Among All The Stars I Found You Chapter 02
Preston’s mother disliked her and refused to even meet her.
One night, Juliette smashed every plate from the dinner Preston had delivered.
He must have tried to placate her a dozen times by then.
It didn’t work.
The next day, Juliette disappeared.
It was the first time I ever saw Preston lose his composure.
He looked for her everywhere.
At night, he would sit alone on the balcony and smoke, sometimes staying there until dawn.
I watched him from a distance.
I envied Juliette.
To be loved that much.
And I hated her.
She had thrown away the one thing I didn’t dare to even dream of.
But when I looked down at my own hands, calloused from work, all I felt was my own insignificance.
Even though he hadn’t had time to listen to me, Preston still texted me the restaurant address.
It was the Rhodes family’s monthly dinner.
Until the divorce was final, I still had to play the part of Mrs. Rhodes.
I never expected to open the door to the private dining room and find them there.
Juliette was holding Leo, patiently showing him how to work a new toy she’d bought him.
Preston sat beside them, his gaze fixed on them both.
It was as if she had been the one to raise Leo for the last seven years.
Not me.
Leo was seven now. He’d long since stopped letting me carry him.
He always said, “Mom, I’m a big boy now. I don’t need to be carried.”
It turned out he didn’t need to be carried by *me*.
Blood really was that simple.
The moment Juliette returned, she had taken back the child I’d raised for seven years.
Juliette had finally reappeared seven months after she’d vanished.
She’d stood in front of Preston, her belly swollen.
“I’m pregnant with your child. The doctor says I can’t terminate. You have to marry me.”
Preston had held her tightly and agreed without a second thought.
But on the day Juliette went into labor, he was in a car accident.
The news was everywhere: the Rhodes heir was dead.
Juliette locked herself in her room for two days. On the third day, she was gone, leaving only a note behind.
“Selena, I can’t let this child ruin my life. Take him to a child placement agency.”
Only later did I learn that Juliette had another boyfriend overseas.
But as I stood outside the placement center, holding that tiny, fragile baby, I couldn’t bring myself to go inside.
From that day on, I raised Leo by myself.
Life was hard.
When Leo was three months old, the Rhodes family announced that the heir had survived the accident and awakened from his coma.
At the time, my mother was facing a mountain of medical bills for her surgery.
I had no other choice. I took the baby and went to the Rhodes Group headquarters.
All I wanted was child support.
Even just enough to cover what I’d spent over the last few months.
When I saw Preston again, he was just as I remembered—gentle, immaculate, and impossibly distant.
When I called his name, he looked at me with confusion.
“Who are you?”
My heart hammered against my ribs, and the words tumbled out before I could stop them.
“I’m your girlfriend.”
I looked down at the sleeping infant in my arms.
“And this is our son.”
They took the baby for a paternity test.
When the results came back, the report confirmed that Leo was, indeed, a Rhodes.
Preston held the report, his face a mask of bewilderment.
What surprised me even more was his mother.
She held Leo and wept.
But no one suggested testing me against Leo, too.
I lowered my eyes, hiding my expression.
I didn’t want to be the one to tell Leo I wasn’t his mother.
I stood outside the private room for a few seconds, suddenly unable to go back in.
I turned to leave.
Before I’d taken more than a few steps, Juliette caught up to me.
She blocked my path with a smirk.
“I really underestimated you. I can’t believe you had the nerve to take Leo straight to the Rhodes family. I guess I should be thanking you.”
She said thank you, but her eyes were filled with contempt.
I pressed my lips together, about to speak.
Juliette cut me off.
“You like Preston. You always have.”Â