THE SPITEFUL BRIDE: Marry To Rival's Son novel Chapter 38

Chapter 38

She stared at the frail woman on the bed, then back at Stefan, as realization settled in. All this time… he never once spoke about her, never mentioned her name.

The last time Mia had heard anything about Stefan’s mother, she had just turned eighteen, freshly returned from boarding school. Whispers in the elite circle spoke of a scandal, a drug overdose. Some claimed she’d passed, others said she was flown out of the country. The media had covered it up swiftly, cleanly, like she had never existed.

After that, it was like she vanished from the face of the earth. Mia, like everyone else, had assumed she was dead. But she wasn’t, she was here. And all this time… Stefan had hidden her, and protected her alone.

Mia’s eyes slid to him slowly. He stood beside the bed, rigid and silent. There was no anger in his eyes, only grief. A grief that never left, a grief he had clearly carried alone. And suddenly, she saw him differently.

He would have been twenty when it happened… Just twenty, barely out of adolescence, barely knowing who he was. And yet he had carried this weight silently, hidden his mother from the world, buried her story with his own hands. While the world saw him as a cold, calculating, illegitimate son, no one had seen this side of him.

Mia’s throat tightened painfully, but the silence didn’t last long.

As Stefan stepped toward the bed, intent on approaching his mother gently, the fragile woman suddenly sat up, her body trembling, eyes wild as they landed on him.

“No!” she screamed, her voice raw and broken. “Get out! Get away from me!” Stefan froze, visibly shaken.

“You’re just like him!” she spat, trembling. “Like your father. You’re going to destroy her life the way he destroyed mine!” Mia stepped back instinctively, stunned.

“Mom…….” Stefan tried, but she only grew more frantic.

“You’re a demon, Stefan! Just like him! Cold! Ruthless! You don’t have a heart!” She was crying now, her hands clutching the sheets as if they could protect her. “Get out! Don’t come near me! I don’t want to see you!”

Mia stood frozen as the words echoed off the sterile walls, every one of them slicing through the air like a blade. Destroy her life…? Her? Did she mean Mia?

Was this why he said the other night? How long has she been saying those words to him?

Mia saw him pause.

It was just a fleeting second, but enough. Enough to see past the hard lines of his jaw and the cold mask he always wore. His eyes, usually unreadable, flickered with something raw, pain. Deep, aching pain. And for the first time since she met him, Mia saw Stefan truly broken.

And it bled her heart dry.

Without thinking twice, she stepped forward. Stefan, sensing her movement, immediately stretched out an arm as if to stop her. “Mia, don’t, she can get physical when she’s overwhelmed.”

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38 DON’T LEAVE FACH OTHER NO MATTER WHAT

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But Mia simply raised her hand and gave a soft shake of her head. “Let me,” her eyes told him.

He hesitated, lips parted to argue, but the quiet confidence in her gaze made him lower his hand.

Slowly, carefully, Mia walked over to the frail woman on the bed, her movements unhurried, tender, like approaching a wounded bird.

When she got close, she knelt beside the bed and softly said, “Mother.”

Margaret’s head snapped toward her, eyes still wild but less frantic now, confused.

“I’m Stefan’s wife,” Mia said, reaching gently to brush a strand of hair away from the woman’s face. To her surprise, Margaret didn’t flinch, she just stared.

“Stefan is nothing like his father,” Mia continued. “He’s kind, thoughtful, and protective. He’s the man every woman prays to find… and he’s this way because of you.” Margaret blinked slowly, as if trying to process the words.

“You raised him with love, and strength. I see it in him every single day. He isn’t heartless… he just hides his heart to keep it safe.”

Silence, a long, still moment passed. Then Margaret let Mia’s hand trail through her hair.

Mia smiled gently. “So please… don’t take it out on him anymore. He’s not a monster, he’s your son.” Margaret looked at her long and hard, and then… she nodded. Tears stung Mia’s eyes.

“Would you like to hug him?” she asked quietly. “He misses you. He talks about you every day.”

Margaret shook her head weakly at first, but Mia gently said again, “Mother…”

The sound of that word seemed to soften her resistance, her head dipped in a tiny, hesitant nod. Mia turned, her eyes locking with Stefan’s.

“Come,” she said quietly.

Stefan didn’t move at first, uncertain, as though afraid it was a trap. Afraid it would break him all over again. But Mia gave him a nod of encouragement, and that was all it took.

He walked slowly, his steps unsure, eyes never leaving his mother. When he finally stood in front of her, there was a breathless silence. Then, with trembling fingers, Margaret reached out. And pulled him into a hug.

It wasn’t tight or strong, it was shaky and hesitant, but it was real. Stefan froze for a moment, then slowly wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her shoulder.

He didn’t speak, he just held on.

Margaret remained wrapped in Stefan’s arms for a long moment before she finally pulled back slightly to look at

his face.

Her brows furrowed. “You have a wife?” she asked, her voice scratchy but laced with a mother’s sternness.

Stefan nodded slowly.

In an unexpected move, Margaret lifted her frail hand and gave him a light smack on the back.

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38 DONT LEAVE FACH OTHER NO MATTER WHAT

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Everyone flinched, Mia, the doctor, even Stefan froze, unsure of what might follow. But her next words brought

a stunned silence.

“So why didn’t you tell me?” she scolded, her tone suddenly motherly and familiar, like the woman she used to be. “Keeping such news from your own mother, do you think that’s right?”

Stefan blinked, then, just for a moment, he laughed. A small, surprised sound he hadn’t made in years.

This, this, was the mother he remembered. The one who used to scold him for sneaking out past curfew, for climbing trees too high, for forgetting to eat breakfast before school. It hit him like a wave of warmth, nostalgia, longing and relief all at once.

Mia blinked, stunned, she’d never heard Stefan laugh this way. She never even thought he knew to make such a lovely sound.

“That’s why I brought her here,” he said, gently holding Margaret’s hand. “Our wedding is next month. I wanted you to know.” Her expression softened immediately.

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