Stella had run away from Weston so quickly that it seemed like an automatic response from her. She stood far from him, clearly embarrassed to be seen anywhere with him and evidently unwilling to let anyone think that they were in any kind of relationship.But he quickly regained his composure and calmly walked on as nothing had happened. The members of the crew were also very surprised to see the two of them together there. They froze, and those that recognized Weston began greeting him.“Mr. Ford…”Weston greeted them back tersely without even looking at them. It was obvious that he was not in his best mood. He even exuded a cold and standoffish air around him.The members of the crew stood together and watched as Weston strode away, then their gaze shifted towards Stella, and they began to greet her too.Stella smiled at them and quickly walked away as if nothing had happened. From a distance, she could hear their hushed voices talking about her and Weston.“What are those tw
Stella shook her head.“I just didn’t like it, that’s all. Were you drinking last night, or did you just drink this morning?”Weston did not answer her.Stella then climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom to wash up. When she reemerged, she glanced at him and casually told him, “I noticed that you’ve been drinking a lot lately.”“Have I?”She nodded.She then yawned and suddenly noticed a white medicine bottle on the nightstand. She squinted and frowned, then asked him, “What’s that?”She picked it up and examined it but was still clueless about what it was.“Is this yours?” she asked. “What is it for? Are you feeling unwell?”There was a hint of concern in the tone of her voice, which softened Weston’s countenance considerably. He leaned against her waist and told her, “I do feel a little unwell.”“Where?” She reached out her hand to touch his forehead and found that his body temperature was normal. Weston stroked her waist and let his breath tickle her ear.“Can’t
The other end of the line had been so quiet that Dr. Hayden Quirk suspected Weston did not hear him just now, so he repeated what he said once more. He was surprised when he suddenly heard a woman ask him, “What’s wrong with him?”He hung up the phone immediately, and all Stella could hear was the cold beeping tone.The sound of rushing water in the bathroom stopped, and Weston soon returned. He noticed that Stella just stood there next to the nightstand as he wiped his hair dry with a towel.“What are you doing just standing there?” he asked.“Nothing,” replied Stella, trying her best to keep her composure. She then scrutinized the man in front of her with a steady gaze.Seeing that she was acting a little weird, Weston walked up to her and kissed her before asking, “What’s wrong? Are you not satisfied yet? Wanna do it again?”Stella’s brows furrowed, but she strangely did not argue with him, nor did she show much reaction to his teasing.“Did something happen?” Weston asked, h
Stella gave Warren Ford a brief glance before telling him, “We’ve said all there is to say the last time we met. I don’t think there’s any more need for us to talk.”Warren’s eyes trembled. He looked as if he had something to say, yet he somehow couldn’t.Meanwhile, Elias and Emma could not help but poke their heads out of the car with curiosity when the old man who had been coming to see them these past few days called out their mother’s name. They had anticipated seeing their mother being happy now that she had finally come back, but for some reason, Elias sensed that something was wrong and felt the urge to get out of the car to be with his mother.But before he could get out, Roger quickly stopped him. “The adults are talking right now,” he told Elias. “You’re just a kid. You’ve got no business interrupting them.”Elias said nothing in reply, but he was perceptive enough to know that his mother was in a bad mood, which made him anxious to get out of the car.Emma sensed this
“Should I take Elias and Emma away if Warren Ford comes to see them again?” Roger asked.Stella paused and fell silent. She ended up not giving him a definite answer.After a while, she turned to her children and asked them, “Do you guys like that old man?”Elias and Emma scrutinized their mother’s expressions to find out how she was feeling.“Just tell me the truth,” Stella said helplessly. “You’re not allowed to lie.”Hearing this, Elias and Emma nodded earnestly.Stella sighed. It appeared that the children liked their great-grandfather, after all. But then Emma quickly climbed onto her lap and whispered in her ear, “But I like Mommy more than anyone else in the world!”“That’s right!” Elias echoed his sister. “Mommy is the most important person in the world!”In fact, they only liked Warren Ford because he was nice to them. The children would show affection towards any stranger that treated them kindly anyway.Stella understood what her children were trying to tell her,
Soon afterward, Stella suddenly smelled a pleasant aroma—This time, she was sure she was not just imagining it. The aroma clearly wafted in from the direction of the kitchen. She got up from the balcony and carefully put down the tablet in her hands before heading towards the living room.As she suspected, she saw a tall figure there.Stella almost stopped breathing as she slowly tiptoed into the kitchen, only to see Weston standing there wearing an apron. There was also a pot of boiling water on the stove next to him.Weston then deftly cut up some vegetables and plopped them into the pot before covering them with a lid. He turned around and saw Stella standing there at the door, her face looking sickly and pale. He frowned, then walked up to her and touched her face with the back of his hand to check if she had a fever.“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Are you feeling unwell?”“Are you out of your mind?!” Stella swatted his hand away, still recovering from the shock. “How can you
Stella’s refusal of him was strong and unambiguous. Weston sat on the couch and covered his eyes with one hand. After a long silence, he finally pleaded in a raspy voice, “Just let me stay here for a little while, okay?”Stella walked up to him. Only then did he put his hand down as he looked at her.“I’ll just sit here for a while, and then I’ll go, okay?”Stella ignored him and just stood over him and looked down at him. After remaining silent for a while, she finally relented and told him, “You’re only allowed to sit here for a while, and then you’ll leave, understood?”Weston nodded.Stella turned around and walked away. She headed towards the balcony to put away her things and returned to her bedroom.Half an hour later, she came back out to check on him and saw Weston getting up to get himself a glass of water from the water dispenser, and in his hand was a white bottle of medicine. He poured half of the pills into the bottle and popped them into his mouth.Stella froze.
“I’m not letting you go.”Weston showed a rare sign of defiance, and as he spoke, his lips brushed against her ear.Stella tried to get up by pressing her hand against his chest, only to be held even tighter by him.“Don’t leave me…” he repeated, this time with a feeble pleading voice.Stella again remembered how pitiful he looked while taking his medication, and she began to give in.Weston sensed this change in her and hugged her gently as he kissed her forehead. Then his kisses slowly moved downwards until he reached her collarbone.Stella took a deep breath. She had lost all her will to resist now and even started to undo the buttons on his shirt herself.“What are you doing?!” Weston asked after a pause.“Stop pretending,” Stella looked down at him. “Isn’t this what you want?”She then undid all his buttons, exposing his muscular chest covered in a dazzling array of scars. The sight shocked her. She realized that ever since they were separated, he must have had to suffe
Stella had rarely ever woken up before him.He had always been terrifyingly strong, but their lovemaking last night must have consumed a lot of his energy, leaving him so tired that he was still sound asleep.She stared at him and suddenly felt like doing something naughty. She pinched his nose and held her fingers there, trying to suffocate him. Unsurprisingly, he soon knitted his handsome brows and quickly woke up.He was surprised to see her mesmerizing eyes as soon as he woke up, which made him pause. He then took her hand into his and kissed it again and again.“Are you okay?” he asked with concern, remembering how wildly he ravaged her last night.She had only been willing to be intimate with him because she was under the influence of a drug, yet he had taken advantage of her and had his way with her over and over again last night.Stella did not speak. Seeing her like that made his expressions turn a little colder. He fell silent for a long time before he got up and sl
The moment Stella saw him, she flew into his arms and clambered onto his body. She kissed him again and again, trying to search for his breath so she could explore his body even deeper. All she wanted was to let him extinguish the fire burning inside her.Half an hour had passed, and the effect of the drug on her body was its strongest now.Weston swallowed his saliva. Without any hesitation, he pinned her against the bathroom mirror and kissed her vehemently on her face, her shoulders, then her neck.Stella could not stop herself from letting out loud moans. The sounds she produced only drove Weston wilder. Even the corners of his eyes began to turn red now.Luckily, there was still a thread of reason in his mind. He pushed her away and, while panting heavily, asked her, “Who am I, Stella?”But Stella’s mind was occupied with her primal urges. She ignored his question and grabbed his shirt collar, saying, “Let’s do it…” The sight of her filled Weston with a desire to just give
Weston paused, then simply replied, “Okay.”When he saw her changing into a pair of high heels, he followed her around and asked, “Where are you going?”“Oh, to a private concert.”Then she added, “If you’re going to spend the night here tonight, then please take care of Elias and Emma. But if you have to leave, I’ll ask Roger to come over instead.”“Don’t worry,” he said. “Just go out and enjoy yourself. I’ll be at home and take good care of the kids.”Stella paused suddenly, feeling inexplicably weird about what Weston had just said. It sounded like she was forcing him to stay at home and take care of the kids while she went out to have fun without a care in the world. She turned around to look at Weston, feeling like he was acting like a poor neglected housewife.She shook her head and tried to shake this terrifying thought out of her mind.When they arrived at the concert, Hayden offered his arm to her like a gentleman. They then walked into the private concert together, w
Stella’s words rendered Weston speechless. She was right. He had been the one to agree to let Stella date other people, so he must seem like a fool saying all those things to her.He withdrew his hands and forced himself to calm down a little. “I have no intention to stand in your way,” he told Stella. “I was only worried about Elias and Emma. Since they’re also here, I think you need to take their feelings into consideration.”The children could sense the strained atmosphere between the adults, so they just waited patiently on the couch with Roger, occasionally poking their heads out to look at their parents.Seeing his kids like that, Weston slowly added, “I’m only here to see the kids, so both of you can go ahead with your date.”Stella said nothing and just took Hayden’s hand and left.When they got downstairs, Hayden glanced at her and asked, “Are you sure you want to just leave him like that?”“I don’t know,” Stella massaged the point between her brows. “I’m not sure wh
Hayden Quirk arrived half an hour earlier than Stella did on their first date.“You’re much earlier than I expected,” he joked as Stella walked in.Stella was actually on time, but she still felt a little guilty when she saw him already waiting for her when she arrived.“The traffic is terrible today,” she said.“Don’t worry about it,” Hayden said, handing her the menu. “Mr. Ford expected me to wait for you for at least an hour.”“I seriously don’t know what you guys are up to,” she grumbled, exasperated, “but I hope it will at least be over soon. Just don’t drag it out and cause me any trouble.”She ordered a few dishes, then handed the menu back to him. Hayden took it from her, ordered a few more signature dishes that the restaurant was popular for, then looked at Stella with a faint smile.“Did you think this is all just a joke?” he asked.“What else could it be?”“I am serious about this,” he told her, his voice suddenly turning grave. “Since even Mr. Ford agreed that we s
Weston raised his eyebrows at Ben’s words. “But he’s divorced. He has an ex-wife.”“What’s wrong with having an ex-wife?”Ben found Weston’s comment strange. “This man has good qualities. Upon investigation, he has a very good personality too. He was an active member during college. He also has an amazingly beautiful resume. It’s normal that a man like him has been married before… Besides, hasn’t Ms. Sealey been married before herself? She even has two children.”Weston’s expression turned cold at once. “Are you discriminating against her?”“I’m not.”Weston said, “Or do you think she can only find a divorced man for her second marriage?”Ben panicked. “I wouldn’t dare!”With Weston’s ridiculous amount of nitpicking, they could find no one that would match Stella.Hayden sat beside and quietly reviewed Weston’s latest psychological health report. As he turned the page, he suddenly said, “I’m actually a little interested in Ms. Sealey.”Hayden laughed a little and turned to Wes
Stella opened her eyes and shot Weston a cold look. Then, she turned her head the other way.Weston did not touch her again. He knew she was probably angry with him, so he stayed silent.A few moments later, he reminded her, “Don’t be angry. That man is unreliable.”Stella propped her chin in her palm. “And what does that have to do with you?”Weston pursed his lips, setting his jaw in a tight line. He said, “I’ve promised to stop pestering you. It’ll be a promise. I’m fine with seeing you with another man, but at least find someone who makes me feel at ease.”“Why do I need your approval when I’m just looking for a date?” Stella found his words funny. “You’re just my ex-husband. Don’t you think you care too much?”Weston rubbed his brow, and his voice suddenly went cold. “If you don’t want me to keep pestering you like I just did, maybe you should listen to me.”Stella questioned, “Are you threatening me?”“No. I’m suggesting.”Stella was lost for words. Then, she suddenly
Stella froze for a moment when she heard the voice. When she turned around, she saw that Weston had appeared behind her at some point.Weston stared at the man behind Stella with a cold gaze and an icy aura around him. Weston had always emitted a strong aura around him. Anyone who saw him would immediately be terrified because of his intimidating aura.The man froze for a moment at Weston’s sudden appearance. He took a step back and quickly steadied himself before greeting Weston, “Mr. Ford.”He still had the same calm and gentle look. “I’m sending Miss Cicily back.”“I know. Don’t ever show up in front of her again,” Weston told him. “You don’t have to send her back. Stay away from her.”It would be a little inappropriate for the man to act a fool at Weston’s straightforwardness, so he tugged at his collar and asked Weston with a polite smile, “Mr. Ford, you should give me a reason, shouldn’t you? I’m having a good time with Miss Cicily.”“You’re the one who thinks she’s having
Stella smiled. It seemed like he had come prepared.Stella enjoyed chatting with the man. He was sincere and introduced himself properly as soon as they started chatting.The man was also a pianist and came from a scholarly family. Although not super wealthy, he was doing considerably well in the middle class. Stella would not need to worry about the quality of life with him, but that was about it. She certainly could not live a luxurious life.Stella had a good impression of him. She also talked to him a little more about piano music.Stella twirled her hair and smiled. She told him with a nice voice, “I’m sure Roger has already told you about my situation.”“I know.”The man looked at her gently and set the coffee in front of her. He said to her, “I’m very interested in you. I think we’re very suitable for each other. Our living standards nowadays have improved quite a bit. Not many look for a partner purely because of material qualities. People with emotional needs will search