Abraham lifted his eyelids and glanced at her, his smile growing even gentler. “Such a foolish little thing
Abraham was finally satisfied and let Stella go.
It really did hurt a little.
He’s completely inexperienced….
“You still want a next time? It really hurts. Stella grumbled, curling back into the covers,
She had originally planned to visit her studio today to give Kimmy some instructions, but in this freezing weather, she didn’t want to leave the house at all
Besides, with her injuries, there was no way Abraham would allow her to go out.
Nothing better than staying cozy in bed on a snowy day.
Watching her lazing around. Abraham chuckled. “Finish up your studio matters soon. We’re going back to Fleule.”
Stella turned around. When
Hearing they were going back to Fleule, her eyes lit up with excitement.
Abraham stood up. “About half a month”
Stella nodded. “That’s enough time.”
Startled, Stella shrank back. “What are you doing?”
Abraham said lazily. “If they ask anything, just tell them the truth.”
Abraham eventually left the room.
Left alone, Stella lay there thinking about how to handle the studio.
Back when she opened it, she hadn’t known when she would ever return to his side. She had deliberately avoided any strong tes with Fleule.
Now that she was going back, she wouldn’t be able to visit Rivermount often anymore.
It was something that needed careful handling.
She pulled out her phone and called Kimmy, telling her they would have a meeting at the studio tomorrow.
Tessa, currently at the hospital, answered immediately with two loud “tsk” sounds.
“Retribution. Absolute retribution. Seriously, what did the Reed family do to deserve all this?”
Tessa sighed. Don’t even ask. My niece got sick again after being discharged. I’m about ready to explode.”
It was during one of these hospital visits that she had run into Jonathan and Rebecca bringing their child in
“Yeah. Isn’t it funny? God keeps sending me front–row seats to all the drama.
Such obvious schadenfreude… but honestly, it’s kind of great.
Tessa lowered her voice. I heard it was a gun injury. Both his hands are basically ruined. How much must the guy who did it. have hated him?”
“Both hands? Stella echoed.
“Yeali” Tessa said. “Susan even fainted from the shock. She used to be so biased when it came to you and their adopted daughter.”
She really didn’t care.
“Let them worry about it. The Reed family’s about to fall apart anyway.”
Just wait and see.
Abraham hung up the phone and sat down on the sofa, a cigarette loosely dangling from his lips. “You said you were going to deal with her yourself,” he said lazily.
Eddie had sworn he would find Evie and give her a good beating himself.
Stella had no idea what she was supposed to say. After all, Evie had brought Marie’s people with her.
He saw Eddie pacing in circles, talking hurriedly to Stella, while Abraham’s face was turning darker by the second.
He tossed his coat to a
to a nearby
y servant
Victor looked every bit as handsome as his Western features suggested–gold–rimmed glasses, a cold, restrained aura.
It was just a shame that once he opened his mouth, he completely ruined the image.
Seeing him, Eddie snapped, “Get lost. She’s not your sister- of course you’re not worried.”
Victor raised an eyebrow. “Your sister?”
Victor said calmly, “Evie’s a little wild.”
Victor already knew Evie had come to Rivermount and that she was bringing Marie’s people with her
Everyone knew exactly what that meant.
Victor clapped him on the shoulder. “Wouldn’t it be better if they stayed enemies? Why force a sisterhood?”
Eddie muttered, “Of course they’re not sisters.”
He didn’t know. He and Abraham had been at Rivermount all this time they had no idea what had happened in Fleule.
Seeing how desperate Eddie looked, she tugged on Abraham’s sleeve.
Abraham raised an eyebrow and leaned in close, whispering in her ear, “You know, Stella, asking for favors requires payment.”
Eddie and Victor were standing too far away to hear what Abraham whispered to her.
If it was the Reed family, she wouldn’t say a word. But when it came to his own people – no.
If Abraham ever turned on someone close to him, it would only be because they had truly crossed a line.
The atmosphere was suffocating..
“Why did Evic bring your people to
Rivermount?” Abraham’s voice was icy.
Abraham had always had a headache dealing with Marie. Since childhood, she had been wild–more like a boy than a girl.
Getting into trouble at school was practically a hobby for her. Their mother had been called in so many times that eventually even she had grown fearful of visiting Marie’s school. Later on, it had been Abraham – like Eddie – who had to clean up after his rebellious sister.
Abraham’s voice lowered. “Marie”
Facing Abraham’s authority, Marie completely caved. She would never dare lie outright to him.
I swear to God, I didn’t
“Oh?” Abraham said quietly.
1, I mean… Marie faltered.
Abraham continued, “Really? Two months ago, when Abel was out on assignment, he came across someone who looked a lot like that person. We’re just not sure yet.
Marie froze.
The line went dead
silent.
Even Eddie and Victor, standing nearby, stared at Abraham in shock.
Finished
After a long silence, Marie finally spoke, her voice clearly strained. “Where?”
“I don’t want Evie staying in Rivermount”
“I’ll contact her immediately. Marie said without hesitation.
She didn’t even bother pretending anymore about Evie.
The call ended.
Eddie immediately jumped forward. “You used that to trick her? Isn’t that way too cruel?”
Everyone knew what that person had meant to Maric.
When he died. Marie had nearly lost her mind.
Since then, no one had dared to bring him up in front of her. And now Abraham had used him to force her hand? Abraham lit a cigarette, took a drag, and said calmly, “I didn’t lie.”
Abel’s men really had seen someone who looked identical.
Eddie gasped. “No way! I personally performed the surgery. I saw him die with my own eyes.”
–
That operation to remove a bullet lodged near the heart had been done by Eddie himself.
It was a failure. The trauma had nearly broken Marie. And it had left Eddie himself with lingering psychological scars.
That surgery had been his first and only-failure.
Abraham flicked the ash from his cigarette and gave Eddie a look. “Is it possible… that he didn’t actually die?”
Eddie stared at him, stunned. “What are you saying? Are you insulting my intelligence?*
The moment he heard those words, Eddie exploded.
Calling a patient dead when they were actually alive–That was the ultimate disgrace for any doctor.
“Are you joking?”
He was almost shouting
Abraham said coldly. The DNA match is ninety–nine percent. Only difference is, he’s older now. Even the blood type is the
same.
Eddie froze
He sucked in a sharp breath
Could it really have been has mistake back then?Could Abraham actually be telling the truth?
“But that’s impossible, Eddie muttered. “He was dead. I checked-”
He thought back to that day.
Wait…
Actually–He had wanted to run more checks afterward. But Marie had stormed into the operating room, sobbing and wailing, causing complete chaos.
Eddie felt his mind go numb.
.
Chapter 259 The Price They Owed
Eddie stared at Abraham in disbelief. “If he’s still alive… then why hasn’t he come back to find Marie after all these years?”
Abraham said nothing.
For a moment, a dark shadow flickered through his eyes
In the room upstairs-
The call Stella answered was from an unfamiliar number. It was Susan again, having borrowed yet another phone to reach
her.
God knew how many phones the Reed family had borrowed by now, since their own numbers had already been blocked. Over the line, Susan’s hysterical shrieks filled Stella’s ears. “That’s your real brother! How could you be so heartless!” “Stella, is your heart made of stone? How could you be so cold? You destroyed your own brother’s hands–you–your”
Susan’s anger almost made her faint again.
The moment the call connected, she went insane, bombarding Stella with endless accusations.
Stella’s eyes narrowed. “How would you know if my heart is made of stone? You never tried warming it.”
People said that a heart like stone could never be warmed.
But her heart- The Reed family had never even tried.
They hadn’t warmed it-
“You” Susan choked
they had only shown her, from beginning to end, that blood ties could be colder than anything
Stella said coldly, Jonathan knows very well why he lost his hands.”
“Stella“” Susan screamed, completely losing it.
“And after Lilian was sent overseas,” Stella continued calmly, he didn’t just stop.
Madam Susan, you knew, didn’t you?”
Susan’s breathing stuttered.
“What are you saying?”
“I almost got kidnapped once. You said I was paranoid. But deep down, you knew it was Jonathan’s doing. You just wanted to
cover for him.
Her voice was light.
But the words she spoke-
They made Susan suck in a sharp, audible breath on the other end.
“You… you actually knew?”
Stella caught the slip immediately.
1/3
Stella let out a soft laugh. “Honestly, it’s no surprise. If you’re willing to defend an adopted daughter like Lilian that blindly. why wouldn’t you do even more for your own son?”
Susan protested. “No, that time he was just… confused. I scolded him afterward, I really-
“If I had been successfully kidnapped that day, what would’ve happened to me?”
Susan’s justifications made Stella’s skin crawl.
What a great excuse — you scolded him. What was he, a three–year–old child?
“He tried more than once. Stella said coldly. “Did you ‘scold‘ him each time?”
Susan’s breathing grew more and more erratic.
Stella pressed on. “And when I called the police… you used your influence to shut down the investigation, didn’t you?”
The phone line went silent.
Dead silent.
“And after all that, you still expect me to speak up for him? Save the hands that should’ve been broken long ago?”
Those hands should’ve been broken a long time ago
In fact they had been broken once before.
After Stella realized the police weren’t going to follow through, she had taken matters into her own hands.
That very night, when Jonathan stumbled drunk out of a bar, she had dragged a sack over his head and broken his hands with a baseball bat
Back then, before she left Fleule, she had been Abraham’s sheltered little girl.
But after surviving the disaster with the Sheng family after leaving Fleule she had grown up
fast
She had shed all her softness and taught herself to be strong. At least until Abraham could find her again, she had to protect
herself.
And she had done it.
Every person who hurt her–She had stabbed back.
Susan wailed. “Even if he made mistakes, he didn’t actually hurt you! I stopped him! You weren’t really harmed“”
Stella laughed coldly. “So in your eyes, I’m the one who’s always wrong? I’m the one who’s annoying?”
Susan couldn’t answer.
“I just wanted all of us to get along, Susan cried. I tried so hard to balance everything Now Lilian can’t get treatment, your brother’s lost his hands, the company’s collapsing- Is this what you wanted? Is this the price you’re making us pay? Stella. what else do you want from us?”
Susan screamed hysterically.
Listening to her, Stella realized even now, even after everything–Susan still believed she had done nothing wrong.
And this woman… was supposed to be my mother.
How ridiculous
Stella let out a mocking bush “The one who naid the nice first was me
Chapter 260 A Debt That Can’t Be Repaid
“I almost died at your hands more than once. Stella said calmly.
After the incident with Lilian, Jonathan had laid hands on her three times. It wasn’t until she broke one of his hands herself that he finally stopped.
“I don’t have many skills,” Stella said. “But I’m very good at one thing if someone hurts me, I’ll make sure to pay it back.”
“If you really love Lilian and Jonathan, then from now on, make sure they stay far away from me. Don’t try to claim some fake family bond either. We were never close to begin with, and every time you came near, you only plotted against me. When your schemes failed and you got beat up for it, somehow it was still my fault.”
Tich.
That was Stella’s final judgment on the Reed family.
Every time Lilian had gotten close to her, it was under the guise of affection- but always with hidden calculations underneath. Even after being beaten so many times, she never seemed to learn.
You, you
Susan sputtered, but couldn’t get a coherent word out.
Stella had no patience left. She directly hung up.
As far as Stella was concerned, whatever debts existed between her and the Reed family were now more or less settled.
But she knew–Once she returned to Fleule, they would definitely come crawling with new excuses to bother her.
She wasn’t going to entertain them anymore.
She found Abel. “Abel.”
Facing Abel’s cold, emotionless eyes- so much like Abraham’s Stella couldn’t help but feel a little nervous, flashing back. to the way he had pointed a gun without hesitation.
But when Abel saw it was her, the coldness immediately faded.
He bowed respectfully “Ms. Stella.”
Stella said, “Could you help me get a new SIM card?”
There’s no helping it now.If I don’t change my number, this harassment will never stop.
God knew how the Reed family kept finding phones to call her from-
Over the past few days, they had used at least a hundred different numbers.
Blocking them wasn’t solving anything anymore.
It’s time to cut them off completely–send them into communication outer space
When Abraham came upstairs, he saw Stella tugging on Abel’s sleeve as she asked him to change her SIM card
“Go get a new phone from the study for her, Abraham ordered.
Seeing Abraham, Stella inmediately let go of Abel and trotted over. “Abraham.“
Abraham reached out, gently ruffling her soft hair before pulling her into his arms.
After all, this phone had been tied to her studio’s work.
Now that she was about to hand everything over, she didn’t need the number anymore.
Abraham chuckled softly. “That’s right. You’re a little boss now
“Of course.” Stella said proudly. “Last year, I made seven million!”
Abel, who had just returned, twitched at the corner of his mouth when he heard that.
Seven million Abraham is seriously spoiling this little kitten rotten.
At Seaflats Cove-
The atmosphere remained light and peaceful. Jonathan and Ethan’s earlier visit had left no ripple here.
Meanwhile, over at the hospital. Susan and Patrick felt like the sky was collapsing-
Jonathan’s injuries were severe. One of his hands had been damaged so badly the doctor declared it likely useless for life.
The moment she heard the news. Susan nearly fainted again.
Patrick was furious. Why did he go to her? Why go to Seaflats Cove? And all for Lilian?”
Everyone knew how much Stella hated anything related to Lilian
And yet, Jonathan had gone for her sake and gotten himself destroyed in the process.
Susan clutched her chest, the pain intense. I was desperate too! Lilian ran out of medicine today!”
She had no choice.
Last night, Lilian had overdosed on oral painkillers. This morning, without any medication, the pain was unbearable.
They couldn’t get her out of the country and so Jonathan had gone to Seaflats Cove.
Hearing it was about Lilian again, Patrick’s anger boiled over. “You’re going to destroy this entire family for Lilian!”
Susan’s face turned stiff. “W–What do you mean by that?”
Patrick sneered. ‘Susan, are you stupid or just senile? Do you really not understand why the Reed Group is collapsing?”
Susan faltered. “Isn’t it because of Stella? She hates us. She’s getting revenge. I shouldn’t have given birth to her. It’s all my
fault.”
Patrick’s expression turned purple with rage..
“You still think that? You really think it’s all because Stella wants revenge?”
The truth is, everything started with the conflict between Stella and Lilian, Patrick snapped “Mr. Abraham has been crushing the Reed Group be
because of what we did to Stella over these past two years. You really don’t get that?”
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