"Mom, I won first prize for my painting. I painted you, Summers, and Uncle."
"Mom, they asked me why I don’t have a dad..."
"Mom, when will you come home?"
Caden Summers said, Summers is very sensible, much more so than ordinary five-year-olds.
Sometimes, he feels that this child’s sensibility makes one’s heart ache.
...
"Mom don’t cry, I’m here." Summers nestled in Yvette Aston’s arms, he was just a child, too lacking in maternal love and security.
Yvette Aston held Summers so, dazedly looking up at her reflection in the dressing mirror.
Her face was pale, bloodless. Her figure was emaciated, her lips colorless, as if... her heart could stop beating at any moment.
Yvette Aston, who had once been a leader among Meridia’s socialites, both in looks and figure. But now... Jayden Grant was right; she looked no different from a beggar on the street.
She was already thin beyond recognition.
Thrown into a storage room by Jayden Grant, Yvette Aston felt dizzy from not having eaten for so long.
"Mom, are you hungry?" Summers was also hungry, his stomach growling.
Yvette Aston bit her lip, softly comforting. "Summers, be good, Mom will find you something to eat."
Pacifying Summers to sleep first, Yvette Aston got up and walked out the door.
Jayden Grant had no time to constantly supervise her; he had to go to the hospital to see Charlotte Summers, his current fiancée.
Cautiously stepping outside the courtyard, Yvette Aston asked softly upon seeing the housekeeper, "Do you... do you have any food? The child is hungry."
The housekeeper shot Yvette Aston a look of disdain, sneering. "Want to eat?"
Turning into the kitchen, the housekeeper brought out two bowls of rice.
Yvette Aston fearfully clutched her arms, quickly expressing her gratitude.
But the housekeeper walked straight out to the yard, dumping it all into an iron pan used for feeding stray dogs by the roadside.
Yvette Aston’s gaze flickered, tears pooling in her eyes.
She was very hungry, Summers was hungry too, she had not a penny on her, she had to come up with a way.
"Where are you going?" The housekeeper asked angrily upon seeing Yvette Aston heading out.
"Summers... Summers is here, I won’t run away, I’m just... going out for a bit." Yvette Aston explained softly.
The housekeeper gave a derisive snort, too lazy to bother with Yvette Aston, Miss Charlotte had instructed not to feed her, to find ways to make her leave.
Leaving the villa, Yvette Aston rubbed her cold hands together, autumn in Meridia wasn’t particularly cold, but it was bone-chilling.
She had no money, she didn’t know how to find food for Summers.
Walking to the trash bin, Yvette Aston picked up a few discarded bottles, thinking if she collected more, she’d at least be able to exchange them for money.
"Oh, did the sun rise from the west today? Who’s this? Isn’t this the former beauty, Yvette Aston?"
This was the affluent neighborhood, most of Yvette Aston’s former classmates practically lived around here.
Upon hearing the mocking voice behind her, Yvette Aston hunched her shoulders. "You’ve... got the wrong person."
But the woman clearly didn’t intend to let her go, directly pushing Yvette Aston to the ground.
"Charlotte said you got out of prison, we didn’t believe it, but it turns out it’s true."
Yvette Aston curled up, not daring to lift her head.
The woman who pushed her was Claudia Bell, the second miss of the Bell Family, a classmate of Yvette Aston’s and quite envious since childhood.
Previously, Yvette Aston did not wish to provoke her, now she absolutely could not.
"Yvette Aston, you’ve really hit rock bottom, haven’t you?" Claudia Bell laughed, stepping hard on Yvette Aston’s ankle.
"Ah..." Yvette Aston cried out in pain, her ankle quickly swelling and reddening.
"You truly have no shame, your mother switched you and the real daughter, letting you, this piece of trash, act as the Aston family’s eldest daughter for over twenty years." Claudia Bell patted Yvette Aston’s face, delivered a resounding slap.
Yvette Aston’s ears rang, but it seemed she was already accustomed to it.
In the past five years, in prison... she had taken many beatings.
Tears welled up, but Yvette Aston only hung her head, silent.
"You actually dared to touch her, she’s filthy." Another affluent daughter said disdainfully, quickly pulling out an alcohol wipe. "Quick, wipe your hands."
"Haven’t you heard she went to a hotel with some random guy and even had a child, it’s disgusting, she’d sleep with anyone, must have all sorts of diseases." The wealthy girl curled her lip.
Claudia Bell, also disgusted, took the alcohol wipe, wiping her hands repeatedly before tossing it onto Yvette Aston’s face and kicking her hard in the chest.
Yvette Aston, racked with pain, curled up by the trash bin, gasping desperately for air.
There was nothing else but to endure, she had no other means, she couldn’t possibly contend with these people now.
She needed external aid, needed to find a backer...
Only with support could she retaliate, otherwise, all the current struggles were no different from self-destruction.
Ethan Grant was her only lifeline in Meridia.