SWNOVELS Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Stella was startled. She looked away and asked, “What?”
“You have feelings for Brian, don’t you? That’s what I heard,” Jessica said before looking at Brian, as if she was observing their reactions.
Brian’s expression was impassive as he took a bite of fish.
Stella laughed self–deprecatingly and then raised her voice. “No.”
“No?” Jessica looked disbelieving. She had heard a lot about the two of them over the past few days, especially about how crazy Stella had been for Brian in the past. She had followed Brian wherever he went, so much so that his friends had nicknamed her “Brian’s little lapdog“.
Jessica resented it.
“That was when I was young and ignorant. I was just having some fun.” Stella smiled slightly..
Back then, it was as if she had been bewitched. She wasn’t satisfied with just being a married couple by name, so she would wander around on the streets on purpose and then call Brian to say that she was lost so that he would head over to where she was and bring her home.
Brian would head over sometimes, and other times he wouldn’t. Even if he didn’t, he would send his assistant to pick her up.
At the time, she had felt as if she still had hope. At least Brian had responded to her.
“Oh, I see.” Jessica smiled at Stella’s answer and looked at Brian. “Stella was just playing around with you. You didn’t take her seriously, did you?”
Brian grunted slightly. “I’m not that stupid.”
Stella was shocked.
Well, it was true. He had always thought that she was deceiving him.
After Simon was imprisoned, her uncle, Chris Yates, took over the company. Chris had always wanted Stella to ingratiate herself with Brian, but she had achieved the opposite effect instead, as Brian felt that she was just seducing him for money.
That was why he did not believe anything she said.
Stella felt rather suffocated. She put down her spoon and stood up. “I’m done eating. Enjoy your meal.”
She went upstairs to take her medicine.
Jessica caught up with her and looked gently at her.
“What’s the matter, Ms. Xenos?” With her hand on the doorknob, Stella stood there and looked at Jessica.
Jessica asked, “Is this the room that you and Brian share?”
Stella frowned, but recovered quickly. Her eyes moved down to Jessica’s stomach. “Ms. Xenos, is Brian the father of your child?”
There was a flash of guilt on Jessica’s face before she nodded. “Yes. It’s Brian’s.”
The light in Stella’s eyes dimmed. What was done was done, and there was no point in her agonizing over it. “I hope you have a good relationship together. You’re both very compatible with each other.”
“But you and Brian…”
“There are no feelings between us. We’ll probably get divorced very soon,” Stella said. Even if Brian did not want to get divorced, she did. This wasn’t something that Brian could decide on his own.
Jessica’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Yep.” Stella’s gaze was dispassionate. “You don’t need to bother about me. I’m not important.”
Besides, Brian had said that he would never love her. She had given up.
Stella turned and entered the room.
She took her gastric medicine and then downloaded a divorce agreement from the Internet. She planned to get it printed out.
She got her documents and went downstairs.
Jessica was gone.
However, Brian was still there. He was standing at the window and was on the phone. His height lent him a formidable air of superiority.
Stella acted as if she hadn’t seen him, and headed straight to the door with a wooden expression on her face.
“Stop right there!” Brian called out to her in a low, deep voice.
Stella turned and looked at him in confusion. “What is it?”
“Don’t you have gastritis? What are you going out for?”
“I’m going to work.”
“You’re not allowed to go.”
“Stop trying to boss me around,” Stella said irritatedly “Starting today, I will no longer listen to you. I’m going to move out, and I don’t want to live here anymore.”
She had always been rebellious. She had only been meek and obedient because she loved Brian.
Now, she was going to be herself.
Brian laughed scornfully. “You can only do that if you manage to find a place. Without my permission, no
one will rent you a place.”
Stella paused. “Are you going to restrict my freedom?”
“It’s not suitable for you to move out right now. Stay home.” Brian’s expression softened slightly. “Once that lousy studio of yours closes down next week, go and report to the secretariat at Foley Group. You’ll be my personal assistant.”
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Stella laughed coldly. “You know that I majored in design. You want me to be a secretary?”
He knew that her dream was to be a designer.
It was true that she hadn’t discussed it with Brian when she set up her studio, but that was because his phone was always impossible to get, through to. Yelena had said that each of them just needed to put in two million. Stella assumed that it was a negligible sum to Brian, since she would often buy jewelry that cost millions, which was why she had taken the money to open her studio.
He had been very unhappy when he found out, but he hadn’t said much. She had thought that the entire thing had blown over, but now he wanted her to close it down.
Brian said in a harsh tone, “Being a designer doesn’t suit you. Just give it up.”
Stella’s pupils constricted, and she laughed. “Am I unsuitable just because you say I am? Have you my designs? Have you ever paid any attention to my studies or what I do on a daily basis?”
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I don’t need to pay any attention,” Brian’s tone was cold and hard, and everything he said sounded more and more unpleasant. “You just don’t have the talent for it. If you’re going to go and work, then come and be my secretary. Don’t even think about trying anything else.”
Stella laughed, but there was a chill in her heart. “Am I unworthy of having a dream in your eyes? Am I only worthy of being a secretary?”
She had worked hard to study for this major.
She had stayed up night after night to drafther designs, and everyone had praised her for being talented. Did Brian think that he could dismiss four years of her hard work by saying that she was “unsuitable“?
Stella had nothing to say to him anymore, and she did not want to speak to him. She turned and left the villa.
“Where are you going?” Brian asked, following her. There was a sinister look in his
Stella ignored him.
eyes.
Brian’s assistant, Mike Xenakis, ran out behind her and said, “Mrs. Foley, where are you going? I’ll drive you there.”
“No!” Stella knew that it was Brian’s idea. She stood in the yard and refused loudly. “I don’t need his
kindness.”
She tried to get into a Porsche.
Mike stopped her. “Mrs. Foley, Mr. Foley says you’re not allowed to drive.”
“This area is filled with villas, and there are only winding mountain roads outside. How am I going to get
out without a car?”
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“I’ll drive you.” Mike was firm.
Stella was annoyed, but she nodded on purpose. “Alright. You can drive me.”
After getting into the car, Stella called her best friend, Yelena. “Where are you, Yelena? I’m going out. I’l come to where you are.”
“I’m at the studio. Come over.” Yelena told her.
“Alright,” Stella answered. She told Mike to park at a neighboring print shop.
She got out of the car and printed two copies of the divorce agreement. She wrote the reason for divorce on the documents and slapped them against Mike’s chest. “Mike, send these documents to Brian.”
“Mrs. Foley, I’m supposed to go with you.”
“There’s no need for that. I’m already at the studio, what’s going to happen to me here? Go back to the office.” Stella shooed him away.
Mike watched her go into the studio before getting into the car and sending the documents to the president’s secretariat of Foley Group.
Brian was working at his office desk. He did not even look up as Mike entered. “Where did she go?”