Chapter 1-Pitty

Hasn’t my husband come home yet?” Stella asked the maid as she looked around the living room. She had just woken up, and her husband was not with her. 

“Huh, why are you looking for your husband from me?” answered the housekeeper bluntly. 

She pursed her lips and stopped herself from answering the assistant. They are not far apart in age from the woman and if she treats her, it’s like she’s on the same level with her. Well, who will respect her if her own husband and his sister treat her like a servant? Instead of beating the servant’s behavior, Stella decided to go to the kitchen. 

The maid also does not prepare food for her when her husband is not around. She is only kind to her when Charles, her husband, is around.

Marimar followed Stella into the kitchen and told her, “Hurry up there and clean up your mess immediately because Señorita Sophie and Doña Magda are coming.” 

As if she heard no one, Stella continued to cook the eggs. The assistant was referring to Charles’ sister and stepmother. During the three years she and Charles have been together, she has gotten used to their mistreatment of her. She endured it because she loved her husband. 

Marimar frowned when her boss’s wife did not want to speak to her. She was really impressed with the woman’s martyrdom. She hasn’t seen any of her friends or relatives visiting since she became her boss’s wife. All she knows is that the woman is close to the boss’s grandfather, so she was chosen to marry his grandson. 

Stella had not finished eating when her sister-in-law and mother-in-law arrived. They immediately looked for her and didn’t let her finish her meal before saying something bad against her.

“Do you know why my brother didn’t come home last night?” Sophie asked Stella mockingly. 

“How can she know if she’s stupid?” Magda’s laugh was insulting as she grabbed Stella’s plate and threw the leftover food in the trash. 

Stella clenched a fist that was resting on her thigh, but her face was blank before standing up. “Why are you here?”

Sophie stared at Stella’s face in annoyance. It seemed like she was emotionless every time they talked to her. She is as cold as her brother, and they only see her smile when Charles is around. Like now, no reaction can be read in her eyes. 

“Stupid, this is my son’s house, so you shouldn’t be asking why we’re here!” Magda snorted at the girl.

A corner of Stella’s lips lifted slightly and stared at the lady. “You’re just his stepmother.” 

“How dare you! You are really rude and arrogant even though you have nothing to be proud of in our family! Who are you to talk to Mommy like that?” Sophie angrily pulled Stella’s long hair. 

Stella tried to pull back Sophie’s hair, but she was holding it tightly. She was sobbing in pain, but she didn’t beg her to let go of her hair. When she still didn’t want to let go, she grabbed her hair. Not to retaliate, but to scare her and let her go. She’s bigger than Sophie, so she would be miserable if she hit her. But the two had already worked together, so she accidentally pulled Sophie’s hair.

“What the hell are you doing?” 

Stella froze when she heard her husband’s angry voice. Magda quickly let go of her, but she was not immediately hooked, and she was still holding Sophie’s hair. 

“Charles, help your sister. Oh my God, how pitiful your sister is from your witch wife!” 

Only then did Stella come to her senses when she heard Sophie’s cry. Before she could let go of her hair, Charles quickly grabbed her by the shoulder. With the force of that, she fell to the floor. 

Charles was stunned for a moment when he saw his wife fall down. But when he saw that she was fine, he confronted his sister.

“Brother, why is she like that to me? I cooked her food, but she just threw it away and said it didn’t taste good. She wasn’t satisfied enough, and she hurt me.” Sophie cried to her brother. 

Even though her hip hurts, Stella tries to stand up and move away from her husband. He was angry with her again and she knew that he would not listen to her when she explained. He would only get angry and call her a liar. 

The aura on Charles’ face darkened even more when he saw the food in the trash. His look turned to his wife was sharp. 

“Son, don’t be angry with your wife. It’s my fault because I taught Sophie the wrong thing.” Magda blocked Stella’s body.

“Mommy, why do you always side with that woman? I tried my best to make us okay, but she just has a bad attitude!" Sophie scolded her stepmother. 

Stella bowed her head sadly. The two were really great to make them the victims just to destroy their relationship with Charles. She thought that she and her husband would be okay because he agreed to move house. But the villains still follow her. They don’t like her because they allegedly see her poor and a gold digger. The girl whom they wanted for Charles was his first girlfriend, who was now abroad. 

“Leave us first,” Charles sternly ordered his stepmother.

“Son, cool your head first before you talk, or you might just hurt each other.” Concern that Magda convinced the young man.

“I’m sorry.” 

Sophie and Magda were stunned when they heard what Stella said.

“Sophie, I’m sorry, I’m just feeling bad, so my patience is short,” Stella continued with her head bowed. 

Sophie is annoyed and Stella acts weak and nice. If she doesn’t do something, her brother’s anger will definitely disappear again. “Brother, I don’t believe she’s sincere in apologizing. She’s done it several times because she’s afraid you’ll leave her.”

Charles gasped violently and clutched his forehead. His headache only got worse, and he still lacked sleep. He went home to rest but this happened. 

“Honey, please forgive me. It won’t happen again, promise!” Stella raised her right hand and made a promise. She is also crying, not because of sadness, but because the pain in her lower belly is intensifying. It just happened now, and she doesn’t know why. 

When Sophie noticed that her brother’s head was hurting, she quickly approached him. “Brother, sorry, take some rest.” 

Charles had just drifted off when his sister led him to the room. It is better not to talk to his wife first, and maybe he will hurt her physically. 

Stella weakly sat down on the chair when the siblings were no longer in front of her. But Magda was still there and seemed happy to see the suffering of her heart. 

“Does it hurt? If you had let go before, you wouldn’t have experienced all of this.” Magda smiled at Stella. 

“Please, leave me alone!” She lacked the strength to push the lady away. She was really weak and didn’t want to argue with the lady.

Magda tormented the woman first before turning around and following Sophie. It is true that she is only the stepmother of the siblings. But they love her, especially Sophie. She has been recognized as their mother since their parents separated. Sophie was still young and there was a big age gap between her and Charles. Her husband, who is the father of the siblings, is dead. What was left was their dominating grandfather, but she knew that he was about to die. 

Stella slowly stepped out of the kitchen without anyone. Holding her stomach, she is nervous about her strange feeling now. She has no one to rely on now but herself. She does not want to have a chronic disease. It’s true that only the heart hurts because of love. She grabbed her cellphone and called someone.

Magda smiled when she saw Stella leave. She ordered the servant to follow her and where she was going. 

“Brother, are you alright?” Sophie asked her brother worriedly when he lied down.

“I’m fine, leave me alone.”

Sophie stared at her brother in sympathy. She only gives headaches to her brother. But she couldn’t force herself to accept Stella as his wife. Everything she wants is given to him by her brother. He loved her very much, but that has decreased since Stella became his wife. The woman is more brat than her, so she doesn’t like her. She was just humbled herself and defeated earlier.

Magda rushed into Charles’s room. “Son, Stella left and seemed to regret what happened earlier.” 

Charles quickly picked up his cellphone that was on the small table. He tried to call his wife but someone suddenly called. 

“Babe, I miss you!” The woman’s voice was shrill from the other end of the phone. 

“Is that Elizabeth, brother?” Sophie happily asked her brother. 

Charles nodded to his sister and he passed the phone to her without any words. He got up and went to the bathroom.

“Hello, besh!” Sophie almost jumped for joy and was excited about talking to her friend.

“Where is your brother?”

Sophie pursed her lips and her friend did not greet her. “You were just with my brother last night, it looks like you don’t know me anymore,” she sullenly scolded her friend. 

Elizabeth smiled and laughed at her friend.” Maybe you forgot that you were the first person I met when I got home?” 

Sophie also smiled at her friend. This is what she wants in a friend. She loves her and always remembers her, even when she is in another country. 

“Where is your witch sister-in-law?” Elizabeth asked her friend again. 

Her smile is broad as Sophie tells the story of what happened earlier. She also moved away from the bathroom door so that her brother wouldn’t hear.

“She’s already miserable with you. How about when I’m the one in front of her?” 

“Good idea, why don’t you come here now. The witch isn’t here and Brother is not feeling well, so now’s your chance.” 

Elizabeth smiled and liked her friend’s suggestion. She hurriedly changed her clothes and went to see Charles. 

The smile on Sophie’s lips didn’t fade even though her friend was no longer at the other end of the line. She was about to put her brother’s cellphone on the bed when someone suddenly sent a message. She was relieved to see that it was from Stella. She didn’t read the entire message and hurriedly deleted it when she saw the bathroom door open.