I Raised His 99 Children to Save My Son Chapter 09

I Raised His 99 Children to Save My Son Chapter 09

I wiped my eyes and bowed deeply to the old couple. “Thank you. Truly. But I can’t hide here forever. I have to go back.”

I couldn’t live out my days branded a child poisoner. I wouldn’t let that lie follow me to the grave.

And more than anything, I needed to retrieve Elias’s ashes. Bring him to the sea. Give him the one thing he’d always wanted.

“When I come back, I’ll stay. You can teach me to fish, to live off the water. Deal?”

Arthur and Martha exchanged a long, aching look. Then they nodded.

I let my body heal. And when I was strong enough, I said my goodbyes and returned alone to the city that had nearly destroyed me.

The moment I stepped into the Steele Mansion estate, they were waiting. A mob of Kian’s

mistresses, flanked by reporters from The Westshire Insider, all of them glaring at me like I was something scraped off their shoes.

“She’s back! The fugitive finally showed her face!”

“My son is still in the hospital because of you, you poisonous witch! You owe us blood!”

“She’s not walking away this time. She’s going to prison!”

The cameras swung toward me. Flash after flash. A storm of light and accusation.

I scanned the crowd, let a cold, mocking smile curl at the edge of my lips. “Looks like I arrived just

in time. You’re all so united. I wonder who put you up to it. Who convinced you to gamble with your

own children’s lives to set this little trap?”

Silence. The mob blinked, momentarily thrown.

One of the sharper mistresses recovered fast. “Don’t listen to her lies! Her son is dead, so now she

wants to drag ours into the grave with him!”

“Is that so?” I let my gaze drift slowly, deliberately, toward the pale, fidgeting figure at the edge of

the crowd. Camille Hale.

“Think about it. If I wanted to hurt your children, why wait seven years? And if something really did happen to them, who benefits? Who stands to inherit everything Kian Steele has?”

Heads turned. Every pair of eyes locked onto Camille.

Her face went white. She clutched her stomach and stumbled backward. “Why are you all looking at me? My baby isn’t even born yet. I don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl. This has nothing to do with me! She’s the one who wants revenge!”

Before she could say another word, the mob surged toward me.

And then Kian burst through the front gate.

“What is going on out here?!”

His eyes found mine. He froze. His whole body locked up, and then something raw and red flooded his gaze. “Helena?! You’re alive! Thank God!”

He crossed the distance in three strides and wrapped his arms around me, crushing me against his chest without a care for the cameras or the crowd.

“I’ve been searching everywhere. I thought you were-”

“You’re okay. That’s all that matters.”

“I’m sorry, Helena. I’m so sorry. About our son. About everything. I was a bastard. I failed you both.”

“I cut ties with all of them. Every last one. I’ll pay them off, send them away for good. From now on, it’s just us. We can start over. Please.”

“Please. Forgive me. Just this once.”

His arms were warm, familiar, and utterly revolting.

I planted both hands against his chest and shoved with every ounce of strength I had left.

“Kian Steele. I didn’t come back to reminisce. And I sure as hell didn’t come back to forgive you. I came for my son’s ashes.”

“Whatever we had ended the moment you threw that cord blood out the window. Now? Standing this close to you makes me sick.”

“If you actually want to make things right, then find the person who poisoned those children. The person who framed me. Lock her up, and clear my name.”