Chapter 2
"Anyway, I'm not accepting some adopted kid."
My stubbornness infuriated Kurt. He snapped back impatiently, "If you're so damn capable, then give the Stout family another heir yourself. Do you have to keep disappointing me over and over?
"Think about it!"
With that, he got up and stormed out of the room without so much as a glance back.
After that, he completely washed his hands of me, so I had to sort out my own hospital discharge.
He didn't bother with any of Earlene's funeral plans either.
Even on the day of her cremation, he claimed some critical work emergency kept him tied up, so he couldn't show up at the funeral home.
As I held her urn close and broke down in tears, my phone buzzed with a video from Lina.
In it, Kurt was cradling the child in his arms with such affection.
"This little one's eyes are the spitting image of mine!
"I splurged on a custom pendent for the baby. Our kid's got to grow up safe and sound."
"No way he'll turn out like that doomed little wretch!"
Lina chimed in from the side, her voice dripping with saccharine sweetness, "Absolutely! He's the product of our love, after all!"
The video ended abruptly there.
She followed it up with a message.
Lina: [Kurt never loved you or that doomed brat of yours. You two are just pitiful.]
Lina: [I've posted all our special moments in my feed. Go see for yourself.]
I knew that if Lina hadn't married that other guy back then, Kurt never would've popped the question to me so fast.
When I was still waffling, he'd sworn to me so sincerely, "Lelia, I promise I'll be there for you, taking care of you, for the rest of our lives.
"I can't let a woman as incredible as you slip away. Marry me, and I'll make you the happiest person on earth."
It wasn't until I dove into Lina's feed that the full ugly truth of this marriage hit me—what Kurt had truly given me.
Three years ago, during my labor, he said he was stuck at a conference out of town and couldn't make it back.
But really, that was the day Lina's divorce came through, and he spent the entire night by her side.
One night when Earlene came down with a raging fever, he took a call and bolted, claiming it was urgent work stuff.
In truth, Lina had scorched her finger while simmering soup and summoned him to fuss over her.
Kurt would often ghost my messages, saying he just wasn't big on checking his phone.
Yet he'd respond to Lina's in a heartbeat, every single time.
My phone pinged again—another text from her.
Lina: [Checked out my feed? By the way, that 'accident' where your daughter took a tumble? Kurt had the servants orchestrate it.]
Lina: [All to get her bone marrow for my baby's treatment.]
Lina: [Lelia, the role of Mrs. Stout was mine from the start. If you're smart, you'll divorce him ASAP!]
With tears pouring down my face, I captured screenshots of everything as evidence.
I got in touch with a lawyer, forwarded it all over, and received a drafted divorce agreement in return.
After skimming it, I sent it straight to Kurt.
Then I called the driver to take me home—I had to pack up and get the hell out of the Stout family immediately, with Earlene's remains in tow.
But when I pushed the door open and walked in, there was my mother-in-law Marion, cradling a baby in her arms and cooing at it playfully.
She glanced up, saw me, and her smile vanished in a flash.
"Come see the kid Kurt adopted. Way cuter than that cursed little thing you birthed."
She'd always pinned Earlene's accident on me, claiming I hadn't watched her closely enough.
So these past few days, she'd been downright vicious toward me.
Lina lounged off to the side, smirking at me triumphantly.
"Marion, don't say it like that. Lelia's pitiful enough as it is—she can't have more kids, and now her only daughter's dead."
Marion let out a cold snort, dripping with contempt.
"Right from the start, when Kurt wanted to marry her, I could tell she didn't have a fortunate face. And look—she ended up jinxing her own child to death.
"We can't let Lelia anywhere near this boy Kurt brought home. Don't want him catching her bad luck."
"Lina, why don't we name you his godmother? You can raise him from here on out. Now that I look closer, he actually takes after you a fair bit."
Lina lit up and said, "I'd absolutely love to! I just worry Lelia might not be on board."
Marion flicked a scornful glance my way.
"Since when does the Stout family care what she thinks?"
She'd always rooted for Kurt to wind up with Lina. Even back when the family business was circling the drain, Lina had bailed on him without hesitation, marrying some wealthy geezer twenty years older than her.
Meanwhile, my family swooped in and pulled the Stout family out of the fire.
Back then, Marion had hailed me as a good-luck charm and urged Kurt to treat me like gold.
But the second Lina divorced and slinked back into his life, she did a total 180.