Seven Days Before Divorce

7 The Truth

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are…" A clear, childish voice came from nearby.

A little boy of five or six years old sat in a corner at the hospital entrance and sang the song off and on, resting his chin on his hands.

Stela walked over and squatted in front of him, asking, "Hey, little boy. Why are you here alone? Where's your mom?"

The outgoing boy replied in a sweet voice, "Mommy is a cleaner in the hospital, and I'm waiting for her to get off work."

"Then why don't you wait inside the hospital?"

He pouted his lips. "It's tiring to be a cleaner. And mommy doesn't want me to see how tired she is. Do you work in the hospital, too?"

Deeply touched, Stela said softly, "No, I'm sick and I’m here to see the doctor."

"It costs a lot when you get sick!" The boy could not help the quiver in his voice as his eyes turned red. "If I didn't get sick, mommy wouldn't have to work as a cleaner…"

Stela didn't know how to comfort him.

She took all the banknotes out of her purse and put them in his arms. "Here you are. Take them to your mom."

There were about ten thousand dollars. The banknotes were so heavy that the boy held them with difficulty. "Really? I can have them all?"

She nodded with a smile. "Yes."

"But mommy says that accepting gifts from others without her permission is unacceptable."

Stela thought for a while and came up with an idea. "How about singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' for me in return?"

The boy nodded firmly.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder hat you are! Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky…"

With his back straightened, he sang earnestly while struggling to hold all the banknotes in his arms as if they were all his hope.

On Stela’s way back, that lovely song still echoed in her ears. And she couldn’t help thinking to herself.

Money is so powerful. It either saves lives or destroys lives.

Longing for more money, my mother and uncle orchestrated a car crash that killed Cirrus' parents. However, I could also use my money to save the poor boy and his mother.

When Stela was almost home, she saw a woman standing at the gate from the distance.

The woman was wearing delicate light makeup and a pink dress, with her black hair cascading over her shoulders.

She greeted Stela in a sweet voice, "Hi, Ms. Walker. I'm Florence White."

Stela nodded. "What do you want?"

Florence took out a wedding invitation from her handbag and handed it to Stela.

"Cirrus and I are getting married in seven days, and we'd like to invite you to our wedding."

Stela did not reach out her hand, but chuckled, "Aren't you afraid that I'll make a scene at your wedding?"

"You won't," Florence responded with a confident smile, "unless you want to lose your son."

The smile on Stela's face vanished. Her heart skipped a beat.

"How did you know…"

How did you know about my son? I’ve done many things to keep it a secret. Even Cirrus knows nothing about his existence. How is it possible?! Stela wondered.

"Of course I know about it. It was my mother who helped you deliver your baby." Florence put on a vicious smile, "What a poor boy! He was born with sepsis, so he has been staying in the ICU all the time."

"It was you?! My son got sick because of you?!"

Stela had thought that her son's sepsis was caused by a medical accident all along. But it was not an accident but premeditation.

Florence thrust the wedding invitation into Stela's hand and sneered, "Ms. Walker, if you want to save your son, just get divorced as soon as possible. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that the car accident that took your father’s and Cirrus’ parents lives five years ago was also planned by me. Just a little glitch in the brakes, and that was enough to handle three troublemakers. How wonderful!"

Stela froze with shock. "You even killed my father and Cirrus’ parents. Why?! How could you?!"

"Cirrus's parents liked you so much and only wanted you to be their daughter-in-law. If they were alive, how was it possible for me to replace you and marry Cirrus?"

Florence patted Stela's face and approached her, saying in a condescending tone, "Well, you should be grateful that I told you the truth. After all, you will never find out the truth by yourself. And telling you the truth doesn't matter to me now as you and your son are dying anyway."

"Ah–" Someone suddenly screamed.