Chapter 134: Unbearable Feelings

Grace struggled to get up to find her phone, but the butler and the private hospital staff quickly held her down, "Madam, don't look at those things anymore," the butler said with a heavy heart, "Don't worry, I've already instructed people to suppress the news."

"Give me my phone."

Grace seemed not to hear what he was saying, still stubbornly speaking.

"Madam!" The butler's voice rose slightly, "What you need to do now is to rest well, your heart can't bear a second shock."

Upon hearing this, Grace's lips curled slightly, but she didn't speak. The next second, her hand reached for the remote control beside her, and with a "beep," she turned on the television.

"Golden Group Exposed in Sex Scandal: Former CEO's Wife and Stepson's Secret Romance"

On TV, the female anchor was calmly broadcasting this explosive news. The screen switched, and numerous netizens' comments and discussions popped up on the screen. A big "explosion" word on the hot search list pricked Grace's nerves painfully.

In an instant, the remote control in her hand fell heavily to the ground.

Tears welled up in Grace's eyes immediately. She knew that from this moment on, the family she had carefully nurtured and the Golden Group she had built up were over.

How could she face her son, how could she face the others at Golden Group, how could she face the deceased Ethan?

In the end, in the end, nothing could be hidden. The wrongdoings committed, the sins done, would eventually have to be paid for.

Grace's heart suddenly twisted in pain.

Memories from over a decade ago slowly emerged from the darkness of the past...

Yes, she and Daniel had a relationship, and they even had a son. That child was Ben.

Ben was not her publicly acknowledged grandson, but her illegitimate child with Daniel.

Grace was Ethan's second wife, twenty-one years younger than Ethan, but only twelve years older than Ethan's eldest son, Daniel.

Grace was very beautiful. When Daniel first saw her, his gaze stopped on her, and after a while, he slowly uttered, "Hello, aunt."

Technically, since she was only a little over ten years older, it would have been fine to call her "sister," but he knew in his heart that this woman was his father's wife, and there was an insurmountable gap between them.

Grace naturally understood this principle and didn't think much of it. Unfortunately, in the sixth year after giving birth to Ryan, Ethan still couldn't change his fickle nature and quickly neglected Grace again, with new affairs outside the home.

During those years, Grace was miserable, drowning her sorrows in alcohol every night, and it was during this time that Daniel appeared before her.

"Don't drink so much alcohol, stepmom."

As she was pouring red wine on the ground, a pair of shoes suddenly appeared in front of her. She looked up and saw Daniel standing there with a cup of warm boiled water. His lips curled up slightly, and he smiled gently at her. The next second, he squatted down and handed her the water.

Grace was stunned, looking at this child who bore a strong resemblance to her husband. He was only twelve years younger than her and had now grown into a tall and elegant gentleman, with graceful manners and a warm demeanor.

For some reason, she accepted his water for the first time, looking into his hazy eyes, and an odd feeling welled up in her heart.

And so it began, unclear yet inevitable.

That year, she was thirty-four, and he was twenty-two.

At the height of their love, she secretly got pregnant without telling him, just wanting to have his child. She said,

"Daniel, I love you. I really want to have a child with you."

However, the arrival of this child became the fuse of the conflict between him and Daniel.

When he found out about her pregnancy, he put away all the tenderness and pampering he had shown her before, and coldly said, "Get rid of it, stepmom."

This word "stepmom" deeply hurt Grace's heart. He hadn't called her that privately for a long time.

In the end, she still gave birth resolutely. In her words, the child had already taken root in her body, and she couldn't bear to have an abortion. She disappeared for a long time, made an excuse to go to the United States, and gave birth there. After the child was born, he was kept in the United States until one day Daniel suddenly told Ethan that he had a son, born with a woman in the United States. A few days later, he even brought that woman back. That woman was JILingZhi.

Grace's hatred was almost instantly ignited. Overnight, her man became someone else's man, and even her child became someone else's child. All of this was decided unilaterally by him without consulting her. He assumed she couldn't resist and could only accept it passively.

JILingZhi only knew that she and Daniel had reached an agreement. She became the nominal mother of the child, and Daniel married her on this condition.

That was the elegant and debonair Daniel, charming and free-spirited. Who in this world wouldn't like such a man? JILingZhi agreed and naturally returned with him to the Mason family, becoming his wife and Ben's "mother."

Even though she had known all along that this man had always harbored someone else in his heart and did not love her, everything was just a transaction.

She guessed that the woman in his heart was probably the child's biological mother, but for some reasons, they could not be together.

In this way, Ben was brought back to the Mason family and became the eldest grandson of the Mason family.

At some point, Grace found that she seemed to have difficulty loving this child again. Not to mention that he had now become someone else's child, and she could only approach him with restraint in her daily life. Moreover, ever since his birth, Daniel had never looked at her again, and Grace's heart turned to ashes.

She began to hate, to hate Daniel, to resist, to resist this child, to regret, to regret her insistence on having this child at that time.

Even though she knew Daniel did not love his current wife.

Afterwards, Daniel seemed to have changed into a different person, becoming more and more dissolute and unbridled. He idled around outside every day, with one woman after another by his side. He became heartless and sentimental, indulgent and aimless, and completely neglected his own son Ben.

Such a Daniel made Grace extremely angry. She could tolerate his initial abandonment and his cold treatment towards her, but she could not forgive his alienation from his own son.

By chance, JILingZhi overheard the conversation between this mother and son.

"Why did you bring him back from the United States?"

"For you," the man said indifferently, "You missed him, didn't you?"

"I don't need your pity," Grace's voice was cold.

"It's my fault."

"Daniel, we have no relationship anymore. Just one thing, take good care of Ben. After all, he is your son."

...

JILingZhi was not foolish and naturally understood the meaning of their words. At that moment, she stood outside the door with a pale face, shocked and at a loss. She stumbled and fell to the ground.

So it turned out that the woman in his heart all along was...

JILingZhi couldn't help but close her eyes in pain. Such an absurd relationship had already exceeded her understanding. However, she still kept it a secret from everyone, trying hard to appear no different than usual.

For a long time afterwards, she didn't know how to face her husband and this nominal "mother-in-law." The pain and struggle that welled up from the depths of her heart were even more desperate than Daniel's neglect and disregard for her.

Gradually, she became afraid to see Daniel, afraid to see Grace, and even... afraid to face Ben.

In the end, JILingZhi could no longer bear this mental torment and chose to divorce in the third year of their marriage. She left the Mason family with all the secrets in her heart and went to Japan.

However, after the divorce, Daniel did not rein himself in; instead, he escalated his behavior, pushing his decadent private life to the extreme.