Chapter 30

The weekend passed, and another busy Monday arrived. Just before quitting time, Stella had just finished reviewing the quarterly financial statements for the North City project sent by Marcel when she received a call from Ethan. The man was still brief and to the point, "Parking lot." "Why did you come so early today?" Stella glanced at the time in the bottom right corner of her notebook. There were still ten minutes left before quitting time. Although she didn't have to clock out on time, leaving early would give a bad impression to the employees. On the other end of the phone, Ethan chuckled and replied, "Wasn't I supposed to accompany you back to visit grandfather? I'll wait for you a little while longer." On Wednesdays and Fridays, Stella would go back to visit her grandfather, and if Ethan wasn't busy, he would accompany her. Last week, when she injured her foot, she was afraid her grandfather would worry, so she only made a few phone calls and didn't go in person. After that call, Ethan seemed to have said something about waiting until her foot was almost better next week, then he would accompany her back to see Thomas. But lately, she had been too busy to think about it. After hanging up the phone, Stella quickly packed up her things. She timed it to coincide with the employees' quitting time and took the elevator down to the parking lot. The Carlson family's villa was in the east of the city, not far from the company. The Bentley slowly stopped at the entrance of the courtyard of the villa, and Stella and Ethan got out of the car together. Suffering from illness, Thomas had to take a lot of painkillers every day, and he was asleep most of the time. During this time, the old man's body had become weaker and weaker, and he could hardly get out of bed anymore. Stella had a faint sense of preparation in her heart but was conflicted, unwilling to let herself dwell on things that hadn't happened yet. Shaking off that feeling of melancholy, she walked into the living room. Stella immediately spotted Dean and Avery sitting on the sofa. Since the medical cooperation case obtained from Aaron was forcibly shelved, Dean had toned down a lot during this time and hadn't caused any trouble for Stella at the company. Before the construction of the North City project, he had secretly wanted to make some moves, but he was discovered by Marcel. Now, he came to the Carlson family's villa every day to curry favor with Thomas. Stella wasn't surprised by his actions. Presumably, in Dean's eyes, pleasing Thomas during the last moments would be beneficial. Dean's business acumen was not outstanding, and previously, it was the rumors about Aaron's deep affection for Avery that made the Fletcher family feel they had someone to rely on. But now— Stella glanced at Avery, who looked considerably haggard, her cheeks so thin that they were almost devoid of flesh, saved only by the heavy makeup making her appear somewhat normal. Withdrawing her gaze, Stella didn't greet the two people in the living room. Instead, she handed the things she brought to Troy and asked, "Is my Grandpa awake?" "He's awake," Troy replied. "You and Mr. Powers can go up directly. Mr. Donovan is also upstairs chatting with him." Stella nodded, linking arms with Ethan as they went upstairs. Every time they came here, they always pretended to be closer. The room door was wide open, and Thomas was half-lying on the bed, his wrinkled face showing signs of fatigue. His features were more pronounced, his bones more angular. Wyatt sat by the bed, quietly slicing an apple. Stella pursed her lips, knocked on the door frame, and smiled, calling out, "Grandpa, Wyatt, It's me, Stella." Ethan discreetly assessed the atmosphere in the room and also greeted them. Thomas weakly smiled, his eyes unfocused, his voice hoarse. "Wyatt, do you think Stella has gained some weight recently?" Wyatt glanced at Stella and Ethan standing side by side, nodding slightly. "Indeed." Ethan chuckled casually at this and lowered his head, saying lightly, "Stella has indeed been eating quite a bit lately." With that, he raised an eyebrow, pinched her slightly plump cheek in front of Thomas. Stella blushed, unsure how to react. She used to skip dinner, but during the time she lived with Ethan, she had started eating dinner following his habits. Seriously speaking, she had gained a few pounds. While the old man saw this as a good thing, she felt a bit embarrassed. "Being a little plump is good," Thomas said with satisfaction, then paused and turned to Stella. "I have something to discuss with Wyatt. Take Ethan outside for a walk." This meant they had something private to discuss. Without asking further, Stella nodded in agreement. She and Ethan then turned and left, closing the bedroom door behind them. As they descended the stairs, Dean and Avery were no longer in the living room. Stella thought they must have returned to their rooms. It was necessary to maintain a facade of politeness here, and she didn't want to encounter anyone either. Passing by the kitchen, Stella caught sight of Troy helping Aunt Chen deal with a large basket of water chestnuts. She let go of Ethan's hand and entered the kitchen. "Need any help?" Troy waved his hand with a smile. "No need. These things are sharp, Miss, you might hurt your hands." Ethan leisurely followed behind Stella. Hearing her words and seeing the red marks on Troy's hands caused by the water chestnuts, he calmly said, "I'll do it." Before Troy could politely decline, he had already grabbed a nearby stool and casually sat down. Seeing Ethan seeming somewhat interested, Troy felt it inappropriate to insist further. Yet, he also didn't want Stella to join in. So, he turned to her and suggested, "Could you help fetch a box from the attic to store the water chestnuts?" Stella nodded with a smile. "Okay." As she turned around, she glanced at Ethan, who was learning how to peel the water chestnuts with Aunt Chen. The man furrowed his brows slightly, focusing intently on peeling the water chestnuts, his movements clumsy yet amusing. She wondered why he suddenly found an interest in water chestnuts. Following Troy's suggestion, Stella went to the attic where miscellaneous items were stored and fetched a clean cardboard box to store the water chestnuts. However, as soon as she came out, her path was blocked by someone waiting at the door. "Stella, I want to talk to you." It was Avery, who had intentionally waited there; she did have something to discuss with Stella. But as soon as she finished speaking and saw Stella's radiant face, she couldn't help but clench her fists. She added, "My reputation is completely ruined now. Are you happy?" Stella chuckled, furrowing her brows slightly. "That's all on you, not my concern." She couldn't say she felt happy or unhappy about it. Even though Avery was her blood-related cousin, they didn't grow up together. They merely coexisted under the same roof for three years without much interaction. She didn't consider the Fletcher family as her own, nor would she waste emotions on unrelated people. "Not your concern?" Avery seemed provoked by her indifferent attitude, biting her lip. "If it weren't for you, how could Aaron just turn a blind eye to those trending topics?" Aaron ignored Avery and even instructed her to seek out Stella, but how could she lower herself to plead with Stella? She hoped Aaron would eventually relent and help her clean up the mess caused by the trending topics. But Aaron actually turned out to be so heartless, watching her being undermined by others. They had over a decade of history together, and Avery never imagined Aaron would treat her like this one day. Stella looked at Avery's eyes filled with resentment and spoke coldly, "Avery, let me remind you again, I have nothing to do with Aaron anymore. Whatever he does, it's none of my business." "Furthermore, if you could just focus on acting instead of always trying to take shortcuts, maybe you wouldn't end up in this situation," Stella retorted. It was Avery's insistence on entering the entertainment industry that led to her current predicament. If she had more notable achievements over these years, her reputation wouldn't have deteriorated so badly. "Fine, even if Aaron has nothing to do with you now, what about Ethan? If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been dragged down by Jack!" Avery despised Stella's aloof attitude and continued, "You look down on me like this, but aren't you also relying on a man?" Upon hearing Avery mention Ethan as the one who dealt with Jack last time, Stella's expression faltered for a moment. After a pause, she chuckled lightly, "If that's what you think, then so be it. Ethan is my husband. I don't need to refuse his help, nor will I distance myself from him because of a few words from you." Spending time with Ethan recently had brought a rare sense of ease that she hadn't experienced before. If Ethan wanted to continue this marriage for reasons she couldn't quite articulate, she didn't seem inclined to refuse him. Ethan had mentioned that her clear-cut boundaries could hurt people, so she was willing to accept his well-intentioned assistance. If one day he wanted to take it back, she would find another way to return the favor. But there was no need to say much to Avery about these things. Avery clearly didn't expect Stella to accept Ethan's help so calmly. She didn't like Stella, but she also understood her somewhat. In her impression, Stella was proud, so hearing her rely on a man like that shouldn't have elicited this kind of response. Seeing Stella push past her and start down the stairs, Avery called out to her again, "Wait." Stella turned around and saw her pull out a box, opening it and offering it to her. "This jade Buddha, I'm giving it back to you," Avery said. On the velvety, dark red jewelry box sat a translucent and lustrous jade Buddha. At a glance, Stella recognized it as the one Aaron had given her in high school. It had better quality than the one from the director. Back then, when she lost the jade Buddha and felt somewhat inferior after a few gatherings at the Carlson family, she hid away in the attic to process her emotions. To calm her down, Aaron went to the mall and bought a similar jade Buddha. But just before going to study in college, that jade Buddha also disappeared. Now, it seemed that Avery had secretly taken it. But what Stella cared about was never this jade Buddha that Aaron bought from the mall. "I don't need it," she said calmly. Since she had already broken up with Aaron, how could she possibly accept this jade Buddha he had given her again? "It was me who foolishly took the jade Buddha. I can apologize to you for that. But are you really sure you don't want it?" Avery said. The reason she returned the jade Buddha to Stella was simply that she didn't want to keep this incident and deepen Aaron's disappointment in her. For Stella's sake, even Aiden was beginning to be estranged by Aaron. When Shane stole Aiden's fiancee, it humiliated Aiden. But Aaron didn't even offer a word of comfort to his friend when he suffered such embarrassment. Avery knew that Aaron had already realized that Aiden had been set up by him to run away from the wedding. He was unwilling to doubt those around him, but once he discovered betrayal, he wouldn't give any more unnecessary trust. "Of course, I don't want it. Since you like it so much, you can keep it for yourself," Stella said, only hoping that she wouldn't have to deal with the entanglement of Avery and Aaron anymore. ... After Thomas and Wyatt finished their conversation, they both seemed a bit more tired. Stella didn't want to disturb her grandfather's rest or stay and act with the Fletcher family any longer, so she quickly bid farewell with Ethan and left the villa. On the way back, she looked at Ethan sitting calmly beside her, feeling conflicted. Eventually, she spoke up, "Was it you who dealt with Jack's matter?" Ethan glanced at her and casually nodded. "Yeah." Seeing her about to say something, he smiled and cut her off, "Don't thank me again. I did it because I wanted to." Jack's actions made him uneasy, but Jack deserved it as well. "I'll make you braised pork ribs tomorrow," Stella offered, retracting the thank you that was about to escape her lips. Ethan gave a slight hum in acknowledgment. She remembered his preferences when it came to food, so offering to cook for him would surely make him happy, more so than a polite thank you. After a moment, Ethan lifted his eyelids to look at her. "So, can you tell me how Jack offended you?" Stella paused, sighing. "It's really nothing. Back then, members of the Fletcher family encouraged Jack to show me some attention. Once, he tried to hide something in my room, but I ended up accidentally injuring him with a knife. After that, he got scared of me and stopped bothering me." Ethan observed her lightly brushing over everything, his deep gaze probing. "What was he trying to hide?" he asked. Stella pursed her lips and replied, "A camera." Silence filled the car. After a while, Ethan reached out and patted her head. "Well, it's all in the past now. Stella, you've always been brave." Brave? Stella paused, inexplicably reminded of her first encounter with Ethan. It was the first day of sophomore year, and she had just finished transferring schools, so she didn't need to report on that day. As she was leaving school, she happened to see Layla being harassed by Ella Manning and others. After helping to resolve the situation with the help of a teacher, Layla obediently followed the teacher back to the classroom. She turned her head and saw Ethan casually sitting on the wall, exuding a carefree and arrogant air, looking down at her from above. With a faint smile, he remarked, "You're quite brave." Stella realized then that he was a truant student. Coincidentally, just as the head teacher who was escorting Layla back to the classroom returned to inquire about the situation with Stella, they awkwardly caught Ethan, the delinquent, in the act. And thus, they got into trouble together. Returning to the present, Stella smiled at him, accepting the praise of "brave." Suddenly, the bell rang. Stella took out her phone and glanced at the caller ID—it was a call from the Carlson family. Upon answering, the voice of Troy sounded anxious. "The old master scolded Mr. Lin, then collapsed from anger. Mr. Donovan has already taken him to the hospital!" Given Thomas's health, being rushed to the hospital at this time was clearly serious. In an instant, Stella's face turned pale, as if she had a bad premonition, and her hand holding the phone trembled slightly. She gritted her teeth, suddenly feeling a wave of panic and confusion. "Stella, look at me!" A man's voice sounded in her ear, barely redirecting Stella's thoughts. Ethan observed her face, holding her hand, sighed, and softly said, "Stella, don't be afraid. Let's go to the hospital now, okay?" Meeting the man's steady gaze, Stella nodded gently. The warmth of his palm helped calm her frantic thoughts slightly. Yes, her grandfather was still in the hospital—she couldn't afford to be afraid.