Chapter 2

Stella didn't realize it, but she ended up staying on the video call with Anthony for a long time. There were times when she even giggled at his jokes. Her sour mood was instantly uplifted thanks to Anthony's antics. In seven days, she'd be able to stay by Anthony's side while listening to Ethan's heartbeat. She no longer had to go along with Julian's demands. To her, the next seven days would undoubtedly be the darkest times before she got to welcome her sweet freedom. She couldn't wait to embrace freedom with her own arms. Since the meeting had been canceled, Stella ended up staying in the company till late at night, dealing with the mess Julian had left behind. Only then did she get to return to Chapman Manor. Unexpectedly, she bumped into Ariana in her own room. At that time, Ariana had just finished taking a shower. She was wearing nothing but a towel wrapped snugly around her body. Her soft skin was dotted with red bite marks. Stella's clothes and belongings, on the other hand, were strewn all over the floor. Ariana was currently standing on a few of Stella's garments, barefoot. She shot Stella a provoking look as she said, "Where on earth did you hang out till this ungodly hour, Ms. Atkinson? Because of you, I moved into your room right away without the means to inform you of the news in advance. I don't want to be viewed as a rude woman, you know." Julian, who was clad in a bathrobe, walked out of the bathroom as soon as he heard Ariana's voice. He laced his fingers with Ariana's intimately right away. Both of them exchanged affectionate looks, which painted a picture of true love before Stella's eyes. Then, Julian turned to look at the exhausted-looking Stella as well as her clothes, which were scattered across the floor. In an apologetic tone, he said, "Aria adores this room. You can spend the night on the couch for the time being. I'll have the maids clean the guest room for you tomorrow." As soon as he was done speaking, he dug out his phone and punched in a string of numbers. The next moment, Stella tapped on her buzzing phone. It turned out that Julian had just transferred her another 50 thousand dollars. Julian explained softly, "This is your overtime pay. You must have worked hard after I canceled the meeting this evening. Rest well." To his surprise, Stella chose not to accept this transaction. She merely smiled faintly at him. "You're being too courteous, Mr. Chapman. This is my job as your secretary. I'll just spend the night in a hotel." Julian was stunned, to say the least. He didn't expect that Stella would turn his money down. Weren't they supposed to be in a transactional relationship? This was the sole reason why Stella had allowed him to do whatever he wanted to her in the past three years! Why did she suddenly reject his money? Did she no longer need the money? Or was she mad at him? Julian frowned, feeling an inexplicable sense of frustration. "Stop kicking up a fuss. It's already this late, yet you still want to spend the night—" But Ariana quickly hugged his arm and began acting all cute and coquettish before he could finish his sentence. "Jules, someone must be waiting for Ms. Atkinson in a hotel room as we speak. Stop meddling with her business, alright? Let's go to bed already! I'm already tired!" After that, Ariana kicked Stella's clothes out of the room. She continued to hug Julian's arm as she closed the door on the spot. Stella bent down to toss her clothes into her suitcase one by one. Then, she left Chapman Manor with her luggage in tow. Three years ago, when Stella first became Julian's private secretary, Ariana had barged into Chapman Manor just to kick up a fuss about the whole thing. She had yanked Stella by the hair and smashed her head into the wall while screaming at her for being the third wheel who had ruined her relationship with Julian. Not only that, but she had also attempted to drown Stella by dunking her head into the pool. In the end, Julian showed up just in time to stop Ariana. But that was the only thing he'd done. He still showered Ariana with love and care. She was gifted with jewelry and high-end clothes, but she was never acknowledged as Julian's girlfriend. If she demanded a star to be presented to her, Julian wouldn't hesitate to pick it for her. Stella knew very well why Julian wanted her by his side. He wished to repay Ethan for his benevolent decision to donate his corneas to him, after all. As for his way of paying Ethan back, it was to sleep with Ethan's beloved fiancée and watch how humiliated she looked beneath him. Perhaps this was one of those mean pranks rich people pulled for fun. By the time Stella reached the hotel she was staying in, it was already in the wee hours of the morning. She was so exhausted that she went straight to bed after washing up in the bathroom. Suddenly, the hidden figure in the bed flipped Stella over and pinned her down. Having trapped her in his arms, he began peppering her face with kisses. Frightened, Stella began resisting the man's advances. She managed to bite the man in the chaos. The man let out a low grunt, which sounded very familiar to Stella. As soon as the bedside lamp was turned on, she was surprised to see the naked Julian lying on the same bed with her. Julian inhaled sharply before hooking her chin with his fingers. "Our 100-thousand-dollar session was rudely interrupted earlier. Don't you think we should continue the second half of the session?"