جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

A hospital room.The sharp scent of disinfectant made Stella Rowan feel nauseous as she lay weakly on the bed.The call connected. Stella spoke first. “I had a miscarriage and would need an emergency abortion. Can you come to me?”There was a brief pause on the line.Then the man spoke, his voice low and irritated. “Since when did you get pregnant? Why didn’t I know anything about it? Stella Rowan, even if you’re being dramatic, there should be a limit.”“Are you coming or not?”That single word, dramatic, lit a fuse in Stella’s chest.“I really don’t have time to argue with you today.”Facing her anger, Evan Wright tried to keep the impatience out of his voice.A cold numbness washed over her. She didn’t say another word and pulled the phone away from her ear.Just as she was about to hang up, a woman’s voice came through the line.“Sir, the C-section was a success. The mother delivered healthy twins, a boy and a girl.”Stella’s world went completely dark.He was in the s

Jennifer wanted to take Stella back to her place.But Stella insisted on going to Azure Heights on Starlake Avenue. It was an apartment she had bought herself three months ago.This made one thing painfully clear. She’d been preparing to leave Evan for a long time.“I tell you to come stay with me and you refuse,” Jennifer said. “You need someone to look after you right now. When did you even buy this place?”As she spoke, she pulled out a blanket and draped it over Stella. Then she went into the kitchen to make some food.Stella adjusted the blanket around her shoulders. “The second month after Steven died.”The second month?That was early.“You were already planning to divorce Evan back then?” Jennifer asked.Stella gave a tired hum in response and lay down on the couch.The month Steven died, Evan had practically moved into the family estate. He was rarely home.And even when he was, one call from the estate about Summer would send him rushing out again.Who could endur

Thinking of the months she’d poured into the Redcrest Valley project, Stella looked at Evan with a colder, sharper mockery in her eyes.The air fell silent.Nearly half a minute passed before Evan spoke again, his voice tightly controlled. “What are you trying to say?”“What exactly are you planning to sue her for?”The words court summons had made his chest jolt hard. When he looked at Stella now, there was no warmth left in his gaze.“What do you think?” Stella met his eyes with open scorn. “Evan Wright, you were the one who told me my design for the Redcrest Valley tourism project got rejected, weren’t you?“So tell me. Was it my design that got cut, or was it me?”The silence deepened.Outside, rain and wind battered the windows, unable to cool the thick, stifling air between them.Stella glanced at the hand Evan still had braced against the door. “Can you let go now?”His expression stiffened.When he spoke again, the words came out strained, almost suffocating. “This i

Jennifer had come back to grab her phone and walked straight into the scene. She froze, stunned.Her first instinct was to rush over and check on Stella.But Evan shot her a cold look.Jennifer’s temper flared instantly. “Stella—”Evan’s hair was slightly disheveled now, anger pounding visibly in his temples. “Stella Rowan.”He grabbed Stella’s wrist, squeezing so hard it felt like he might crush her bones.The entire room was thick with fury.“Let go of her!” Jennifer shouted.Stella met Evan’s icy stare. “What? Are you going to hit me for Summer now?”As soon as the words left her mouth, Evan’s grip tightened even more. “You’re completely unreasonable.”With that, he flung her hand away.Then he turned and started pushing Summer’s wheelchair out of the room.As Summer was wheeled past Stella, she shot her a look full of contempt.When they reached the doorway, Stella, still sitting on the hospital bed, let out a soft, mocking laugh.“Remember this,” she said calmly. “Th

“You don’t need to understand what it means,” Stella said coolly. “Just pass the message along to Summer. She’ll know.”“Does this have something to do with Summer?” Dora’s anger flared again. “What are you trying to pull now?“Stella Rowan, get this straight. All these years you’ve been eating from the Wright family, living off the Wright family. What more tricks are you trying to play?”The words eating and living off the Wright family hit Stella square in the chest.She looked at Dora and raised an eyebrow. “You really think I wanted to live off your family?”“Mrs. Wright, I don’t think you’ve ever understood one thing. I didn’t force my way into the Wright family. Your son pursued me for three years. Then he knelt in front of me and begged me to marry him.”Dora stiffened. “You—”“I didn’t cling to him,” Stella went on calmly. “And since you brought it up, with a mother-in-law like you, I haven’t actually eaten a single bite of the Wright family’s generosity.”Did she want