Stomping on Ashes

I am the woman who stays the longest by the side of mafia Don Jasper Shaw. I believe I hold a unique place in his heart. But when his beloved Rosie Hurley suffers violation and falls pregnant, everything changes.

Accused of orchestrating Rosie's downfall, I become the venomous villain in their eyes. To shield Rosie from gossip, Jasper publicly claims her unborn child as his own. Meanwhile, I am branded a depraved woman, defiled and discarded.

Desperate, I reveal my own pregnancy to Jasper, pleading for our child’s future. He dismisses it as a ploy for attention. When I confront him, his words cut deep. "This is the sin you must atone for. Rosie has always been raised like a princess, and she can't endure the whispers—not like you."

For the first time, I realize I am nothing to Jasper but a tool for his desires.

Rosie locks me in a cramped cellar, where I suffocate and die. My body lies undiscovered for a month.

When Jasper receives the call to identify my corpse, he brushes it off, prioritizing Rosie's prenatal checkup. "Amara's lies are piling up. So what if she's dead? Cremate her and then talk to me."

My body enters the furnace and is reduced to a handful of ashes.

Later, the mighty Jasper Shaw kneels and sobs uncontrollably. He begs for just one glimpse of me.

A month after I'd died, Jasper Shaw received a call from the hospital, asking him to identify the corpse.

My corpse was in the basement, and he was upstairs, accompanying Rosie Hurley for her prenatal checkup.

"Amara Wallis is full of lies. She even bribed the hospital. Tell me, how much did she pay you for you to put on this act? If she's dead, so be it. Call me again once she's been cremated."

According to his wishes, my corpse was put into a furnace. Once I had become a pile of ashes, the staff contacted Jasper once more.

He clicked his tongue impatiently.

"We'll see how far you can carry out this charade."

When Jasper rushed over, he looked disheveled. The top buttons on his shirt weren't even fastened properly.

"Didn't you call and ask me to come and pick up the ashes? Where are they?"

Jasper's casual demeanor seemed at odds with the somber atmosphere.

A staff member carried my ashes out, looking heavy-hearted. He expressed his condolences to Jasper.

Jasper's eyes were filled with scorn as he looked at my tiny urn.

"You really went all out with this act. You even got a real urn! You're just bad luck."

The staff member frowned. He hadn't expected a family member to speak so callously. However, he did not say anything out of respect for the dead.

Once he had verified Jasper's identity, he told him to take my ashes away.

I watched the entire thing.

My soul hadn't departed, probably because I'd died such a tragic death.

I was following Jasper. I desperately wanted to tell him about how I'd died, but after I tried for a while, I realized that Jasper could not hear me at all.

He was muttering scornfully to himself.

"She lied to me earlier about being pregnant, and now she's made up some lie about her death. Amara will really stop at nothing to get my attention."

But Jasper, I really was pregnant.

When I had told him the good news excitedly, he had flung me aside with a dark expression on his face.

"You sent someone to violate Rosie and get her pregnant, and now you're lying to her face and saying that you're pregnant too. Aren't you making things awkward for her on purpose?

"Even if you aren't lying and you're really pregnant, I would never allow an illegitimate child like that to be my successor!"

No matter how much I tried to explain, Jasper did not believe me at all. He just felt that I was lying.

The same thing was happening again.

When my urn was handed over to Jasper, I had clearly seen the scorn and contempt on his face.

Right after he received it, he smashed my urn viciously on the floor!

There was a loud crash, which scared everyone there.

My ashes scattered everywhere.

Jasper still felt angry. He laughed disdainfully and stepped on my ashes, grinding them with the sole of his shoe.

The staff members' jaws had dropped in shock. They hadn't even had time to stop him.

Jasper kicked my ashes and sent them flying.

"Tell Amara that she came up with a very innovative trick this time round, but it's lame. I'm not going to waver at all, no matter whether she's dead or alive!

"I gave her a month's time to reflect on her mistakes so that she'll apologize to Rosie quickly. If it weren't for her scheming, Rosie wouldn't have gotten severe depression!"

Jasper gritted his teeth, looking as if I were his enemy.

Jasper and I had originally had a very sweet relationship together, until Rosie came back to the country and got pregnant after getting assaulted. I had no idea about any of it, but I was slandered and falsely accused of being a vicious woman who had hurt Rosie on purpose.

Jasper felt sorry for Rosie and the rumors that she would have to endure, so he made a public announcement to say that the child in her belly was his.

Instead of Rosie, I ended up becoming the subject of gossip as the loose woman who had been assaulted by several men.

"If she keeps hiding and doesn't come out to apologize, even if she really is dead, I'll dig out her corpse and throw it into the sea to feed the fish!"

The cruelty of Jasper's words made everyone there shudder.

I knew that, as the youngest Don of the mafia, Jasper was perfectly capable of doing such a thing.

When he left, my soul followed him, although I didn't know why.

I had no choice but to follow Jasper to Rosie's hospital room.

Rosie lay in a VIP room. She looked very healthy. She had several highly skilled caretakers to tend to her, and unlike how Jasper had described her, she did not look frail at all. She did not look like she was suffering from a lack of sleep because of her depression, either.

When Rosie looked up and saw that it was Jasper, tears slid down her cheeks at once.

"Don Shaw, am I the reason that Amara came up with a lie like that?"

Jasper's brow was furrowed tightly as he comforted her tenderly.

"Don't mind her. She's always been capricious. Amara is the reason that you've had to suffer so much. When I find her, I'll make her grovel to you and apologize!"