“Haven’t you?” Stella picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. “How can I be sure of that when your own wife is still oblivious to the fact that you cheated on her many years ago?”“That was the only time it happened!” he insisted as calmly as he could through gritted teeth. He was seething with anger, but he knew it would be best to control his emotions. “I’d completely cut my contact with that woman ever since then…”“Are you sure that was the only time? Judging by your conversation with her back then, it sounded more like a repeated offense to me.”“I was just starting up my company back then,” he argued. “I had to meet so many people and entertain lots of clients, so it was impossible for me not to forget myself sometimes. But eventually, I managed to firmly establish the company, and ever since then, I’ve never fooled around at all!”“Oh,” Stella responded, her voice studded with biting scorn. “So you managed to establish your company then, huh? I wonder: How exactly did you d
“That wasn’t what I meant…” Michael looked at him. “But Mr. Ford, can you deny that? You’re supposed to be considered one of the decent ones, but even you keep other women. Isn’t Bella from Lowe Gardens one of them?” “Seems like you took the effort to get to know me,” Weston responded expressionlessly. “Aside from her, who else did you find?” Michael was stunned for a moment, realizing that he had spoken too quickly. “It didn’t take much effort on my part. I simply heard about it from the rumor mill…” “I see,” Weston picked up Stella’s coffee cup. Stella was about to tell him that the cup was hers and she had taken a sip from it, but it was too late. Weston pursed his lips and sipped from the cup. Stella remembered his mild germaphobia and refusal to share food or drinks with other people and decided it was best for her to keep silent. Weston finished the cup and furrowed his brows as he looked at Michael, “The Belfords were right. You’re very ambitious, and you have yo
“Mr. Ford really treats you like treasure,” Michael couldn’t help but remark. “He watches over you like a hawk, even for a short while.” “Just say what you want to say,” Stella said directly. Both of them walked to the end of the corridor. Weston was waiting outside. Stella looked at him distractedly, “I believe I made my stance very clear just now.” Michael looked at her and said, “I really didn’t expect you to be able to win Weston over just like that…” Puffing on a cigarette, he went on, “Seems like I don’t really have a way now…” “You sound like you’re about to do something to me.” Michael chuckled. “You’ve spent so much time with Weston that you can now find loopholes in what others say.” “Growth is inevitable, especially for someone like me who’s suffered so much in the hands of others,” Stella hinted. Michael turned solemn and only spoke after remaining silent for a long while. “I don’t have much to say except to remind you about one thing: Given how things e
“I’m not going to coax and cajole him like a little child, but…” She sighed. Weston lifted her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it tenderly. “Don’t bother about him. He’ll get around it sooner or later.” Stella remained silent as she fixed her gaze on him. She was worried precisely about him. She knew that Weston would settle everything properly on the premise that she would stay obediently by his side. She had to do exactly as he said. His excellent treatment of her came at a price. Right now, there was only one thing she was worried about, and that was Old Mr. Ford’s method to try to send her away without implicating those around her. Thankfully, given the time and information lag overseas, Stella still had some time to think about how to explain things to Roger. The engagement banquet’s incident immediately affected Ford Corporation’s stock prices. Weston needed to go to the office to attend to something. The silver Bugatti stopped in the middle of the
Angelina sat stunned for a moment before saying, “No, I don’t,” in a daze. Stella pursed her lips. She recalled how certain Henry was when he claimed that Angelina was Faye…did he really get the wrong person? He must have. “Why did you suddenly ask me that?” Angelina asked. “Who is Henry Moore, and what’s his relationship with you?” Stella didn’t want to add to her worries, so she simply chuckled and said, “Nothing, it was just a casual question.” Angelina blinked. “Are you hiding something from me? “If it’s something personal and you don’t wish to tell me, that’s fine. But if it’s related to me, I wish that you’ll tell me honestly…” she whispered into Stella’s ear. Stella pondered for a moment. She rubbed in between her brows and said slightly apologetically, “You’re right. I should tell you about it.” She then subsequently relayed everything that happened with Henry to Angelina. Angelina heard Stella out solemnly, her eyes in a daze. Not getting a meaningful r
It was her way of keeping her distance. As a mature adult, he could catch the hint in her address. Caspian lowered his eyes and felt a wave of disappointment. Trying his best not to show his despair, he shot her a final glance before turning to leave. At his age, it went without saying that he had been in a number of relationships. However, perhaps because it had been a long while since his last relationship, this crush somehow ran deeper. Although it wasn’t intense, it was long and lingering. It constantly lurked at the back of his mind, sometimes rearing its head at the most unexpected of times, and was impossible to get rid of. He exhaled loudly and decided that it was time to flee from Stella. … At the promotional event. Caspian kept a physical distance as he had promised himself. His manager was originally worried that he might do something out of whack upon seeing Stella, but he was surprised and, at the same time, comforted that he behaved so sensibly and
It would have been treated as insignificant gossip, but because Caspian had been lying low over the past few years, and this was his first scandal after a long while, a large turmoil had been created amongst his fans. “Isn’t this woman Weston Ford’s fiancée?” “Get away from our man!” “Yeah! As a woman who has a fiancé, why is she still out there seducing other male celebrities?” “Ms. Ella or Ms. Stella, please be clear about where you stand! Don’t seduce male actors in the crew as you wish!” Although Caspian wasn’t a top actor, he was considered relatively popular. Thus, coupled with a pretty aggressive fanbase, the topic began trending online in no time. Undoubtedly, some bystanders couldn’t help but rebut the nasty insults on behalf of Stella. “Come on! Open your eyes and take a good look at who her fiancé is. We’re talking about Weston Ford!” “He’s a man who even dumped Ms. Cohen. How can Caspian Yates compare? Stop thinking so highly of him!” Extremely dissatisf
Stella sighed. “I didn’t mean to hide it from you, but…” “Forget it. I know.” Yvonne waved her hand. “It’s not like I don’t go online. I know what you’ve been through. “No wonder Weston insisted on being with you,” she lamented. “Turns out you two have a past.” The more resentment she felt, the more she spoke up. “I knew it all along. The Stella I know would never be willing to be the third wheel in someone else’s relationship! There has to be more to it.” Aside from being forced by Weston, there was indeed another hidden reason. Yvonne added smugly, “Lucas was always biased against you, wasn’t he? After this news broke out, he didn’t stop me from coming to visit you. He always found me a poor judge of character and gets fooled easily. He finally stopped nagging at me about this…” She wasn’t really angry that Stella hid the truth from her, with her main aim to meet Stella and catch up with her. However, she did not expect to see two luxury cars parked outside The Doghouse
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