Albert spoke sanctimoniously.'Others have lovers because they seek the thrill, but he's doing it because of his comatose wife. He has no choice but to look for other women since he can't satisfy himself. It's as if his actions can be justified after he changes the reason. Humans are not animals. What does he mean by biological needs? Or, are men this shameless in the face of infidelity and shirk the blame to women?' wondered Stella."If your mother was alive and well, I would've never gone to find other women. She and I went through thick and thin together to establish the company. Our relationship can't possibly be replaced by others."'If he hadn't hastily wanted to divorce my mother soon after her accident, I would have believed his nonsense! Besides, would he care if my mother's dead or alive if I weren't married to Keegan and still useful to the Jewell family? He hasn't divorced my mother only because he's pinning me down in the name of taking care of her,' Stella thought.St
"Let's grab a meal first. You can think while we eat. If you really can't remember, we'll hire a private investigator. We'll avenge your mom."Stella laughed.'If my mother were conscious, she would've fought Albert to the very end and turned the world upside down. She's someone who can't tolerate infidelity. I don't want things to get to that point; I just want to figure out who that woman is and why I find her so familiar,' she thought.The following day, Stella was woken up by her phone in the middle of her slumber.She frowned and picked up the phone. Then, she groggily said, "Hello? Who's this?""You're not awake yet, Stella?"Stella was instantly terrified by the woman's steady voice on the other end. She hastily got up from the bed and cleared her throat before she said in a low voice, "Dahlia? What's wrong?"Dahlia responded coolly, "A few of my friends are coming over today. Come over and help me entertain them."Stella was incredibly reluctant.Dahlia's friends were
"You can't make accusations like that, Mrs. Wood," said Mrs. Chapman.She intended to remind Mrs. Wood that Stella was still Dahlia's daughter-in-law, no matter what. While it was usually acceptable for them to banter around, going overboard was a little inappropriate.However, Mrs. Wood thought that Mrs. Chapman did not believe her."I'm not making accusations. Back then, one of my nephews worked at the Department of Transportation and took part in this accident's investigation. He said the car was badly damaged, and the two supposedly shouldn't be alive. After they were rescued, it turned out only her mother was badly injured while she only had some cuts."She continued, "She doesn't die easily. Women like her can easily cause the death of the people around her. They kill their husband, their sons...""Mrs. Wood!" Mrs. Chapman kicked Mrs. Wood under the table when she saw Dahlia's expression.Mrs. Wood finally realized that she had inadvertently spoken ill of Dahlia.Since Dah
Keegan snorted icily, "She doesn't have what it takes, yet she insisted on going. Letting her get the short end of the stick will teach her a lesson."Since Keegan had already made himself clear, Aldor kept quiet.It seemed like Mrs. White was somebody. When Dahlia spoke to Mrs. White, her tone was evidently more polite than when she was talking with the other two ladies. No matter the food preference or casual conversations, they all centered around Mrs. White's likings and habits.Naturally, Stella could not join their conversation. Thankfully, they ignored her most of the time, aside from their discussion about her in the beginning.Stella played her part as the person who ate and chatted with them, so things were not too difficult for her.After the ladies had their meal, they started Mah-Jongg, a tile-based game. Stella then played the part of the tea lady. She poured them tea and got them desserts.Once everything was prepared, she sat aside and spectated.The guests had n
Stella turned to Dahlia out of reflex.Dahlia indifferently said, "Mrs. White is talking to you."Stella pursed her lips."I'm not that good at it," she said.Mrs. White laughed."I like people who aren't good at it."And so, Stella took over Mrs. Wood's place and played Mah-Jongg with the three women.Mrs. White discarded a 3 of Bamboo. "I haven't seen Aurora the entire day. Where did that girl go? She's graduating this year, right?"Mrs. Chapman laughed, "Where else would she be? She must've gone to your nephew's law firm. Why don't you play matchmaker and tell your brother and his wife? After they get engaged, you and Dahlia will be considered in-laws in the future.""My sister-in-law likes Aurora. Naturally, she'll agree. As for Marshall, it's hard to say. That boy usually seems soft-spoken and easy to talk to, but he's actually very opinionated. I'm afraid we can't make decisions for him," said Mrs. White."They can bond after they get married. Didn't we go through the s
Mrs. Chapman said modestly, "All three of us won. I was just in luck.""Three won, so who lost?" asked Keegan.Everyone fell silent and unanimously turned to look at Stella, who had tears in her eyes.Stella was quiet."How much did you lose?" he asked.Stella bit her lip and said in a low voice, "460 thousand dollars..."Keegan lifted his head. "Did you play with your eyes close?"Stella glared at him through her tears.'It's not his money that I lost. Who gave him the right to ridicule me?!' she thought.Mrs. White said, "She's young. She still lacks experience."Keegan glanced at Stella and said indifferently, "It doesn't have much to do with experience. She hardly wins in any table games."His words implied that Stella was purely stupid.Stella was speechless.'That bastard, Keegan, is always up to no good! He's always finding ways to humiliate me whenever there's a chance!' she thought.Keegan grabbed the teapot and filled up the cups. Then, he said coolly, "It's a r
'That means I shouldn't go for four-of-a-kind,' Stella thought.She drew another tile, and it was another East tile.'Now that I've got a pair, I have more reasons not to put it out,' she thought.Stella scanned her tile and drew a 3 of Bamboo.Seeing how Keegan was silent, she discarded the tile.Mrs. Chapman glanced at her and discarded an East tile."Three-of-a-kind."Stella took the tile and wanted to discard the 1 of Bamboo tile she had drawn just now.Keegan then said, "Are you saving the White tile for New Year?"Stella glared at him and changed to the White tile instead."Three-of-a-kind."Dahlia knocked on the table and discarded a tile.Just as Stella was about to complain about Keegan's skills, she drew a 1 of Bamboo.Then, she inspected her tiles.''I have three each of East, South, West, and North. This hand...""Come on. Discard a tile!" Mrs. Chapman urged her.Stella paused and said in a low voice, "I've completed my hand."Then, she laid out her tiles.
Dahlia did not look happy. She icily said, "Everyone came here to play some games and have a good time. What were you doing?"Keegan looked up and said, "Mom, Mrs. Chapman's husband got promoted a few months ago. It'd be hard to explain things if people discovered such a large sum of money."Dahlia was at a loss for words."But, you shouldn't have spoken that bluntly either."Keegan said, "I'll be more tactful next time."Dahlia was left speechless again. In the end, she glanced icily at Stella. She did not want to speak to them, so she went right upstairs.Keegan stood up and took a few steps. When he saw Stella remain unmoved, he said coolly, "You want to stay here for dinner?"'Of course not!' she thought.Stella packed her things and followed Keegan out.Aldor had been waiting outside since long ago. After they got in, he started the car.'One shouldn't be greedy and steal from others. If it wasn't for Keegan's advice just now, I wouldn't have gotten back the money I lost