Chapter 10 I’ve Heard Some News #3
“Yes. For now, just let Miss Winters take over the operations. Once she gets tired of it, you can take back control. It's your business, after all, so this shouldn't become a serious issue.”
Stella's grip tightened around the phone.
“Are you seriously telling me to sit back and let someone else run my business because you don't want to upset Lucius?”
“Please, Miss Gibson, don't misunderstand me.” Mr. Jenkins sounded desperate to placate her. “We're only thinking about the company's reputation and our working relationships. You know how these things are. We cannot afford to offend Mr. Frost.”
Stella's nostrils flared.
“And what about my reputation? What about my business?”
“I'm asking you to understand the situation. Please don't do anything that might offend Mr. Frost. It's important for everyone involved.”
Stella stared straight ahead, her anger simmering beneath a frighteningly calm expression. She didn't even wait for him to finish speaking. She hung up the phone and slammed it down on the counter, her fingers trembling with barely restrained fury.
Ana immediately looked at her, concern replacing the curiosity on her face.
Stella's chest rose and fell rapidly as she muttered, “So this is what it was for.”
She dragged a hand through her hair, her expression twisting with anger.
“This is why he invested in Licius.” Her voice trembled with fury. “He probably intended to give my business to Catherine as a fucking wedding gift for his fiancée.”
Ana remained silent, watching her carefully.
“Now I understand why he was suddenly so interested in investing in Licius. All these years, he never praised my business. Not even once. He couldn't have cared less about what I was doing.”
Stella's hands curled into fists at her sides.
“But now, suddenly, his girlfriend wants my business, and he invests in it just so he can hand it over to her?” She let out a disbelieving laugh, shaking her head. “Was this his plan all along? To take everything I built and give it to his fucking fiancée just because she wants it?”
Her voice cracked with fury.
Stella could barely breathe. The anger coursing through her body was so intense that she had to grip the edge of the counter to steady herself.
Ana watched her with growing concern.
“Why does that sound so familiar?” she asked quietly.
Stella turned toward her.
“What?”
Ana's brows drew together as she tried to piece everything together.
“She was there four years ago, too, wasn't she? When you first got into a relationship with Lucius. And when you broke up a year ago, she was already around him, right?”
Stella's expression tightened.
Ana continued, her voice becoming more pointed as the pieces began to fall into place.
“So, in just one year, he's already introduced her to his mother, and now she's his fiancée. You were with him for three years, Stella, and he never even made your relationship official.”
Stella stared at her.
Ana shook her head, her expression filled with disbelief.
“And now, suddenly, she wants to take over Licius?”
Stella's lips parted, but no words came out.
Ana's words struck something deep inside her, stirring a memory she had tried so hard to forget.
Then, like a voice from the past, Catherine's words echoed in her mind.
‘He's taking a bath right now.’
Stella froze.
The voice.
That voice.
Her eyes widened as the memory returned with startling clarity. The day she had called Lucius and another woman had answered his phone, telling her that he was busy taking a bath.
She had never seen the woman.
But she remembered her voice.
And now, everything suddenly clicked.
Stella gripped the edge of the counter, her knuckles turning white.
“It was her,” she whispered.
Ana stared at her in confusion.
“What?”
Stella slowly turned toward her, her eyes wide with dawning horror.
“That day...” Her voice faltered. “That day when I caught him cheating on me. It was Catherine.”
Her breath caught in her throat.
“She was with him that day. She was the one who picked up my call and told me he was taking a bath.”
Ana's expression changed.
Stella shook her head, struggling to process the realization.
She couldn't believe it. Her chest felt unbearably tight, and she could barely draw breath.
“So I was just a tool for him all along?” she whispered, her voice breaking. “Was I just a way for him to please the woman he really wanted?”
Her fingers tightened around the counter, her knuckles turning white.
“He’s doing all of this to please her. He’s taking my business, something I built with my own hands, and handing it over to his girlfriend.”
Her eyes burned with fury as she fought to hold back the rage threatening to consume her.
“I’m the sacrifice he’s making to win her.”
The anger surged through her so fiercely that she could barely breathe.
Every muscle in her body was tense, her hands shaking as she struggled to contain the rage consuming her.
Ana reached for her arm, her eyes filled with concern.
“Stella, take a breath.”
But Stella could barely hear her.
All she could feel was the anger burning through every inch of her body.