Chapter 128: Chapter 115: Parentage

Victor Sterling felt his position was being threatened like never before.

“You crazy bitch, stop putting on this touching mother-son act. I know that as much as you hate me, you hate him just as much!” Victor Sterling began to shriek hysterically.

Victor’s words made Shane Sterling look at Audrey Hughes again. Indeed, for all these years, the one thing he had been most curious about was whether Audrey truly hated him.

“I don’t hate him. Sean is the child I poured all my love into raising.” Audrey Hughes’s voice choked up slightly. “You’re the one who did wrong, not him. How could I ever hate him?”

Hearing Audrey’s words from his hospital bed, tears clearly welled up in Shane Sterling’s eyes. He quickly shut them to hide his loss of composure.

Shane Sterling’s origin had always been an unspeakable pain for him.

Years ago, after Audrey Hughes married Victor Sterling, she was unable to conceive. She desperately wanted a child of her own, so she traveled all over the country and abroad, saw every famous doctor, and tried countless folk remedies, but nothing worked.

Finally, Audrey decided to try in-vitro fertilization, but even that failed again and again.

This caused Audrey immense pain, and she even fell into a depression.

It was then that Victor Sterling suggested they could adopt a child.

Feeling she had no other choice, Audrey agreed.

The couple went to an orphanage together. Coincidentally, on the very day they went, an abandoned baby boy appeared at the orphanage’s gate.

The baby boy was a newborn, not even a month old. The sight of his little face, red from crying, instantly stirred Audrey’s maternal love.

Audrey felt a strong, fated connection to the child and decided to adopt him on the spot.

This baby boy was Shane Sterling.

Although Shane was not her biological son, Audrey doted on him. Despite her background as a wealthy young lady, she never delegated his care to others, personally tending to his every need—from his food and clothing to his daily life.

Perhaps her loving heart moved the heavens, because a few years later, Audrey became pregnant. It was a natural conception, and she was overjoyed.

After carrying the baby to term, Audrey gave birth to her younger son, Ezra Sterling.

Ezra was Audrey’s biological son, but she never favored one over the other. Audrey continued to treat Shane wonderfully, doing her utmost to be perfectly fair to both boys.

Shane grew up never knowing the truth of his birth, living a carefree life surrounded by Audrey’s love. That is, until one day, he overheard the household staff gossiping and learned that he was not Audrey’s biological son.

The revelation was a huge blow to Shane. After all, in all those years, he had never once doubted his parentage.

Shane grieved quietly by himself for a long, long time. He began to avoid Audrey and, as a result, became rebellious—the biggest troublemaker his teachers had to deal with.

Once, Shane got into a fight with a classmate, and the school called his parents. On that particular day, his younger brother, Ezra, was hospitalized with pneumonia. Shane assumed there was no way Audrey would leave his brother’s side to come to the school.

But to his surprise, Audrey came.

She was haggard from watching over Ezra all night and had rushed over without even having time to put on makeup.

The teacher, fed up with Shane constantly causing trouble, vented at length to Audrey. Audrey listened patiently until the teacher was finished, then apologized profusely.

After they left the school, Shane expected Audrey to be furious with him, but she wasn’t. She took his hand and asked, “Is it because I haven’t been paying enough attention to your feelings since your brother was born? Is that why you’re acting out like this, to get Mom’s attention?”

At that moment, Shane burst into tears, all his pent-up feelings pouring out.

He realized that his mother, Audrey Hughes, didn’t love him any less just because he wasn’t her biological son.

Buoyed by Audrey’s love, Shane slowly began to come to terms with being an orphan. He tried his best not to let his origins consume him with internal turmoil.

But another twist was just around the corner.

One day, Shane came home from school to hear his mother, Audrey Hughes, and his father, Victor Sterling, arguing.

For as long as he could remember, his parents rarely fought. But that day, their argument was ferocious. The usually gentle Audrey even smashed the entire tea set in the living room.

He heard Audrey demanding to know why Victor had schemed against her. It turned out she had accidentally discovered that Shane was Victor’s illegitimate son.

The “chance meeting” at the orphanage gate had all been a part of Victor’s scheme. He had been cheating on her all along.

For Shane, this was yet another bolt from the blue.

He would rather have been a true foundling, with no connection to the Sterling Family whatsoever, than be the product of betrayal. It was as if his very existence naturally placed him in opposition to his mother, Audrey Hughes.

After that day, Audrey began to avoid Shane. He suspected that perhaps she thought he had been in on the deception.

Several times, Shane wanted to clarify his position with Audrey, to tell her, “Mom, I didn’t know anything.” But if he truly knew nothing, why would he need to explain? Wouldn’t that just be protesting his innocence too much, a dead giveaway?

The mother and son were estranged for a time. Later, when Ezra was diagnosed as congenitally deaf and mute, Audrey completely broke down. From then on, she poured all her energy into Ezra, with none to spare for Shane. The two drifted further and further apart, eventually becoming the most familiar of strangers.

Shane had always believed Audrey hated him. But today, he finally understood. Audrey had never hated him. In her heart, he had always been the son she raised with love.

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