When Stars Fade

Aster frowned. "Mommy did nothing wrong! You were the one who pushed her down the stairs, I saw it!"

Jasmine's expression suddenly became ice-cold, and she waved her hand, gesturing for the bodyguards to throw him out. "Fine, then go watch your mother die."

Aster panicked, his eyes red as tears fell down his cheeks. "I'll do it! I'll say sorry!"

And so, I watched as my son kneeled down in front of Jasmine. My heart felt like it was being stabbed with knives a thousand times over, and I wanted nothing more than to run over and hold him in my arms.

He was Shawn's only son, and the heir to Dawson Group, yet he was being played for a fool!

It was my fault as a mother for not protecting him…

Jasmine covered her mouth, jeering. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

My son wiped his tears and bent down, heavily knocking his head on the floor. "Ms. Stark, get mad at me, not Mommy!"

The ward was warm, with the heating on full blast, and Jasmine wore only a thin white dress.

Yet, my son was sweating profusely from the heat.

Jasmine's heart was as cold as ice. She shot a glance at the bodyguard.

"Didn't you eat? Put your back into it!"

The bodyguard understood what she wanted and walked forward, clamping Aster's neck with his hand and smashing him towards the ground.

Aster let out a pained cry as his head hit the tiles with a loud thump.

After a few times, a large bump appeared on his forehead, swollen, bruised and purple.

Sweat mixed with blood, clumping his hair together in a tangled mess, and he was in a poorer condition than a beggar.

I screamed and pounced at the bodyguard, shouting at him not to hurt my son, but my arms phased through his body time and time again.

I couldn't save my son. I couldn't even let my furious cries be heard.

Jasmine waved her hand again, gesturing for him to stop. "Don't kill him, now."

Aster's eyes were closed, his breathing weak. With a trembling hand, he tried the best he could to reach into the pocket of his down jacket, pulling out a toy with much difficulty. Along with motion, an accessory that looked like a little golden pig clattered onto the floor at his feet.

"I… I'm done… Can you save Mommy now…? Here's… The toy car Daddy gave me, and the piggy Grandpa gave me…

"I don't want anything… I just want Mommy…"

I kneeled down beside Aster, placing my arms and hugging him as I sobbed.

In the past, Shawn and I were a loving couple, admired by many.

"Astrea, let's call him… Aster."

He'd hug Aster as he told him bedtime stories. He'd hold Aster's hand gently as they walked around, and even taught him how to dive and ski.

He never bought any toys for him, though, saying that they would be a waste of his time.

"He's the only heir of the family, after all, so he should be the best at everything."

This toy car, however, was a gift from him to Aster when we went to Universal Studios. He participated in a gaming contest on his own, and won it for him.

Aster, naturally, treated the toy like a piece of treasure, even putting it by his pillow when he went to bed.

Meanwhile, the golden pig wasn't some toy bought in a random curio store.

The fortune tellers said that the golden pig could bring Aster good luck. His grandfather hired the best designers to encrust it with ninety-nine diamonds, with the hopes that it'd protect him and keep him safe.

All of this, however, came to an end when Jasmine came back from overseas.

Time after again, she incriminated me, causing Shawn to lose every bit of trust he had in me.

When Aster protected me, Jasmine cried and convinced Shawn that I taught him to hit people and lie, and that I was a terrible influence.

I was in the middle of my thoughts when Jasmine stepped down from her hospital bed into her high-heels.

She strutted over to Aster and stomped on the toy car, crushing it to pieces.

"Are you trying to show off how much your family dotes on you, you brat?!"

Then, she ordered the bodyguards to strip off Aster's thick coat and twist his arms behind his back, before digging her sharp nails viciously into his tender skin.

After a few scratches, his chest and stomach were covered in bruises and torn flesh, blood dripping down.

"A gold pig? You're a dumb piglet, more like!"

Jasmine cackled, her sneer vicious. "How do you think your mother died? I bought out the doctors, you idiot! You haven't seen that short-lived little sister of yours, right?

"Such a tiny little thing, couldn't even cry… The doctors suffocated her to death, serves her right."

Hearing this, I wanted to become a vengeful ghost and drag this witch down to the underworld with me!

"Honestly, it's your fault for being born to that useless woman. How dare she steal Shawn from me while I was overseas?!"

In a moment, Aster seemed to have an epiphany. He opened his swollen eyes and bit Jasmine's wrist, making her screech.

"Bad lady! You're a bad lady! Gimme my little sister back! I'm telling Daddy so the police can catch you!"