Hearing the familiar voice, I shuddered.

It was Tiana Wells, Andrew's sister-in-law.

Memories of my suffering flooded my mind at the sight of this vile woman. I lunged at her, biting and kicking her as I screamed at Andrew, "It was her! She killed me! Andrew, you have to avenge me."

But all my efforts were in vain—no one could hear me.

Tiana walked right through my spirit and strode into the yard. She motioned for an old man behind her to show himself, gesturing to him to speak.

The old man looked hesitant, seemingly mortified as he began, "The first day Jovana arrived here, a man pulled up in a sports car and took her away.

"I heard she called him darling, and they seemed very close to each other."

Andrew swerved toward him, his expression darkening as he gritted out, "Is that true?"

The old man swore he was telling the truth.

Feigning concern, Tiana sidled up to Andrew and said, "Andy, I know you're upset, but this is a fact. After Jovana was sent to the countryside, I had my relative take care of her—but little did he expect to witness her affair…

"By the looks of it, Jovana and her lover must've been at it for some time. I really never expected Jovana to turn out like this…" she sighed, pretending to grieve for Andrew.

"You're lying!" Stella hastily shouted. "Mommy is already dead. I won't let you insult her—"

She tried to defend me, but Dorothy shoved her to the ground and spat on her face instead.

"You're a good-for-nothing girl! If I had known, I should've got rid of you back then," she screeched, beating Stella to a pulp. "You and your mother are a disgrace to our family!"

A triumphant smirk crossed Tiana's face as she watched Stella writhe on the ground, blood gushing out of her mouth.

"Dorothy, enough," she chided, pretending to be worried. "You're killing her! Though we're not sure whether Stella is a Lorne, we can't just get rid of her like that."

She made it sound like she was just trying to spare the child. But in fact, it reminded Andrew and Dorothy of the possibility that Stella might be an illegitimate child.

Sure enough, Andrew froze. He was about to stop Dorothy, but after hearing Tiana, he withdrew his hand.

Dorothy, on the other hand, was seething. She grabbed a stick from the ground, and I immediately panicked.

I dove in front of Stella, trying to shield her from the attack—but it was all in vain. The stick passed right through me and struck Stella instead.

In just a while, Stella lost consciousness.

Glancing at her, Andrew pulled out his phone, snapped a picture of her, and began typing. I drifted closer to him—only then did I realize he had been texting me.

"Jovana, you shameless woman—are you seriously abandoning your daughter now? You only have three days to show yourself. If you don't, don't blame me for what I'll do to Stella."

No response came through.

Andrew swore under his breath and hurled his phone to the ground.

Watching his temper flare, I couldn't help but feel a twisted sense of amusement. I was already dead—my body was decomposed at this point. How on earth was I supposed to text him back?

After a long silence, Andrew yanked Stella up from the ground, saying that he was taking her for a paternity test.

They threw the homeless man out of the yard, locked the gate again, and stormed off.

My heart ached so badly when I watched how resolute Andrew was. I couldn't believe he actually doubted that Stella was even his daughter.

How ridiculous—he was the one who watched her being born and said she looked just like him.

He wasn't always like this.

We fell in love in college and got married right after graduation. He had cried like a child at our wedding, repeatedly confessing his love for me.

"Jo, I'll love you forever—till death do us part."

Andrew put me above all else after marriage, spoiling me endlessly. Whenever I had conflicts with Dorothy, he would always firmly take my side.

And when our daughter was born, he doted on her so much. He would've brought her the moon if he could.

But everything changed after he brought Tiana in.

He said his older brother had worked hard to put him through school, so now that his brother had passed away, he felt it was his duty to take care of his sister-in-law.

Despite myself, I didn't stop him.

Little did I know how much Andrew would change after that.

For the sake of his sister-in-law, he neglected me and hurt me over and over again. Everything in our home revolved around her, as if she owned the house.

Recalling my bitter past, I wanted to slap myself. Why didn't I just walk away when I still had the chance?

Andrew slammed on the accelerator. As if something had just occurred to him, he frowned and muttered, "Well played, Jovana. No wonder I haven't heard from you in three years—you've been out there messing around with some other man."

Watching him clench his jaw in anger, I wanted to slap him across the face. A blind, heartless scum like him had no right to accuse me!

The car screeched to a stop at the hospital entrance.

Andrew dragged Stella out roughly, demanding that the doctors perform a paternity test on her right now.

One of the doctors, seeing the girl covered in injuries, hesitated.

"Sir… she's seriously injured. Shouldn't we treat her first?"

Andrew shot him a glare. "I said do the test now."

As the cold needle pierced Stella's tiny arm, her body convulsed in pain. But Andrew didn’t spare her so much as a glance.

The test results would take a few days, so they reluctantly brought her back home in the meantime.

I followed them—back to this familiar, yet strange place that was once our home. Tears streamed down my face as I saw how our safe haven had been completely taken over by someone else.

My bedroom was now Tiana's, and Stella's room had become Caden's playroom. Poor Stella might have been back at her own home, but she looked as lost as a stranger.

Just then, Caden appeared out of nowhere and pointed a toy gun at her.

"Bad guy alert!" he yelled. "I'm going to shoot you for breaking into my house!"

"Caden, stop that nonsense," Tiana chided, putting on a stern front. "She's Stella, your cousin."

"The test results aren't out yet. Who knows if that little brat even belongs to our family?" Dorothy chimed in. "Even if she does, she's just a worthless girl—no match for my precious grandson."

Caden darted toward Andrew and wailed, "Uncle Andy, now that Stella's here, does that mean you're abandoning me?"

Andrew looked exhausted, but he still smiled and picked him up.

"You silly boy," he crooned. "What kind of nonsense is that? You'll always be my favorite. I'll never stop loving you."

Holding Caden in his arms, he walked over to the dinner table. The whole family took their seats and dug into dinner, completely forgetting that Stella was even there.

At midnight, Stella woke up. Her stomach was growling.

She climbed from the couch in the living room and padded toward the kitchen, only to find that there was nothing there. She tiptoed over to the fridge and opened the door.

A sweet aroma immediately filled her senses. Inside the fridge, there was a box of chocolate cake.

Stella's eyes lit up. But the moment her hand landed on the box, she pulled it back right away.

"I… I won't eat it," she mumbled. "Daddy will be upset."

My heart shattered into pieces as I watched her tread so cautiously.

Just as she was about to close the fridge door, someone suddenly shoved her from behind. As she was caught off guard, her hand got caught in the door with a painful slam.

It was Caden.

"Well, well," he drawled out. "Looks like some little thief is trying to steal the cake Uncle Andy bought for me!"

The pain drained all the color from Stella's face.

She shook her head desperately, but Caden leaned harder into the door, trapping her hand even more.

His face twisted with malice as he spat, "Mom said that once we kick a bastard like you out, everything in the Lorne family will be mine!

"The big house, and even Uncle Andy, will be mine. You'll only end up a beggar, with no one to care for you!"

Stella cried out from the pain, and the noise finally woke the adults up.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Cade quickly released her hand. Amidst the scuffle, the cake fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"What's going on?" Andrew demanded, his expression grim.

Caden immediately threw himself into Tiana's arms and cried out, "Mom, Stella stole my cake! She said it's her house, and everything here belongs to her. She even said she was going to kick me out!"

Andrew's scrutinizing gaze fell on Stella. Surprisingly, he didn't lose his temper right away.

"Stella, is that true?"

Seeing his solemn expression, Stella trembled uncontrollably and quavered, "That's not true, Daddy! Caden's lying. He also hurt my hand!"

Andrew was about to lean down to check when Tiana pinched Caden from behind, and he immediately burst into tears.

"S-Stella also said that I'm a bastard without a father," he wheezed.

Andrew looked like someone had punched the living daylights out of him. He turned and scooped Caden into his arms.

"Caden, don't listen to her," he said gently. "You can always think of me as your dad."

Stella tried to explain, but he snapped, "Shut up! You really are a lost cause, Stella. If that's how it is, don't blame me for being ruthless."

With the door thrown open, Andrew shoved her out and snarled, "Kneel here and reflect on yourself."

Covered in injuries, Stella shivered, overwhelmed by both the cold and hunger.

I wrapped my arms around her and rubbed her arms and legs, trying to offer whatever warmth I could. But, I knew it was impossible.

In her dazed state, she blinked open her eyes and stared at me.

"Mommy, are you here to take me away?" she asked in a tiny voice.

In that instant, the aching in my heart grew. It felt like something was squeezing it.

Staring at the cold metal door in front of me, for the first time in my life, I felt like killing Andrew—that blind, heartless scum.

After what seemed like ages had passed, the door finally opened—only for a bucket of cold water to be thrown down on Stella.

When she didn't react, Tiana trampled on her face and hissed, "You little brat! Stop pretending to be dead. Believe it or not, I'll feed Jovana's corpse to the strays if you don't do as I say."

Resentment flared in her eyes. She seemed as if she wanted to rip my daughter to shreds.

My blood boiled. Summoning all my strength, I shoved her foot away and screamed, "Scram! Stay away from my daughter! Deal with me instead."

But Tiana didn't flinch. She stomped even harder on Stella's face.

Finally, Stella stirred, her eyes narrowing as she glared at Tiana and croaked, "Y-You evil witch! Don't you dare insult my mom—she's the best mom in the world!"

Tiana sneered and kicked her again, "So what? She's already dead. Everything in the Lorne family belongs to my son."

Her kick sent Stella flying into the wall, blood spilling from her mouth.

Just then, Andrew's voice rang out from behind—low and tinged with anger.

"Tiana, what are you doing?"