Stella Grace got onto the train heading back to A City and looked out of the window on the train.
The warm sunlight bathed the ground in a soft white glow. The green leaves and grass were lush and vibrant, and the various purple and red flowers along the way were brimming with vitality.
The corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
Frederick Addington was observing her.
As she smiled, he found himself smiling along with her.
The days were quiet and peaceful.
If he had realized his feelings for her earlier, perhaps they could have been happy together for a longer time, maybe even having two children already.
He held her hand.
Stella looked at him, and her eyes regained their usual cold look. “What’s wrong?”
“Are you hungry? Let’s go to the restaurant and have something to eat.” Frederick suddenly pulled her up.
Now that he’d brought this up, she found that she was indeed a little hungry, so she followed him into the restaurant.
Frederick ordered two servings of pasta amounting to 40 dollars as well as two bottles of cola, and put them in front of her.
Stella opened the lid and lowered her head to eat.
“Will you still work in the research institute once you head back?” Frederick asked.
“Yes.” Stella remembered that she still owed Greg Miles a lot of cases. She couldn’t leave until she paid her debt.
“I have bought a house for you near the institute. It’s nearer to work.”
“Cough cough!” Stella choked on her meal.
Frederick immediately flicked the cap off the cola bottle and handed it to Stella.
She took it and gulped down a few mouthfuls of it.
It seemed that men liked to buy houses for women.
Jasper Milton was like that, and so was Frederick.
“I’d prefer to stay in the hotel,” Stella refused politely.
“Why? I could renovate the house into a hotel suite. Just tell me what you need.” Frederick could not understand why she would refuse.
“I enjoy the five star service of the hotel, and there is also room service at any time. In addition…” Stella paused for a moment and looked straight at Frederick. “The hotel does not make me feel lonely.”
“I will stay with you all the time. I won’t let you stay at home alone, I swear,” Frederick said sincerely.
Stella smiled slightly and said, “Ah. In that case, you should buy it and have it renovated.”
After all, it would take around half a year for the renovation to be finished.
Frederick was very happy when Stella agreed to his suggestion. “I will hire a housekeeper, cook, and a few more servants. This way, the service you enjoy will be better than that of the hotel.”
Stella did not respond to him, and simply continued eating with her head lowered.
They arrived at A City at 6:40 p. m. Stella had already called Eli Wayne two hours before they arrived.
Eli waved to her when she came out of the station.
Stella saw her and walked towards her. “Would it be convenient for you if I stayed over at your place today?”
“Of course, of course. You’re welcome to stay at any time.” Eli cast a glance at Frederick.
Frederick looked at Stella and said, “Then, Stella, have a good rest tonight and I’ll contact you tomorrow.”
She nodded and got into the driver’s seat.
Eli sat in the passenger seat and smiled at her. “Did you come back to see me?”
Stella started the car and said, “We’ll talk about it later when we arrive at your place. Have you eaten yet?”
“Not yet. I was waiting for you so we could eat together.” Eli looked at Stella’s solemn face. She felt very guilty as she fastened her seat belt. She couldn’t help but glance at Stella repeatedly.
“Stella, I heard some gossip today. They said that you got married to Jasper, and when Jasper got into trouble, you forced him to divorce you. Is that true?” Eli didn’t believe any of this. Stella had never told her that she was married to Jasper at all.
“It’s true.” Stella did not deny it.
“Eh? Did you really get married to Jasper? Why didn’t you tell me?” Eli was shocked.
“It was very sudden. This marriage and divorce was something we didn’t expect or plan for. By the time things settled down, it was already how it is today,” Stella said faintly.
“So… are you with Frederick again then?” Eli scratched her head in confusion.
“If you’re talking about things on a surface level, then yes, we’re in a relationship. If you’re talking about whether there are deeper feelings between us, then no, we’re not in a relationship,” Stella said, not bothering to hide anything.
Eli pursed her lips and looked ahead gloomily. After a moment of silence, she said sadly, “Life is so magical. Enemies could become friends, and friends could become enemies again. People who love each other could start to hate each other, and people who hate each other could live with each other again.”
Stella tightened her grip on the steering wheel. She glanced at Eli with a flicker in her eyes and said tentatively, “If you could live with Sean Yaleman for the rest of your life…”
“Then I’d rather stay single for the rest of my life.” Before Stella could finish her sentence, Eli had already snatched the words out of her mouth.
Stella’s heart sank and she frowned.
“When I bumped into one of my classmates from junior high that day, she mentioned that Sean had already changed his girlfriends three times this year. Heh, this man…” Eli added.
That ‘heh’ was full of disdain and contempt for Sean.
At the red light.
Stella stepped on the brakes and looked at Eli. “What are you going to do about the child?”
“Um… I…” Eli stuttered briefly before finally sharing her thoughts. “I think that even without having a husband, having children isn’t that bad either.”
“What if the child’s father is not a good person?” Stella asked solemnly.
“The child is mine alone. I don’t care who his father is. Even if my child doesn’t have a father, he won’t be devoid of love,” Eli replied with a smile.
“What if this is what this child’s father has been trying to do?” Stella continued to press.
Eli paused for a moment. “That can’t be the case, right?”
“Someone told me that Sean is most likely the father of the child in your belly,” Stella said bluntly. She didn’t want to sugarcoat the brutal truth, because running away from it wouldn’t solve any problems.
The red light turned green and she drove forward.
Eli’s eyes widened, and she looked at Stella in shock. “How is that possible? Sean and I did it three years ago, but I’m only getting pregnant now.”
“I think it was Sean who drugged you and slept with you that night. The fact that you haven’t had a boyfriend in the past three years was most likely Sean’s doings too,” Stella explained.
Eli couldn’t remain calm. “Is he out of his mind? His love life is so wonderful, so why exactly would he want to make things difficult for me, a commoner? He’s out of his mind. How could I be so unlucky?”
When she thought that it was all Sean’s doings, she shivered and her eyes turned red. She didn’t want to believe it. This was the worst result that she could have expected. Her hair stood on end. She looked at Stella and said, “Stella, don’t lie to me. Tell me this is a joke.”
“I’m not joking with you,” Stella said coldly as she stepped on the accelerator.
Looking at Stella’s serious expression, Eli felt a chill running down her spine.
She was very happy when she found out that she was pregnant.
She had thought that having a child wasn’t that bad after all, especially since she couldn’t find a boyfriend and get married.
If she had a child, then she would not be lonely when she was old. After all, when it came to love, she was a little afraid whenever she thought of Stella’s situation.
However, this child turned out to be Sean’s.
When she thought of Sean’s evil and malicious eyes, she felt cold and scared.