When Cordelia had finished speaking, Baldwin was asked to gift each of them a money pouch. Stella received the pouch with a "Thanks".Jaylene, on the other hand, declined and said, "I'm afraid I'm not worthy of the money pouch Madam Kane is giving. I lack talent."Stella paused then smiled immediately. She said, "Ms. Saun, this is not a competition. We wrote the calligraphy to congratulate Cordelia. Will it matter who is more talented as long as Cordelia feels blessed?"Baldwin added, "Ms. Saun, please do keep it. Take it as a blessing from Madam Kane."Jaylene hesitated a little before finally taking it. "I'm sorry for my narrow-mindedness."Stella did not reply to that, and she kept her thoughts to herself. 'I felt something fishy when Jaylene proposed to write calligraphy together. There were a lot of ways for her to be in the limelight, but she insisted on doing it together with me. It felt like she was using me as a steppingstone. Maybe her thought process isn't as innocent a
Stella took out the money pouch and pinched it gently. It was a little thick. She raised her eyes and said to Vermont, "There's at least two thousand in it."Vermont also pinched it and said, "It should be more than two thousand. A minimum of three thousand in it if the money is new.""New money of three thousand isn't this thin.""It must be three thousand. Otherwise, the money pouch wouldn't be so big."Keegan was speechless. Suddenly, he felt a little ashamed to stand beside these two people.Instigated by Vermont, Stella opened the money pouch quietly. She opened it with a racing heart and trembling hands and found nothing. There was another smaller money pouch inside.Stella was left speechless.Vermont stroked his chin and said, "In that case, it may be like what you said. It's two thousand."Stella opened this layer of money pouch. However, there was another layer of money pouch inside.Both of them were silent now.Vermont pondered and said, "It can't be one thousand,
As soon as Stella had left, Vermont looked at Keegan with a smile and said, "Giving photos is so boring. Next time, pack yourself as a gift and send it over. Maybe she'll accept it."Keegan glanced at him. "Did you watch too many cheesy dramas?"Keegan knew nothing about the money pouch. He was also surprised when Stella took out the photo. However, Keegan felt that it was in line with Cordelia's usual style when he thought about it.Vermont said, "Stella still likes your face. Didn't you see her expression when she looked at the photo just now? Her eyes lit up."Keegan paused and said, "Really?""If she doesn't like it, her first reaction should be disgust when she sees that it's you. But, she glanced at the photo five times just now! Stella is a face-judger. Look at the accounts she follows. They are all people with good looks and good figures. Isn't your appearance miles ahead of those internet celebrities?"Keegan frowned. "Are you comparing me to those people?"Vermont was
Stella was a bit surprised. 'Doesn't Trevor have a sister complex? Why does this sound like he's siding with me?'Stella pondered, 'Maybe Trevor is just being polite. After all, these words can also be understood as an apology to me for Jaylene's recklessness.'With that in mind, Stella politely said, "Even if I really practiced, I might barely be on a par with Ms. Saun. Her handwriting is really beautiful."Trevor's eyes softened. 'Stella isn't only well-taught, but kind too.'"Mrs. Chapman said you can play the piano. When you have a chance next time, play it for me too."After being missing for over 20 years, Trevor wanted to get to know her better.Stella just took a bite of the mango pie. She could neither swallow nor spit it out. Once again, she wondered if Trevor was trying to rule her out. What he said was too strange.Obviously, Trevor also realized that what he had said was causing a little misunderstanding. So, he then coughed and said, "Only by fully understanding th
It did not take long for Rainee to discover the collusion between Stella and her buddies. So, she beat her up. Rainee was still reluctant to hit her. So, she just hit Stella's palm with a ruler."Then, my mom found out that I'm really not cut out for piano. Besides, she is busy with work, so she no longer pushes me."She thought to herself, 'My family's condition improved later on, and we moved to a bigger house. But, I was never as happy as I was back in my childhood time.'Trevor's eyes softened a little. "Since you hate practicing the piano so much, didn't you think of a way to break the piano? That way, you don't have to practice or get beaten."Stella smiled. "I can't. You probably don't understand. At that time, my family's condition was only average, and the piano was nearly 14,000 dollars in our country currency."It was really expensive 20 years ago. My mother could have bought a car, but she spent the money on me."She had a big fight with Albert for me. I would rather
Molly apologized coldly. However, her tone softened immediately when her eyes turned to Trevor. "Trevor, are you hungry? There are freshly grilled steaks ahead. I'll take you there."Trevor showed a serious expression and flatly said, "Actually, I really want to eat that caviar sushi. But, unfortunately, you knocked it to the floor."The expression on Molly's face froze for a second. Then, she smiled and said, "That won't a problem. I'll ask the chef to make it again for you."However, Trevor replied, "I just want to eat the piece that fell on the floor just now."Molly was embarrassed now, and she thought, 'Isn't he clearly blaming me?'Stella didn't want to get caught up in the situation. Holding a plate, she said, "Trevor, I'll go handle that." Then, swiftly, she dashed away with the dinner plate.Compared to Trevor, Stella suddenly found Keegan easier to push around. If Keegan had asked for the piece on the ground, she would have picked it up and given it to him because he'd
"Please, Trevor is not as childish as you. Plus, we're divorced. Nobody would expect you to call him what I call him."It was a lame excuse, but Keegan kept a straight face and said, "Either way, you're not allowed to call him that!"Stella gave Keegan a side-eye.Stella thought to herself, 'I'll deliberately call him that, then!'While they were talking, an eight-layered cake was pushed to the venue by quite a few people.Cordelia did not lie. Most layers of the cake were filled with mixed fruits, but there was one layer that was topped with mangoes only.Stella's eyes followed the cake, and she thought about taking a big piece of it for Felicity because Felicity loved cakes.When she was reminded of Felicity, Stella frowned again.'Why isn't she here yet? Did something happen?'Stella took out her phone and texted Felicity. [Where are you?]Stella waited for a long time, but Felicity did not reply. "Let's go and stand further in front. We're taking group photos later," Keeg
Someone then asked, "Does anyone know what Stella brought as a gift tonight?""I didn't see her go to the reception. She probably got in when nobody was looking.""Damn, she has no shame. Coming here empty-handed and going home with money."Molly's eyes darkened.When everyone was singing the birthday song, Stella secretly glanced at her phone and saw the few missed calls.She quickly called Felicity back.However, Felicity's line was busy.Stella texted Felicity, [where are you now?]Just as her text was sent, there was a sudden commotion at the venue.Before long, the news got out.The account book at the reception was soaked in alcohol.When Baldwin informed Cordelia, she furrowed her brows.The account book at the reception was quite important since they had to reciprocate the gift based on the who-gave-what recorded in the book.It would be inappropriate to return gifts that were too cheap or expensive compared to the original gift. The most courteous way would be to