She thought he would’ve sold the mansion, but who would’ve knew it would still be there.From the outside, it looked excatly as it did when they were still married.Even the flowers she had trimmed in the front yard were still in the same shape.Back then, Stella wanted to be the perfect wife and mother and take good care of the house.Even though the floweres were the gardener’s responsibility, she wanted to give it a try.When she left, she never thought that she would be coming back, ever again.After getting off the car, Weston had been observing her every expression.As she stepped inside, he saw her stunned face become emotionless, and he trailed her with a somewhat reserved behavior. "Since Stardust Mansion is located between Ahn City and Fern City, traveling to both places won’t be a problem. You'll live here, and I'll take care of the rest."This left her in a dilemma.After a moment she asked, “What about Roger? I’ve been living with him, and now, you want me to move
Weston was unaware of her efforts. It was as though the void in his heart was filled when he realized she was back home.He walked forward and suddenly hugged her from her behind, his chin resting on her neck.Almost instantly, her scent overwhelmed his olfactory senses. He had never noticed it before, and all he knew was that she had a faint fragrance on her face.After their divorce, however, the scent became even more ingrained in his mind.He could feel her body tensing, but he wasn't in any hurry to act."What perfume are you wearing?" he murmured, his powerful arm wrapping her waist.Stella shut her eyes tightly when she felt his hot breath on her skin.She took a deep breath and attempted to sound calm. "I don't use perfume.""What exactly is this scent?" Weston looked up and gripped her chin. He kissed her on the lips after turning her around.Stella did not react to him.She didn't fight back, but she didn't react either.It didn't take long for him to lose interest
His slender legs extended to scoop up the thong on the ground with his hand-made leather shoes, before leaning down to grasp it.Then, he squeezed it into a ball and let go. "I remember you liked lace in the past. What made you switch to cotton?"Stella closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Her arms were freezing."It was a random purchase, I have no preference," she added as she rubbed her right arm.Weston said nothing and threw the thong next to him. “Continue,” he said, studying her with interest.She nodded and knelt in front of him, trembling. Her hands went out and touched the spot she didn't want to touch.Sure enough, his body stiffened up and the veins on his neck ruptured.He grabbed her hair and pulled her away. “Who taught you these?”“No one.” She shook her head.Her answer pleased him. He held the back of her neck, and his movements became gentle. “Good girl.”He knew that there weren't any men by her side during the time they were apart.The only thr
Stella didn't notice anything unusual about his tone, and she didn't want him to know where she was, so she hung up the phone quickly. Right after hanging up, she felt a warm hug from behind.Weston had been in the living room earlier, organizing his papers. She had no idea when he had walked up behind her, his arms locked around her waist.“Who did you call?” she heard him asking in a low voice beside her ears.She adjusted her breathing before answering, “Roger.”“Really?” His expression didn't change much as his hands went gently around her waist. "I thought it was Justin."She shut her eyes and held out her phone. “You can check if you want.”He didn't say no. He unlocked her phone, checked the call history, and confirmed that it was Roger before handing it back to her.He didn’t even hide the fact that he didn’t trust her at all.Having total control over her, he treated her like a caged canary.Stella was clearer than before of what was her position as she asked, “Are
Stella finally understood what he meant.“You want me to cook for you?”Weston leaned against the glass door frame beside him, not answering Stella’s question.“No problem.” Stella nodded. Weston’s silence clearly did not faze her. “What would you like to eat?” she asked as she walked into the kitchen.Weston gazed at Stella as she walked away. Her long hair cascaded down her back, almost reaching her waist. He remembered how much shorter it was when they first got married. Every night, she would lie on their bed, her shiny black hair forming a stark contrast with the white sheets. Now every time he saw the clashing colors of black and white, it would remind him of Stella in bed and he would lose control of himself for a moment. Weston set his wandering thoughts aside and his eyes darkened.“Surely you know exactly what I like to eat?” he replied.In fact, not even his own parents knew his exact preferences. Growing up, he had always had the best of everything served up to
Stella quickly squashed the crazy idea. She couldn’t possibly put Roger in a position where his only living relative was a criminal.The clinking and clanking noise arose from the kitchen when Stella started cooking. Weston was sitting on the sofa in the living room. The news was playing on the television, but he wasn’t paying any attention to that. He was more interested in the noise that came from the kitchen. Weston realized that he had always taken all these little details for granted in the past. He wondered how many precious moments he’d lost forever. Stella did not put as much thought into the cooking as she did in the past, because she no longer had any interest to please Weston. All she wanted to do now was complete a chore that she was assigned. With that, she made a bowl of very simple chicken noodle soup and brought it out to the table. She noticed that it was looking a little too plain, so she quickly chopped up some scallions and garnished it on the soup. The little
Stella was startled at first, but she quickly regained her composure.“Are we starting now?” she asked.Stella’s words might sound vague, but Weston knew exactly what she meant. The desire that had cropped up in him just now completely dissipated in a moment. “I don’t have the mood now even if you begged for it!” he snapped, shoving Stella away.Weston then dashed back into the bedroom and slammed the door shut.Stella stared at the closed door silently with disbelief.The night was still young. The television in the living room was still on. Stella walked towards the sofa and was about to sit down when a commercial starring Guinevere Cohen came up. The sight incited a complicated mix of feelings in Stella’s heart. Her eyes were glued on the woman on the screen. Scenes from the past flashed across her eyes.Stella leaned against the backrest, grabbed a pillow, and curled up on the sofa. She was wearing a long white cotton dress. Her long hair fell softly on her shoulders. The m
The night was chilly and the room was silent. It was almost two in the morning. Stella had settled into a deep sleep, no longer mumbling or talking.Weston had been by her side for more than an hour, but she had only just calmed down. But now that she was sound asleep, Weston was still too restless to go to bed. He was dressed in a long silk nightshirt. The dark blue satin fabric clung to his tall muscular frame. He stepped out onto the balcony and carefully slid the glass door close so as not to make a sound. For a while, he stood there and gazed through the glass at Stella who was lying on the sofa.Then he turned around and rested his arms on the railing as he looked down. The courtyard downstairs looked different under the soft illumination of street lamps. The bright green leaves looked dark and gloomy now as they rustled in the night breeze.The swaying shadows of the trees danced on the balcony, making it look like a scene from another dimension.Weston pulled out a cigare
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