Chapter 5

Calista turned back to look at Isaac again. This time, she saw urgency in his eyes. How was that possible?

Even when they were married, he'd never been desperate to fall into bed with her. Besides, she'd signed the divorce papers a year ago.

She believed he would have been over the moon upon receiving the documents, especially after seeing that she'd agreed to leave without a penny. Knowing how much he loved Caroline, she figured that he must have finalized the divorce immediately after signing the papers.

She didn't know what he was playing at, now that they were divorced. What did he mean by saying that they could have another daughter? Hadn't he seen how Anthony had turned out?

Calista had raised Anthony as if he were a treasure, yet the young boy now only had eyes for Isaac. After the incident two years ago, he'd refused to call her "Mom", even to this day. He even made it clear that he didn't want her as his mother. He wanted Caroline, a homewrecker, to play that role!

Calista snapped, "You're crazy, Isaac!"

With that, she turned and stormed off without looking back. The only thing she wanted to do now was visit Anna and Elizabeth.

…

When Calista returned home, she heard Shirley consoling Caroline. "You have to bear with this, Carrie. Tony's life is on the line. You can only blame the heavens for this. This is an obstacle that you have to face. Tony is what matters now. You love him so much, don't you? You can't watch—"

A maid's voice cut in just then. "Mrs. Halston, you're back."

Shirley and Caroline both looked up. Shirley was startled and averted her gaze diffidently when she met Calista's eyes.

Meanwhile, Martin was surprised. "Liss, didn't you and Isaac head to a hotel? Why are you back?"

"I came to get something. I'm going to the hospital and the psychiatric hospital," Calista explained.

Caroline approached her. She could tell from the moisture and redness of the former's eyes that she'd just cried. However, Caroline remained as poised as before and said gently, "I'll arrange for someone to go with you."

Calista frowned and brushed past her as she walked away. "Don't bother."

When did anyone put Caroline in charge of this household?

Brushing past Caroline was a gentle act, but Anthony saw it differently when he came downstairs. He ran to them and stood before Caroline, stretching out his arms defensively.

Calista looked at him. Earlier, when she'd tried to hug him, he'd fearfully hidden behind Caroline. But now, when he thought Calista was going to hurt Caroline, he mustered the courage to stand before the latter protectively. It was as if he thought that Calista—his mother—was some terrifying monster.

At that moment, Calista seemed to be able to hear her heart break into pieces.

Anthony roared, "Don't hurt Aunt Caroline! I hate you!"

That caught Calista off guard. Caroline held his hand and said, "Tony, your mother wasn't bullying me. Hurry up and apologize to her."

He didn't. Instead, he gently touched her eyes and said, "Aunt Caroline, you cried."

He turned back to Calista and shouted, "Dad wouldn't want anything to do with you if it weren't for wanting another baby for the umbilical cord blood! Aunt Caroline wouldn't be sad!"

At his words, everyone cried out anxiously, "Tony!"

Calista was rooted to the spot, feeling like she'd been struck by lightning. Instantly, she broke out in a cold sweat. She hadn't understood what Isaac had been up to before, but she sure as hell knew now. This was the truth…

She couldn't deny that she'd been too proud to back down in the past, resulting in her going to prison. In the early days of her imprisonment, she figured that Isaac would regret what he'd done and bail her out. But as more time passed, she'd lost hope.

Now that Isaac and the Stones had gotten her out, she had actually felt a little hopeful. Yet, it turned out that they just wanted to use her.

Isaac caught up just then and entered the house. When he saw the looks on everyone's faces, he reached out to hold Calista's hand gently, saying cajolingly, "We can take things slow if you're not used to this."

Calista shook him off and turned to look at him with an iciness he'd never seen before. She said, "Tell me why you need umbilical cord blood, Isaac."