Stella was surprised.Then, Marshall explained, "My nerves were all damaged after being burned back then, and the parts of my skin where there are burn scars became very unresponsive. I can't really feel hot, cold, or even pain."That was why he did not respond at all even though there was a hole burning in his blazer earlier.Stella gulped. 'Why do I feel like I'm always reminding him of his dark past?'I hate myself!' Stella thought before she said, "I can't really see if you're burned or not. Anyway, I should just apply some petroleum jelly on it for you, just in case."Marshall did not reject Stella.Stella took the petroleum jelly from the medic and scooped some of it out with her fingers. Then, she looked down and apply it on Marshall's arm carefully.Her fingertips felt chilly when she touched Marshall's skin, and it made him tremble inwardly.His skin was supposed to be unresponsive, yet he felt every movement that Stella's finger made on his arm.He stared at Stella's
Marshall paused for a while before he continued, "Just call me by my first name from now on. A friend wouldn't address each other as mister or miss, right?""Sure, Mr. Moore."Marshall was dumbstruck.Stella coughed. "I mean... Marshall."The fire was finally put out about ten minutes later.More than ten guests were injured by the fire, but fortunately, it was not severe. The medical staff took care of them very quickly.Baldwin protected Cordelia and Lancelot, so none of them were hurt. However, Baldwin's back was burned.Cordelia hurriedly got a doctor to treat Baldwin's wound.Dahlia came over with ashes on her face and said in a low voice, "Mom, are you okay?"There were a few holes in her dress. Her hair hung loosely after she ran for her life. She looked like a complete mess.Cordelia swept her cold gaze across her. "You gave me such a big surprise!"Dahlia's face turned pale, and she defended herself subconsciously. "Mrs. Chapman was the one responsible for the firew
"Sure," Trevor replied.After Trevor's family had left, he looked around and saw Felicity fixing her clothes. So, he went over to her."Hello, Miss Thompson."Felicity was shocked. "H-hi, M-Mr. Saun."Trevor smiled gently and asked, "Would you like to sit in a Bugatti Veyron?"Felicity's eyes sparkled, and she said without hesitation, "Yes!""Give a call to Stella, then. I'll drive you guys home."So, Felicity immediately dialed Stella's number.Ten minutes later, the three of them stood in front of a Koenigsegg.Felicity said with a disappointed face. "I thought we were going to sit in a Bugatti Veyron."Trevor replied with a straight face. "The Bugatti is a two-seater, and I won't be able to drive you home with that."Felicity was speechless.'Well, it looks like we have a new member in the vicious tongue group!'He made fun of my ignorance in such a subtle way!' Felicity thought.However, Stella was not bothered by that at all as she just wanted a ride home.The car s
"I didn't," Keegan said in a low voice. "Do you think I'd make a mistake like that?"Jaylene was wearing a completely different outfit from Stella, but he would not mistake Jaylene for Stella even if they were to wear the exact same clothes."Then, why did hold Jaylene's hands when the accident happened?"Keegan said, "She was the one who grabbed me."He was about to run in Stella's direction as soon as the firework shot at the crowd. But, Jaylene, who was standing very close to him, grabbed his sleeve in a panic manner.Keegan saw Marshall dragging Stella away when he was still trying to shrug off Jaylene.The fireworks were still shooting at the crowd, so Keegan had no choice but to bring Jaylene to a safe place. Then, he immediately went to look for Stella.Vermont kept quiet.He opened his mouth and spoke after a while. "I don't know what to say. Even God isn't on your side. It was such a perfect opportunity for you to protect her, yet someone fucking grabbed you."Keegan
After loading everything onto the truck, Trevor drove Stella and Felicity to Clouditude International, a really nice area in Rivera.Unlike Stella's previous place, here, everything looked great - the greenery was well-kept, and the water was clean, not all covered in algae.The apartment buildings were far apart, which let in a lot of sunlight. Each floor had a cool balcony where they could have a BBQ and hang out with friends.At first, Stella thought Trevor's place might be kind of far away, like on the top floor. But it turned out it was actually the biggest and fanciest apartment in the whole building.The building had fifteen floors, and Stella and Felicity were on the 9th. When they opened the curtains, they saw this awesome water system and a rockery right in the middle of the community from their window walls. The view was amazing, and the apartment was huge - almost 3000 square feet.Felicity looked around the place excitedly from room to room but Stella hesitated. "How
Stella felt taken aback. Trevor's generosity with the accommodation and the agent seemed excessive. 'This feels a bit... too much. Besides, I'm not that interesting,' Stella thought to herself.Moreover, Trevor didn't strike her as someone who had a crush on her. 'Maybe... he believes I have potential to become an A-list movie star? Is that why he's investing so much in me?' Stella pondered mockingly. 'Oh well. Never mind. I've already signed the contract and moved in. Let's just see how things unfold.'Suddenly, her phone buzzed with a notification. Stella checked and found that Keegan had sent her money again. As she glanced at his message, her expression remained neutral initially, but her lips twitched when she read, [I didn't even get mad at you for hugging Marshall.]'How dare he dig up the past!'She stared at the text and continued reading it. [Can you stop being mad at me?]Stella sent him one dollar with a message. [No.]Keegan quickly transferred one million dollars to
'That mutt! Did he think Julian staying at his place would make me want to send him to his college entrance exam? Well, I'm not going!' Stella thought.Shortly after, Shelly gave her a call."Stella, I'm really sorry to bother you. The place for Julian's test is so far from the orphanage."Ms. Cecilia and I don't know much about these college tests. We almost booked a hotel close by, but by the time we tried, they were all taken."I was worried Julian wouldn't get enough rest, but thank goodness for you."Every year during the college entrance tests, hotels near the exam center would get fully booked, and their prices would skyrocket.A regular room would start at three thousand dollars, and they weren't anything special. They weren't even soundproof. The nicer rooms went for five or six thousand dollars, but those got snatched up really fast.Originally, Shelley thought about renting an RV and hiring a driver to take Julian there so he could rest in the car during the break.B
Julian remembered Stella's words about Keegan graduating from high school more than ten years ago. 'Can he really teach me?' he pondered.However, Julian soon realized that Keegan's approach wasn't conventional; it was rooted in his problem-solving experience.Keegan rarely needed to write out calculations for multiple-choice questions. He simply studied the question and deduced the answers from the options. Sometimes, he directly inferred the numerator or denominator from the provided data, eliminating incorrect choices.Julian's teacher had introduced a similar method, but learning it from Keegan made it much easier to grasp and apply.After that, Julian enthusiastically delved into the practice. Once Keegan finished explaining two sets of questions, Julian eagerly brought out a fresh batch to tackle. With a solid groundwork and quick understanding, within two hours, his speed in answering multiple-choice questions had improved by over ten minutes, achieving an accuracy rate of 7