NovelBookChapter 352
Stella took a slow breath, her voice barely more than a whisper as she recounted
the past.
"My father was furious about what Fisherwoman did-how she tore our family apart. Any gratitude he once felt for
her slowly faded away.
But at the height of the chaos between my parents, when the fighting over Fisherwoman was at its worst, she
showed up at our house. My mother threw her out without a second thought.
She tried calling my father, but my mother wouldn't let him take the call. And then, out of nowhere, Fisherwoman
had an accident. She died."
Stella's eyes drifted toward the window, her tone growing distant. "Her sudden death stirred something in my
father. Maybe it brought back memories of what they'd shared, or maybe he just needed someone to blame.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtEither way, he put all the blon my mother.
He insisted on adopting Fisherwoman's daughter-making my mother her legal guardian, demanding that she
raise the girl as her own."
"Of course, my mother refused. She even thought about running away. When my father found out, he locked her
up."
Stella's hands trembled slightly as she continued. "Eventually, she pretended to submit, waiting for the right
moment. When the chance came, she escaped to Novaris, putting as much distance as she could between her
and my father."
"It was only after she arrived in Novaris that she discovered she was pregnant again."
"She had no way to bring her three children with her, so she leftbehind." "Later, my mother was diagnosed
with a terminal illness. She knew she didn't have much tleft, so she toldeverything."
Stella fell silent for a moment, lost in memory. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, she said, "I still
remember the tears in her eyes as she told me, 'Star, I'm so sorry. The grudges of the previous generation
should never have been passed down to the children. If it weren't for my stubbornness, you would have grown
up as a beloved daughter in a wealthy family, never lacking for anything-never having to endure the shof
being called a child without a father."
Her words hung in the quiet of the private room, gentle and detached as if she were telling someone else's story.
"I was in high school when | was finally brought back to the Williams family for a while. But I never got along with
them. My relationship with my half-sister was especially toxic-we were always at each other's throats.
After | graduated college, | cut ties and never went back."
Neville's eyes widened in realization. "So when you were in college, you weren't using the nyou go by now?"
Stella nodded. "That's right. The Williams family created a false identity for me- said | was an adopted daughter
and erased all traces of my past. That's why you couldn't find any information about me."
"To the Williams family, | was a secret. My mother's story and mine... they made sure no one could ever trace it."
She sighed. "So, Stella is Stella. Raven Williams is someone else entirely."
Neville looked at her, surprised. "Your nin the Williams family was Raven?"
"Yes." Stella's voice was soft, almost bitter. "Raven... the shadow at dawn. | suppose they thought it was poetic."
Abby spoke quietly. "Stella always hoped Star could have a real family. At first, Star tried to care about them, to
fit in. But in the end..."
Abby's expression darkened, her frustration clear.
"In the end, everyone-even Star's own father-sided with that adopted girl. Star's father was one thing, but even
her three brothers, her own flesh and blood, turned their backs on her for the sake of that girl.
If it hadn't been for that girl and her mother, Stella would never have had to leave her hbehind."
There was one thing Abby didn't say aloud.
If Star's father wanted to take in that girl, fine. But to force Star's mother to raise her, to make her the legal
guardian after everything those two had done that was unthinkable.
Those two women had ruined Stella's marriage. What was her father thinking? By now, Neville finally understood
the whole story.
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