Trash Husband, I'm the Top novel Chapter 168

“You did so much for her. The two of you fell in love, and then she became pregnant with your child. Right before she was about to give birth, you said you needed to go home for a while. After that, she gave birth to Payne, and just two weeks later, a fire broke out at a flower shop in town. She died in the blaze. You never came back.”

Those events, spoken aloud, took only a few sentences to recount—nowhere near enough to capture the helpless despair of that time.

Even now, whenever she thought back, all Aurora could see was the raging inferno from that night.

That fire changed everything.

Louis’s mind conjured a hazy image: a woman in a white dress, sun hat shading her face, but her features remained frustratingly indistinct.

Aurora stared down at her coffee cup, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “After she died, I went to the hospital looking for the baby, only to find out you’d already taken him. I never understood why you left so suddenly with Payne, or how you could possibly have lost your memory.”

“I don’t want to know anymore,” she continued quietly. “All I want now is to take care of Payne. That was her last wish.”

“I owe her my life. So it’s my duty to save Payne’s.”

That was why—even if Daniel despised her—she would still return to him, for Payne’s sake, to beg for a chance at survival.

Just a handful of words from Aurora, and Louis felt an overwhelming sorrow rising in his chest, threatening to spill over.

Even if the memories were gone, the pain of loss still echoed in his bones.

“What was her name?” he asked, balling his fist.

“Her name?” Aurora repeated softly. “You’ll know one day.”

…

Daniel returned to North Manor.

A housekeeper met him at the door, taking his suit jacket. “Ms. Quinn is upstairs, in her room.”

Daniel paused, momentarily caught off guard. “She’s back?”

He had honestly thought she would never set foot in this house again.

Unable to contain the sudden rush of happiness, he hurried upstairs, though he stopped outside her door to compose himself before pushing it open with a deliberately calm expression.

It was as if she was about to say that she could play any role he fancied, as long as it pleased him.

The mood was gone. Daniel sat on the edge of the bed, his face clouded.

Aurora calmly pulled her fallen sleeve back up her shoulder and said, “I want to go to the hospital to stay with Payne. If you need anything, just call me.”

Maybe what he’d said at the engagement party had finally made her see things clearly. She was now putting herself in that humiliating role—willingly.

Daniel stared at her for a few seconds before letting out a cold, mocking laugh. “Louis keeps saying you’re not Payne’s biological mother, but look at you. Tell me, how do you not look like a mother?”

Every thought in her heart revolved around Payne. The boy even looked a little like her.

He still couldn’t let go of that incident.

Aurora had nothing left to say. The DNA test results were right there, and he still called them fake. What was the point of arguing further?

She picked up her book again. “If you don’t want to believe it, that’s your choice.”