Chapter 449

Stella's fingers tightened slightly.

Lily's laughter was shrill and piercing. "Men are such simple creatures. The car accident plan worked perfectly—you two really fell apart. I approached him as planned, but he wouldn't even touch me."

"I tried everything, even drugging him. Nothing worked."

"In the end, I had to use sleeping pills. The next day, I told him we'd slept together and that I was pregnant. And he actually believed me."

Stella's lashes trembled.

"The funny part? After learning about the baby, he grew even more distant. Did you think his kindness was love? It was just obligation."

"He only agreed to marry me for the child, and even then, it took my mother pressuring him for ages. It wasn’t until Martha died that he finally gave in."

Stella's breath hitched.

So all that coldness, that desperate rush to marry—it was all for a child that never existed?

"But he said he took you traveling the world..."

"Traveling the world?" Lily's smile twisted. "In his eyes, the entire world was just one city—Milan."

"Milan?"

"We were trapped there for a whole year. A dull little town, explored in a week, with terrible restaurants."

Milan...

Stella's mind flashed to the campus fountain.

That was where she had studied. At twenty, she'd abandoned her education to return home and marry, only to have her world turned upside down.

One more year, and she would have graduated under the name "Star," stepping into the jewelry design world with the glory of "Stellar Melody."

All her dreams had ended abruptly in that upheaval.

So his idea of traveling the world was staying in Milan for a year?

"He..."

Lily suddenly shrieked, "Why are you so lucky? I gave everything, and all I got was a death sentence!"

Stella replied calmly, "It's lethal injection now."

"How would you know?"

"Because I was almost the one executed."

Lily gritted her teeth. "If not for your pregnancy..."

"You and your mother schemed your whole lives," Stella cut in. "Schemed against me, against the Roland and Valentine families. But justice always finds a way."

"What are you saying?"

"You really think you could tamper with the car alone? Hide evidence for five years?"

Lily's face paled. "Someone used me?"

"He wanted the same thing you did, but he never got his hands dirty. Legally, he's innocent."

"That's not fair!" Lily shot to her feet. "He was the mastermind!"

"Where's the proof?"

Lily fell silent.

"To him, you were just a pathetic joke."

Lily slammed her fists against the glass. "Who was it? Tell me!"

Stella glanced at the clock. "Three minutes left."

Lily collapsed into the chair, her gaze vacant.

Stella stood, exhaling slowly. "My father, the Roland elders, Martha, my son... For years, I wanted to kill you with my own hands."

"But now, I just feel... peace."

"Crimes always come to light. These four years were stolen time."

She turned to leave.

"Stella!" Lily suddenly begged. "One last request."

"The child?"

"Could you...?"

"No." Stella's voice was final.

"You love children, don’t you? Just adopt another—"

Stella closed her eyes briefly, pushed open the door, and walked away without looking back.