The Stolen Life- My Mother Gave My Fiancé to Her Favorite Student novel Chapter 6

Jax caught up to me as I was struggling to hail a taxi, sweat beading on my forehead from the pain.

When he tried to help, I pulled away, and he sighed, his voice laced with helplessness as he tried to explain.

“Don’t blame Ms. Voss, Elara.”

“You left without a word, didn’t even come home for the holidays. She’s actually really worried about you.”

I curled my lips into a bitter sneer.

“My whole house was redecorated to match Lila’s taste. The tiny room I was given is stuffed with her

outdated clothes and shoes.”

“How can you say she misses me? Have you no shame?”

Jax hung his head, embarrassment etched on his face.

“Lila comes from a poor family–she has no one to stand up for her in Willowbrook. Ms. Voss thinks of her

as her own daughter.”

“I never meant to betray you. Ms. Voss kept insisting I look after her.”

I listened to his weak excuses, my voice cold and detached.

“So you sleeping with Lila was all Ms. Voss’s doing, was it?”

Jax panicked, rushing to defend himself.

“That’s not what happened.”

“I’d had a bit too much to drink that night. Lila confessed to me for the twenty–ninth time, and I just… lost

control.”

I turned my gaze to the window, my heart sinking.

I’d fully intended to marry Jax after graduation, but his heart had already drifted to another girl.

When I stayed silent, Jax’s voice grew softer, almost pleading.

“Can we just let bygones be bygones? Okay?”

“You’re going to need our help a lot in the future. There’s no need to keep clinging to Ms. Voss and Lila’s

mistakes.”

I let out a cold snort.

“Are you threatening me?”

“Absolutely not!”

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“It’s just that your current state makes you unfit for work. Lila’s interested in your workplace, and she was

hoping you’d put in a good word for her with the boss.”

“Ms. Voss feels the same way. Your employer bears a lot of responsibility for what happened to you. You

could use this as leverage to get Lila a better position while she’s pregnant.”

Were they trying to squeeze every last drop of benefit out of me?

I immediately told the driver to stop, then kicked Jax out of the car. I headed straight to my workplace to hand in my resignation.

Back home, I started clearing out my things–mostly Jax’s gifts, so I wouldn’t have to look at them and be

reminded of the pain.

After all, we’d once loved each other sincerely.

I’d packed them away in a huge cardboard box.

Jax would always buy train tickets as soon as the holidays came to visit me. We’d wander night markets,

hunting for cheap trinkets, and fall asleep on the cramped couches of couple movie theaters.

He’d send me postcards from every city he traveled to, and he never missed a single birthday, always making

me a handmade gift.

I’d been lost in a warm illusion, thinking we’d grow old together from campus to gray hair.

Later, I found out he’d always had Lila with him when he did all these things.

Even the pair of clay figurines he’d made for me had a girl’s fingerprints on them.

When I questioned him, he lied, saying they’d belonged to the shop owner, and compensated me with a pair

of couple mugs.

The truth was later told to me by Lila.

It was hard to wrap my head around how Jax could profess his love for me while flirting with another girl.

Through this betrayal, I learned the cruelest lesson about love: some people come into your life just to teach

you that affection is sometimes just a temporary stop, not a final destination.

When I carried the big box downstairs, empty–handed, Ms. Voss frowned at me.

“You’re practically a cripple now, and you can’t even get along with Jax and Lila. Are you planning on selling

junk, or do you expect me to take care of you for the rest of your life?”

Her tone was cold and dismissive, as if she’d watched my entire future crumble to nothing.

She even tried to persuade me to get Lila a job at the workplace I’d worked so hard to get Into, claiming Lila’s

child might take care of me when I was old.

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I laughed at her absurdity.

“Has Lila been feeding you a load of nice lies?”

“When we were in school, she never focused on her studies at all. She spent all her time learning to cook

pasta to please you, and worked part–time at the convenience store to bring Jax gifts.”

“When she got into a third–rate college, she begged you to pay her tuition, and you lavished all your money on her.”

“After she started working, she thought the salary from the substitute teaching job you found her was too low, so she quit on some excuse and let Jax support her.”

“Now she wants to use my connections to get into Willowbrook’s top–paid radio station while she’s pregnant,

so she can enjoy paid maternity leave.”

“Does she think she can get all the good things in life, and everyone else has to be her stepping stone?”

Ms. Voss stared at me, her eyes blazing.

“Lila saved your life. It’s only right that you compensate her, isn’t it?”

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