glance, her mind just blanked out.
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“What is this?” Ryker took the paper from her. The first line made him suck in a sharp breath. He stared at Stella in shock. “Are you really cutting all ties with us?”
The agreement made it crystal clear: [Stella would never take a paternity test, and the Clinton family could never interfere with her life for any reason, ever again.]
She was officially cutting all ties with the Clinton family.
“Just to set the record straight,” Stella said offhandedly. “Before any paternity test, we were basically strangers. So how could we possibly ‘cut ties’ when there were never any ties to begin with?”
Ryker was at a complete loss for words.
He was so thrown off, he couldn’t even speak.
“Then what do you call this?” Ryker snapped, shaking the document in his hand.
Stella just smirked, unfazed. “Take it however you like.”
“Stella…” Aveline clutched her chest, her eyes blurred with tears. The words on the paper hit her like a bolt from the blue. “How could you break your mother’s heart like this?”
She’d gone through so much just to get her daughter back, and now, she wouldn’t let go.
She thought, ‘Why would Stella hurt me like this?’
The door was flung open from the outside. Emerson held the door with one hand, something clenched tightly in his other, his breathing heavy and uneven from running.
A strong gust of wind swept through the hospital room, whipping the white curtains and tossing Stella’s long hair around her cheeks. As her eyes shifted, she looked impossibly beautiful.
The two of them locked eyes.
Emerson’s eyes grew misty, on the verge of tears.
Stella looked at him calmly, her expression distant, saying nothing.
“Stel…” Emerson started, but the nonchalant look in Stella’s eyes made him stop short. He quickly corrected himself, “Ms. Carter.”
Emerson was sharp. From the moment Stella handed him the necklace, he saw right through her. She’d never
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Chapter 438
planned on coming back to the Clinton family.
Everything happening now was all part of Stella’s plan from the very beginning.
She’d even predicted that Sophie would end up hurting herself and bleeding out.
From the start, everyone had fallen right into her trap.
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Emerson fought back the urge to break down, but he still pulled the necklace out of his pocket and held it out to her, refusing to give up.
This was a standoff between two sharp minds, both knowing exactly what the other was thinking, each pushing to see who’d blink first.
“Emerson…” Aveline called out, her voice trembling.
She sprang to her feet, staring at Emerson in shock, not understanding why he had that necklace in his hand.
Stella raised an eyebrow in anger.
Her expression remained completely blank.
Her expression was icy and chillingly indifferent.
She reached out and took the necklace, then, without a second thought, ripped it apart right in front of everyone. The diamonds, each one once handpicked by Aveline for her precious little girl, tumbled to the floor, scattering everywhere.
The diamonds clattered to the floor, one after another.
It was as if their broken family ties were scattered just like those diamonds, impossible to piece back together.
Everyone stood there, left speechless.
Emerson slowly shut his eyes, and the stack of clear medical record photos of Stella was handed to him by Sebastian, slipped from his grip, scattering across the floor one by one.
The wind swept them up, pushing the photos right to the Clinton family’s feet.
In those photos, Stella’s arms, legs, and even the skin hidden under her clothes were all covered in bruises and purple marks. Not a single spot was left untouched.
Ever since she was little, broken fingers were just the start.
Her legs broke.
Her ribs broke.
Her arms broke.
Pain was just a part of her everyday life. She’d gotten used to it.
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Chapter 438
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In every single photo, Stella’s eyes were empty and lifeless, like all feeling had been drained out of her.
“Th-These…” Aveline stammered, staring at the photos in utter shock. Her heart felt like it had been stabbed, the pain raw and overwhelming. Her hands shaking, she crouched down and started gathering the photos.
Dexter was so shocked he could hardly breathe. His voice came out in a whisper, “Why didn’t the doctors call the cops?”
“Because…” Stella shot him a cold look, her eyes like ice. “Someone made sure the hospital kept quiet.”
Dexter stared at Stella, his voice trembling. “Who was it?”
Behind them, the monitor tracking Sophie’s vitals started beeping in warning. It was a clear sign that her rare blood supply was about to run out.
“If you want her to survive, sign it,” Stella said, her voice icy as she gestured to the papers in Ryker’s hand.
Aveline clutched the photos to her chest, completely breaking down. “My Stella…”
Emerson looked away, trying to compose himself.
He blinked back his tears, refusing to let anyone see him cry.
Now he finally understood why Mr. Gray had let him come upstairs. It was all about making him choose: would he get his sister back, or would he decide the fate of the Clinton family?
Sophie was shaking all over on the hospital bed, panic flooding her as she stared at the blood bag. There was barely any left. Maybe just enough for another minute, if that.
“Mom…” Sophie whimpered, her voice barely above a whisper.
She continued, “Please… Save me…
“Emerson…
“Save me, I don’t want to die…”
Sophie’s frail cries for help just kept coming, each one ripping Aveline apart inside. The pain was so sharp it felt like her mind was splitting in two, but she was so shattered she couldn’t even force out a single word.
Finally, “I’ll do it,” Emerson said, his voice hoarse.
He’d be the one to set her free.
“Emerson!” Aveline cried out, her voice breaking.
“Emerson!” Dexter called out, his voice trembling.
Aveline clutched the photos, sobbing uncontrollably, while Dexter just stood there, completely at a loss for words.
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Chapter 438
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They could only watch as Emerson took the agreement from Ryker, picked up the pen, but the tip just hovered over the paper, refusing to touch it.
Stella let her long lashes fall, lazily twirling a sharp scalpel between her fingers.
There was a brief pause.
Emerson closed his eyes, abandoning his usual businesslike flourish, and wrote his name on the paper, each stroke deliberate, as if he were carving his fate into it.
Aveline broke down in Dexter’s arms, crying her heart out, but in the end, she just couldn’t bring herself to stop Emerson.
“Here,” Emerson said, handing the agreement to the chief of Harmony Law Firm.
The chief gave a small smile.
He took the agreement.
After a quick check, he nodded at Stella in acknowledgment.
Only then did Stella finish her interrupted sentence. She glanced at Emerson, her voice cool and casual. “The Clinton family. It was the Clinton family who pressured the hospital into silence, stopping them from reporting to the police.”
Emerson’s eyes snapped wide open in disbelief.
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