<b>Chapter </b><b>130 </b>
<b>Chapter </b><b>130 </b>
At the gates of Mayen Garden, Alice and Austin huddled in a corner, shivering as the cold wind bit through their thin clothes. They clutched <b>their </b>Hekayer tighter, trying to keep warm.
When Aria walked over, Alice immediately scrambled to her feet, stering on a ttering smile. “Madelyn…”
But the moment her eyes met Aria’s icy gaze, the words caught in her throat. She instinctively took a step back.
Aria’s voice was calm but sharp. “What do you mean Pearl is still alive?”
Austin stepped forward, his fat face squeezing his eyes into narrow slits. “You give us 1.5 million dors first.”
Aria’s cold re swept over him, and the childhood memories of her beatings came rushing back. He quickly ducked behind his mother, trembling “Mom, she’s ring at me!”
Austin had inherited all the worst traits of his parents–lying, bullying the weak, and doing whatever he pleased.
As a child, he often tried to pick on Aria, only to end up getting beaten up every time.
In the past, Dominic and Alice would have stepped in to cause trouble for Aria. But now, Alice had no choice but to force a smile. “Austin<b>, </b><b>Madelyn </b><b>is </b>just joking with you.”
Turning to Aria, Aliceunched into the same tearful act she had performed for Silvia. By the end, tears streamed down her face, and she even dropped to
her knees.
“Madelyn, we just need a ce to stay. The house that you don’t even use anymore is perfect for us. Give it <b>to </b><b>us</b>, and I’ll tell you where Pearl is.”
Aria lowered her head and let out a softugh. “You went for Silvia, and I got that. But me? That’s
sunexpected.”
Alice hadn’t wanted toe to Aria either, but Silvia had been staying indoors, and waiting any longer would mean spending the night on the streets.
Aria snorted, “Still, what makes you think this information is worth a house?”
Her eyes curved slightly, as if she were smiling, though the mockery in her gaze was unmistakable.
Still kneeling, Alice shifted ufortably, her stiff knees inching backward. Tentatively, she asked, “Madelyn, didn’t you care a lot about Pearl?”
Pearl was Dominic and Alice’s third child.
The couple’s resentment toward their daughter only deepened after taking Aria in. They wanted to sell Pearl off after just a month.
But the baby was too young, and worse, she was a girl. No one in the nearby viges wanted her. So, they left her to Aria, leaving her to fend for herself.
It was as if the baby instinctively knew she wasn’t loved. She rarely cried or fussed.
At first, Aria didn’t want to take care of the baby. But the baby would giggle at her<b>, </b>her wide, innocent eyes full of curiosity. Even when she was hungry, she would only let out soft whimpers<b>, </b>as if afraid to bother her.
Aria’s heart softened. She carried the baby to a kind neighbor in the vige to help feed her.
-Pearl.
Later, she gave her a name-
The first word Pearl said was <b>“</b>Aria.”
When Pearl was <i>one </i>year and two months old, she came down with <b>a </b><b>fever</b><b>. </b><b>A </b>kind elderly neighbor rushed them to <b>the </b><b>hospital</b>, <b>where </b>Pearl <b>was </b><b>taken </b>into the emergency room.
<b>Chapter </b><b>130 </b>
<b>Austin </b>and Alice showed <b>up </b><b>at </b>the hospital, not out of concern for the child, but to <b>try </b>and extort money<b>. </b>
<b>They </b>refused to pay the medical bills, so Aria ran home and took Austin’s hidden stash of money. But when she returned to the <b>hospital</b>, the alda neighbor told her Pearl was gone.
Austin and Alice pocketed the money they extorted and gave Pearl’s body to the hospital.
They didn’t even let Aria say goodbye to Pearl.
Aria snapped out of her thoughts, her expression hardening. With a subtle flick of her right hand, a small knife appeared in her palm.
She stepped forward, grabbed Austin by the cor, and mmed him against the wall. The de pressed dangerously close to his carotid artery.
Austin screamed in terror, instinctively struggling, but the knife nicked his neck, drawing a thin line of blood.
The scene unfolded so quickly that Alice froze in fear, her voice cracking as she screamed, “Madelyn! Let go of my son!”
She scrambled to her feet and rushed forward, but Aria countered with a swift kick, sending her sprawling to the ground.
<b>AD </b>
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