Chapter 141 The Truth She Hid

Chapter 141 The Truth She Hid
Daniel POV

"Oh, what happened to your face?"

The moment I stepped through the front door, my stepmother’s voice cut through the quiet living room.

I kept my head down, pretending not to hear her. I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a step toward the staircase, desperate to brush right past her without a word.

"Did you fight someone? How did you get this wound on your face?" She grabbed my arm to stop me, raising her hand toward my cheek with a look of fake concern.

A surge of disgust flared in my chest. Before her fingers could reach me, I snapped my hand up and grabbed her wrist in a rough, tight grip.

"Don't pretend that you care about seeing me like this," I said coldly, my voice trembling with suppressed rage.

I shoved her arm away and walked toward the stairs.

"Daniel!" she called out behind me, her voice trembling.

I didn't turn back. I kept walking up the steps, my chest tight as I headed to my bedroom.

I closed the door behind me and sank into my dressing chair, my hands shaking. I dabbed carefully at the raw cut near my jaw, staring at my reflection in the mirror, but Liam's voice kept ringing inside my head, tearing through my chest.

Don't ever let me see you near my house.

The sheer anger in his tone echoed in my mind, a suffocating weight that refused to leave me alone.

Downstairs, the front doorbell chimed. Footsteps sounded in the hallway toward the entrance.

I stood up, my heart pounding, and went to open my door. My stepmother was already standing at the threshold, taking a food package from the person outside.

I had ordered the food earlier to be delivered to the house. When I looked down into the hallway, a sudden shock hit my stomach when I saw who was holding the bag.

It was Liam.

"You can come inside," I said, my chest aching as I turned back around toward the living room.

Liam stepped inside, holding the plastic bag with an unreadable expression. "Are you the one who ordered the food?"

I turned to face him, crossing my arms to hide how shaken I was. "Why did you come? You could have let Elena come instead of you."

Liam let out a dry, bitter smile, shaking his head. "So you only want Elena, not the porridge?"

My stepmother looked between the two of us, clutching her hands nervously as if sensing the storm in the air. "I will get you something to eat," she said softly, turning toward the kitchen.

"Can you help me cook some food for Liam and Elena?" I called out after her, my tone laced with a heavy bite.

She paused in her tracks, turning her head back with wide eyes. "Um?"

"No, thanks," Liam interjected quickly, holding up a hand, his posture stiff. "We are really busy and already have something to eat."

A sarcastic, hurt smirk spread across my face as I looked between them. "Why? You like my mom's cooking."

I shifted my gaze directly to my stepmother, letting the cruel edge cut straight through her. "Liam really likes your food, so prepare something for him to take. Would you do that?"

Mrs. Olivia looked directly at Liam, all color leaving her face, her voice coming out shaky and unsteady. "What... what did you want me to prepare?"

Liam stepped forward and tapped my shoulder roughly, eyes flashing with anger. "Why are you making this so awkward?"

I didn't answer him. I just stood there with the smirk covering the bitterness inside me as Mrs. Olivia quietly hurried off into the kitchen.

Later that afternoon, after Liam had taken the food and left, I sat on the sofa in the sitting room, my anger festering into cold resolve.

Across the room, Mrs. Olivia was pacing back and forth, opening drawers and lifting cushions, frantically looking for something she had lost.

I leaned back against the cushions, watching her panic with a dark, bitter smirk.

"What are you looking for?" I asked from where I was sitting, my voice dripping with quiet cruelty.

She froze, pulling her hand back from a drawer. She turned to face me, forcing a stiff, terrified smile onto her face.

"Oh... nothing," she replied, her voice tight and trembling. "I was just checking something here."

"I did some cleaning and threw some things out. That is why," I said smoothly, watching her face.

A wave of desperate relief washed over her, and a faint, foolish smile broke through her panic. "Oh, you did? Thank you."

"Are you looking for this?"

I reached into my inner jacket pocket, pulled out the worn photograph, and held it up between my fingers with a wicked smile.

"Do you have anything you wanted to say to me?" I asked, leaning forward, my eyes locking onto hers.

Her breath hitched in her throat, terror paralyzing her. "What... did I want to say?"

"I know your son is abroad," I said, my voice dropping into a cold whisper that shattered her composure. "When did he come back? I am talking about Liam."

Mrs. Olivia gasped, taking a sudden step forward with her hand outstretched, tears instantly pooling in her eyes. "I will explain... give me that."

Before her fingers could reach the photo, I snatched it back and shoved it behind my back, glaring at her with betrayal choking my throat.

"What did you want to tell me?" I demanded, my voice cracking with pain as I stared her down. "That you lied about your son? Or that you deceived my father?"

Tears spilled down her cheeks, her face twisting into a desperate, pleading expression as she dropped her hands in utter defeat. "I was planning to tell you before... Please, don't tell Liam."

She wiped her wet face with the back of her hand, a raw sob breaking from her chest. "It's pain enough that I can't call him my son and be looking at him from far!"

I stared at her, unmoving, my heart hammering painfully against my ribs. "So, you still want to lie till the last?"

"What did you want me to do?!" Mrs. Olivia yelled, her voice breaking completely as she covered her face with her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. "It's best for him to think his mom doesn't exist!"

The words struck me like a physical blow, a sharp, burning agony tearing through my chest. The woman who had lived under our roof, pretending to care for me while keeping a lie that destroyed everything around us.

"Then get out of our lives also," I said, my voice heavy with deep heartbreak and disgust. "We don't need you."

I turned on my heel and walked out of the room, leaving her crying alone in the silence of the house.