$24
Anna recalled the incident clearly now. It all made sense–no wonder she had seen Stacy in the maternity and baby store back then. But the Taylor family had rejected the unborn child, deeming it illegitimate.
“That damn Jeanie must have told you! Tara didn’t do it on purpose. Why can’t you stop blaming her?” “Tara killed my child–your grandson–and yet you’re defending her? Mom, how could you? Are you even human?”
Anna’s fury surged as she struggled to catch her breath, her voice trembling with anger. “You’re ungrateful and unrighteous!” she spat.
Pat barely flinched. He had grown numb to her insults, his gaze dim and unresponsive. Slowly, he set aside the half–peeled fruit and looked at her with a hollow smile.
“Mom, let me tell you one last thing: Tara is not my sister. She’s just a parasite my uncle picked up. A drug dealer like him doesn’t deserve a daughter in this life.”
His voice was calm, but each word landed like a slap. He didn’t even glance at the knife wound on his hand, despite the blood trickling down
“She’s always known the truth about her past, but she kept it from you. You treated her like a treasure, blindly defending her. And because of her, you sabotaged me and Stacy at every turn. If not for you, Stacy would have been my wife by now. Seeing me suffer–you must be satisfied, right?”
His words struck Anna like a lightning bolt, shattering her composure. Her lips quivered, her body trembled, and she couldn’t muster a response. Instead, she cried out in anguish.
“Mom,” Pat continued, his voice rising, “you should hate them too! It was my uncle who deliberately turned Stacy into a vegetable. He did it to win your sympathy and cheat you out of your property. For years, he’s bled the Taylor family dry. And now, where is he while you’re lying here sick? Nowhere. We’ve lost everything!”
The weight of the past few days bore down on Pat, his frustrations erupting like an unstoppable tide. His anger blazed uncontrollably, threatening to consume him.
Anna, overcome with shock, gritted her teeth as her face contorted. Her eyelids fluttered, her lips turned pale, and her body twitched violently. Realizing the severity of the situation, Pat panicked and called for a doctor.
Amid the chaos, he stood frozen, a bitter smile etched on his face as his vision blurred
He thought back to the day he first met Stacy–he was twenty–five, and she was eighteen. She was radiant, and
full of life, and she called him “brother” with such sweetness that it warmed his heart
He had wanted to protect her, but his mother’s words had bound hum like chains. You have only one sister, and
that’s Tara Stacy is just an outsider–she doesn’t belong with the Taylor family
From that moment on, Stacy never called him “brother” again Wanting to shield her from his mother’s ire, Pat had distanced himself, hiding his feelings behind a mask of indifference. He told himself that he needed to prioritize
Tara, that it was his duty
Yet deep down, he knew Stacy was his true treasure. Watching her grow up under their grandfather’s care had brought him solace. But as the years passed, he had lost sight of his promise to be her protector
Instead, he had pushed her away, driven her to despair, and ultimately failed her. The quilt weighed on him like a curse, one he would carry for the rest of his life
Stacy was gone, and with her went any chance of redemption The Taylor family had never been worthy of her, and neither had he.
Pat slumped to the floor, his laughter hollow and tinged with madness. Slowly, the smile faded from his face,
leaving only dried tears and the echoes of his regrets.
When Anna was wheeled out of the operating room, the doctor informed him of her condition. The stroke hnd paralyzed her. If her health improves, she might be able to sit in a wheelchair But if it worsened, she would be
bedridden for the rest of her life.
Over the next month, Pat vanished from public view. The media, once fixated on his every move, no longer followed his story, Instead, they turned their attention to the newly appointed president of Taylor Group, leaving Pat to disappear into obscurity
