Chapter 4

By the time Stella opened her eyes again, she was already lying on a hospital bed. Julian could be seen sitting by her bed. He seemed to have stayed up all night watching over her. His eyes were bloodshot, and he had stubble growing all over his chin. Upon hearing the faint rustling coming from Stella's bed, Julian grasped her hand instinctively. He exclaimed worriedly, "You're awake, Stella! Are you still in pain?" Stella felt the bandages wrapped around her head, feeling slight pain throbbing from her skull. With a blank face, she replied, "Yeah. It hurts." Julian froze momentarily. He didn't expect Stella to be blunt with him instead of easing his guilt with pretty words. "Well, you should rest. I've already punished Aria. She ended up doing something so extreme to you out of insecurity…" Stella didn't bother listening to Julian's excuses. His reflection could be seen in her dull, glassy eyes. "How did you punish her?" Julian fell silent for a moment. He then replied in a low tone, "I locked her up in a room and told her to reflect on her behavior for an hour." An hour? Stella was completely covered in burns, not to mention that she had suffered from a blow to the head. To make things worse, Ariana had recorded a video of her being molested by others. Yet, Julian's so-called punishment was make Ariana reflect on her goddamn behavior for one fucking hour! How ridiculous! Stella just smiled bitterly. She remarked sardonically, "You're right. If Ethan were to treat you like that, I wouldn't have the heart to blame him either." Julian's heart went tense all of a sudden. He felt frustration welling up in his throat, which pissed him off to no end. Ethan had already been dead for three years, yet Stella was still hung up on him! She even compared him to Julian! What did she mean by "if Ethan were to treat you like that"? How? How could a dead man possibly win against him? Julian was the one who saved Stella from the debt-collecting gangsters and gave her a lucrative salary! He was also the one who got to sleep with her thousands of times over the past three years! It was him, Julian Chapman! Not Ethan Lane the fucking dead guy! Julian's tone grew flustered. "You still love him? It's been three years! We've slept with each other so many times…" So what if they slept with each other so many times? What else was there to it? Stella didn't know what Julian was trying to say. It was just a contract binding her to the cause. She was forced to sleep with Julian just so she could pay off the debt. Even if they did sleep together thousands of times, so what? Julian had been in love with Ariana the whole time. As for Stella, she could never forget about Ethan. They all knew what the answer was, so what was the point in talking about it? Suddenly, someone knocked on the ward door. Ariana soon walked into the ward meekly. Tears were already rolling down her cheeks before she could even speak. "I'm sorry, Ms. Atkinson. I was blinded by rage, which led to me doing that sort of thing to you. Can you please forgive me? I'll give you this Hermès bag to make it up to you. This is my favorite bag out of all the bags in the world." Before Stella could react to Ariana's presence, Julian had already stuffed the Hermès bag into her hands. Then, he pulled Ariana into his arms and began to comfort her in a low tone. "Good girl. Everything's alright now. She knows you didn't do it on purpose, so stop blaming yourself, alright? I'll be heartbroken if you keep acting like this." Stella's heart was already weighed down by fatigue, yet she still felt as though someone was pricking her heart with a needle nonstop. Her lips parted slightly, but in the end, she said nothing. She didn't need this kind of materialistic payment at all. But no matter how disgusted and vile Stella felt, she still had to wait till the end of the month. Once she received her salary and left her job, everything would be over. She didn't want to cause additional trouble for the sake of the final sum of money. Thanks to Julian's gentle coaxing, Ariana finally smiled through her tears. He promised to shower her with more expensive bags and jewelry. Once she left, Julian caressed Stella's hand apologetically. He said softly, "She has already deleted the video. Once you've made a full recovery, let's spice up our sex life in bed. Of course, I'll pay you more money to make it up to you." He had leaned in to utter the last sentence into her ear. His deep voice was laced with nothing but meaningful hints. Stella merely smiled mockingly in return. "Mr. Chapman, I've already quit my job, so I won't provide those services to you anymore."