He held her hand tightly and looked at her with confusion.
Stella smiled.
“It’s the weekend today. I’ll go over at about 2 p. m.,” Jasper said through the phone.
“Dad, I moved to a new house. You know where I live, right?” Ralph asked worriedly.
“I know,” Jasper hung up the phone, “I’m sorry,” he said to Stella.
“It’s okay. You don’t need to apologize to me. You never thought that Ralph would appear in this world. Just like the people who have cancers and tumors. Just because they did not want it doesn’t mean that it would not happen. Since it has already happened, you should face it bravely. Anyway, Ralph is your son. You should take the responsibility as his father,” Stella said indifferently.
“I’m afraid that you’ll feel aggrieved,” Jasper said worriedly.
“People will only feel aggrieved if they did something in hopes for something in return. For Ralph, I only do my duty as his stepmother. I don’t expect him to repay me,” Stella said with a smile.
“I’ll go there in the afternoon and come back in about an hour.”
“It’s okay.”
“That’s all for now. Let’s have a meal first. We’ll talk about it later,” Jasper said in a deep voice.
After having their meal, Jasper sent Stella back first.
Stella was pregnant, hence she would always feel sleepy. She then took a nap.
Jasper did not leave until she fell asleep.
Bettany Hadley opened the door. She looked behind Jasper and noticed that Stella did not come. She frowned and said directly, “I didn’t expect you to come. You should already know everything by now.”
“Where is Ralph?” Jasper looked into the room.
“He waited for you for a while, but you took some time to get here. Aren’t you living in your mother’s place? I asked him to go to your house to find you,” Bettany said coldly.
“Bettany, he is only a seven-year-old child. Aren’t you neglecting him too much?” Jasper frowned and said.
“You know as well that I have never wanted to have this child. I like Frederick, not you. I don’t care whether Ralph is dead or alive. You are just in time. Just take Ralph back with you. He should follow you,” Bettany said directly.
Jasper squinted his eyes, “You won’t use the same trick again, will you? If I take the child away this time, I won’t let him see you again.”
“Whatever. If you have nothing else to say, you should leave now,” Bettany wanted to close the door.
“I’ll find someone to take good care of him,” Jasper said in a low voice.
Bettany sneered with a particularly ferocious expression, “He really is pitiful. His father has never loved him since he was a child, neither does his mother. I’m looking forward to the kind of bad person he will become 20 years later. With your genes, he will probably be an evil genius.”
Jasper ignored her. Now, the only feeling he had toward her was pure disgust. He turned around and said, “You should think about your own situation first. Twenty years is a long time. With your current situation, you may not live to see it.”
“Bang.” Bettany slammed the door.
She then called Stella.
Stella was woken up by the ringing of her phone. When she saw Bettany’s caller ID, she sat up. She knew she had to face the inevitable. There was no way to escape.
She answered the call.
“Stella, when do you plan to do what you have promised me?” Bettany shouted.
“Everything needs time. Give me three months.”
“Let me tell you, if it’s not done three months later, not only will I tell Frederick that you are Stella, but I will also make you regret it forever,” Bettany then hung up the phone.
Stella got up from the bed and looked out of the window. She saw the maid coming over with Ralph. Jasper did not accompany him, so she could guess what had happened.
She put on her clothes and came out.
The housekeeper brought Ralph to her and introduced, “Miss, this is the Master’s child. He has been following his mother all this time. He came here today.”
Ralph was wearing thin clothes and his face had turned red because of the cold. He looked at her with hatred.
“Get Jasper’s jacket for him and then give him some hot water,” Stella ordered.
“Okay, I’ll go now,” The housekeeper left.
Ralph ran to Stella.
She had a bad feeling. She was afraid that the child would push her. If she were to fall, the consequences would be dire. Jasper would punish him and Ralph would end up hating Jasper more.
She ran upstairs instinctively, trying to stay far away from the child.
Seeing that Stella had run away, Ralph was very angry. He asked, “Did you kidnap me and force my mother to separate from my father?”
Stella guessed that it was probably Bettany who had told him that, “Let me ask you, were your parents staying with each other before?”
Ralph pursed his lips and did not say anything.
“So, your hypothesis is not true,” Stella continued.
“Then it’s you who stopped my father from coming to see me.”
Stella smiled and said, “If I didn’t let your father see you, why did he go to you today then?”
“That’s because I called him,” Ralph said confidently.
“Your father goes to see you once you called him. Do you think that I needed to stop him?” Stella asked in reply.
“I don’t want you to marry my father. My father belongs to my mother,” Ralph said furiously.
“If your father belongs to your mother, why haven’t they been together after so many years? Adults will solve their problems by themselves. What you need to do is to study hard and gain more knowledge, right?” Stella said gently.
“I don’t need you to lecture me. You are a black-hearted witch. It is because of you that my parents separated. Don’t think that I am young and that I don’t know anything,” Ralph said fiercely.
Since the olden days, the stepmother and the child would always be embroiled in an eternal struggle. If his biological mother were to continue to make trouble, they would not have a good relationship for sure.
Ralph had such a big prejudice against her and he had already regarded her as a bad woman. Thus, although she were to treat him kindly, Ralph would still refuse to accept it. Instead, he would feel that she had other intentions. So, why should she try so hard to please him then?
“I hope that when you grow up, you will not be as unreasonable as you are now. Also, remember, I will only say this once. If you want to believe it as such, then please be my guest. If you don’t believe it, that’s your own business too.
Your mother and your father have no affection for each other at all. Your mother likes another man and your father likes someone else as well. So, your parents would never be together. It’s not anyone’s fault. They just don’t like each other,” Stella said clearly.
The housekeeper came over with Jasper’s jacket and covered Ralph with it.
“Humph.” Ralph threw the coat on the ground and ran out of the room.
The housekeeper looked at Stella in confusion.
Stella glanced at the housekeeper and asked, “Do you think that I was too harsh on him?”
“He’s just a child,” the housekeeper said.
Stella shrugged and didn’t want to explain. She went to the basement to read books.