Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption

At the West family mansion.

Stella was carried into the house by two of the staff, her face bearing the clear marks of two slaps, with the extent of her injuries elsewhere yet unknown. The staff gently laid her on the living room couch, and Stella immediately felt a sharp pain in her lower back and abdomen.

"Ah! You useless fools, you're pressing on my injuries!" Recovering from the jolt of pain, Stella shrieked and pushed the staff away. The staff members, flustered, hurriedly said, "Miss, is it your back that's badly hurt? Quick, let's have Miss lie on her stomach."

Saying this, they, along with two other staff members, helped Stella turn over. This resulted in Stella screaming again, her face beaded with cold sweat from the pain. As the staff members fumbled to help her up, Stella nearly cried out, "Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

While the staff members stood around, uncertain of what to do, Martin, who had been asleep, was woken up by the noise and came downstairs. "What's all this racket?"

"Dad, I... I got beaten up. Dad, you have to find out who did this, we can't let her get away! I want her to kneel before me and pay back a hundred, no, a thousand times!"

"Someone call the doctor, now!" Martin barked at the staff, who hurriedly went to make the call. Only then did Martin turn to Stella, frowning. "Enough with the noise, what exactly happened?!"

Stella, clutching her abdomen and

whimpering in pain, tears streamingNôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

down her face, finally managed to explain. She had heard that Lizetta had been taken away from the

Dashiell family estate earlier that evening and, feeling overjoyed, decided to treat herself to some spa time at the club. She wasn't getting any younger and, despite having suffered a lot in the past her skin still looked decent at a glance. But compared to the real heiresses and socialites, she was lacking. Not to mention, Lizetta had that radiant, flawless complexion. Stella had wanted to pamper herself, hoping that, one day, Remington would notice her beauty.

But just as she was falling asleep under the masseuse's hands, several women burst in. The leader was a hefty woman, weighing around 200 pounds, who stormed in, calling Stella a home-wrecker and a tramp, grabbed her by the hair, and yanked her off the massage table. She dragged Stella out of the spa, not giving her a chance to speak, and started beating her. By the time the club's security and Stella's driver managed to rescue her, the hefty woman and her group had already sped away in their car!

"Sobbing, Jeff took me to the Dashiell hospital, but they had just admitted a bunch of people with food poisoning and were too busy to see us. They wouldn't even let us in the door!"

Stella grew even angrier as she

recounted this, clenching her fists. "It must be because those doctors and nurses knew about Remington kicking us out of the hospital, they just wanted to kick us while we were down But Remington was just upset about losing his son; he wouldn't really hold a grudge! He definitely didn't know about tonight's incident with the nurses; even if he was mad, he wouldn't let them humiliate me like this!"

Once Remington cooled down, and she managed to win him over again, becoming the new Mrs. Dashiell, she swore she'd make those who had wronged her pay. They'd all be fired from the hospital if she had her way!

"Ah! It hurts!" Lost in her thoughts, Stella slammed her hand down on the couch, inadvertently aggravating her injuries, and screamed, her face contorted in agony.

Martin's gaze darkened. "Idiot! Did you ever stop to think why someone would attack you out of the blue?"

"How should I know? I've never even seen that fat woman before. She looks like a pig; what kind of man would she have that I would want to steal? I..."