Three Years Too Late

After a long silence, Andrew yanked Stella up from the ground, saying that he was taking her for a paternity test.

They threw the homeless man out of the yard, locked the gate again, and stormed off.

My heart ached so badly when I watched how resolute Andrew was. I couldn't believe he actually doubted that Stella was even his daughter.

How ridiculous—he was the one who watched her being born and said she looked just like him.

He wasn't always like this.

We fell in love in college and got married right after graduation. He had cried like a child at our wedding, repeatedly confessing his love for me.

"Jo, I'll love you forever—till death do us part."

Andrew put me above all else after marriage, spoiling me endlessly. Whenever I had conflicts with Dorothy, he would always firmly take my side.

And when our daughter was born, he doted on her so much. He would've brought her the moon if he could.

But everything changed after he brought Tiana in.

He said his older brother had worked hard to put him through school, so now that his brother had passed away, he felt it was his duty to take care of his sister-in-law.

Despite myself, I didn't stop him.

Little did I know how much Andrew would change after that.

For the sake of his sister-in-law, he neglected me and hurt me over and over again. Everything in our home revolved around her, as if she owned the house.

Recalling my bitter past, I wanted to slap myself. Why didn't I just walk away when I still had the chance?

Andrew slammed on the accelerator. As if something had just occurred to him, he frowned and muttered, "Well played, Jovana. No wonder I haven't heard from you in three years—you've been out there messing around with some other man."

Watching him clench his jaw in anger, I wanted to slap him across the face. A blind, heartless scum like him had no right to accuse me!

The car screeched to a stop at the hospital entrance.

Andrew dragged Stella out roughly, demanding that the doctors perform a paternity test on her right now.

One of the doctors, seeing the girl covered in injuries, hesitated.

"Sir… she's seriously injured. Shouldn't we treat her first?"

Andrew shot him a glare. "I said do the test now."

As the cold needle pierced Stella's tiny arm, her body convulsed in pain. But Andrew didn’t spare her so much as a glance.

The test results would take a few days, so they reluctantly brought her back home in the meantime.

I followed them—back to this familiar, yet strange place that was once our home. Tears streamed down my face as I saw how our safe haven had been completely taken over by someone else.

My bedroom was now Tiana's, and Stella's room had become Caden's playroom. Poor Stella might have been back at her own home, but she looked as lost as a stranger.

Just then, Caden appeared out of nowhere and pointed a toy gun at her.

"Bad guy alert!" he yelled. "I'm going to shoot you for breaking into my house!"

"Caden, stop that nonsense," Tiana chided, putting on a stern front. "She's Stella, your cousin."

"The test results aren't out yet. Who knows if that little brat even belongs to our family?" Dorothy chimed in. "Even if she does, she's just a worthless girl—no match for my precious grandson."

Caden darted toward Andrew and wailed, "Uncle Andy, now that Stella's here, does that mean you're abandoning me?"

Andrew looked exhausted, but he still smiled and picked him up.

"You silly boy," he crooned. "What kind of nonsense is that? You'll always be my favorite. I'll never stop loving you."

Holding Caden in his arms, he walked over to the dinner table. The whole family took their seats and dug into dinner, completely forgetting that Stella was even there.