Chapter 16

Daniel had been living in fear these days. Ever since the boss returned from the meeting with Carlson Group, he seemed like a different person. While the boss had always been demanding, his demeanor was never so severe. These past few days, however, he was as cold as ice, devoid of any warmth or friendliness. Two days ago, when Manager Fletcher made a small mistake while entertaining the cooperating party, the boss immediately fired him. He was, after all, Miss Fletcher's cousin and was arranged to work in the company by the boss himself! Even Jack was dismissed, so Daniel dared not make any mistakes and was on edge every day. If Daniel had known that the boss's trip to Carlson Group would not only fail to appease Miss Carlson but also lead to this situation, he would definitely not have spoken out of turn. He was regretting it deeply now. As he observed the boss's grave expression, Daniel felt nervous for the director, Greg, who had just submitted the project proposal. His phone buzzed in his pocket twice, and he pulled it out to glance at the familiar caller ID. Seeing that Aaron seemed displeased at the moment, he hastily hung up the call. Aaron glanced sideways, then withdrew his gaze indifferently. His expression remained cold and stern as he closed the project proposal for the lakeside project submitted by Greg and dialed the internal line. "Hello, Mr. Malone," came the nervous voice of Greg. "Who handled the research part..." Aaron began, but before he could finish, he heard faint sounds of argument in the background. He halted his questioning and furrowed his brow. "What's going on over there?" Greg seemed hesitant for a moment before cautiously speaking up. "Jack is refusing to accept his dismissal and insists on seeing you." Jack was a newcomer, and he was also Miss Fletcher's cousin, the confidant of Mr. Malone. Although he wouldn't have been able to enter Malone Group through regular recruitment channels, no one in the department dared to offend him. Greg naturally didn't like having such an employee under his supervision, but given the person's strong background, he had no choice but to tolerate him. A few days ago, when Jack made a mistake while hosting the cooperating party, he was directly informed by Greg that he was dismissed. Jack believed that Greg was intentionally targeting him, so he caused a scene at the company today, even bringing up Aaron to threaten him. But Greg was well aware that Jack had clearly been notified of his dismissal by Mr. Malone himself. However, Jack refused to believe it, especially since it was Aaron who had initially arranged for him to be under Greg. Hearing about Jack causing trouble at the company only worsened Aaron's already bad mood. Stella's words from last time made him realize that she wasn't simply throwing a tantrum at him. He was shocked by her cutting words, and these days he had carefully pondered over the disputes between them. She had a good temper, as even during disagreements with Avery, she never truly lost her composure. Apart from when he arranged for Jack to join the company, Stella had once hysterically interrogated him about the reason. At the time, Aaron saw it as a trivial matter that didn't warrant an argument. However, that was the first and only time they had a real argument because of Jack. Aaron had always hoped that they wouldn't say hurtful things to each other in moments of irrationality, but that time, in response to her sarcastic questioning about himself and Avery, he had hurled accusations at her in a heated exchange of words. Their engagement had been arranged since childhood, but Stella went missing at the age of three, and afterward, he vaguely remembered that adorable little sister, but his memory gradually faded as he grew older. Later on, Melinda brought Avery back to the Carlson family. Aaron, being calm since childhood and also the eldest brother, gradually transferred that vague regretful love onto Avery. After Claire gave birth to Kate, she suffered from postpartum depression, to the extent that she couldn't even bear to see her child at one point. So he and Kate stayed with the Carlson family for two years. Rita Carson, Stella's grandmother, possessed a pure care and love for Aaron and Kate, something that the complicated Malone family lacked. For Aaron, she was the most beloved elder. When Rita passed away, Melinda had only been gone for a year. She was worried about Avery and held Aaron's hand, entrusting him to take care of Avery, and he agreed. Several years later, Stella was taken back by Thomas, and Aaron saw the shadow of the young girl from back then in her, so naturally, he took care of her more. Aaron didn't know when he started to like Stella. Initially, it was just people around him mentioning their engagement, and he would joke to ease her discomfort. Jefferson High School's education was outstanding. When Stella had just transferred, she couldn't keep up with the pace and would shyly ask him for help with questions, smilingly remarking that the private tutor Dean found for her didn't explain things as well as he did. They had an engagement, and she always followed him around. Almost everyone thought she liked him, but Aaron himself wasn't too sure, especially since neither of them had ever confessed. Stella did indeed follow him, but she was too obedient, and he could intervene for her without offending anyone, avoiding a lot of trouble. There was indeed an engagement between them, but he wasn't sure if her "frank" liking was solely because of this engagement or because of her grandfather's expectations. At the end of his freshman year, due to changing his major, his relationship with his mother became increasingly tense, and he also became strained with his father. Claire's depression was quite severe back then, so Aaron, being obedient and filial for twenty years, always tolerated his mother's temperament without a hint of rebellion. But that day, Claire tore up his application to change majors, "persuading" him with the ambitions of his uncles, urging him to marry Stella and take over the Malone family business. It was the first time Aaron had a heated argument with his mother. Later on, almost as if on impulse, he accepted Avery's proposal to "date", partly in defiance of Claire, and partly to test Stella's feelings. However, not long after, Thomas passed on a message to Jonathan, discussing either calling off the engagement or changing the betrothal candidate to Avery. When Jonathan came to him with a stern face to inquire, Aaron learned that Stella was planning to left. He refused the request from the Carlson family to call off the engagement, and then "broke up" with Avery shortly before going to Chicago. When Aaron appeared in front of Stella again, he clearly sensed her distance. Perhaps it was the change in environment; she seemed more relaxed and had made quite a few friends. She never asked about Avery, and after a year of pursuit, she suddenly agreed to date him after Christmas that year. During those years abroad, without the constraints of the Malone family and their engagement, their relationship became more natural. Although both were busy with their studies and rarely had time to enjoy their romance, Aaron remained cheerful. At least he finally confirmed that Stella liked him. This confirmation became even stronger when he changed his major and was discovered by his parents, broke off his economic ties, and started his business from scratch. Stella had always been there for him, even willing to give up a recommendation spot from her mentor to continue her studies, offering him the greatest support she could. On the eve of going public, he gave her 30% of the company's shares as a proposal gift. From then on, he was certain she was the only wife for him in this lifetime. Despite several disputes after returning to Seattle, Aaron always felt that the bond they had supported each other through was strong. However, his attempts to dissolve Stella's bias against Avery only led to repeated conflicts. He had promised Rita that he would always take care of Avery, and he couldn't just throw away his promise. Yet, every time he argued with Stella, he couldn't find a way to resolve it. The time they argued because of Jack, her aggressive attitude unprecedentedly weakened his rationality, emotions taking over, and he even said hurtful things. It wasn't until a few days ago that Aaron found out Stella had directly fired Jack from the Carlson family when she returned to Seattle. In fact, he should have realized it. How could she possibly be so cruel? To make her do this, Jack must have had extremely unpleasant interactions with her. Aaron remained silent for a long time before Greg asked again, "Do you think we should kick out Jack?" "Yeah, let the security know not to let him in anymore." After hanging up, Aaron's eyes filled with thoughtfulness, forgetting even to discuss the planning with the Greg. After a moment, he looked at Daniel and said, "Go check what Jack did before." If Stella was truly disappointed, he had to find out the root cause to reconcile with her. Aaron believed in their relationship; they couldn't just break up like this. "Yes, boss," Daniel nodded. Once again, the phone in the office vibrated, and Daniel subconsciously glanced at his pocket, relieved it wasn't his phone this time. In that instant, Aaron had already answered the call. Aiden's voice came through clearly, loud and urgent, "Avery was kidnapped by that damn Edward Lance when she returned to the apartment!" Just one sentence had made Aaron's expression changed drastically. The Edward Lance mentioned by Aiden was the same person who had ambushed Avery at the set last time. At that time, the stunt coordinator reacted quickly, pushing Avery away to avoid the attack, which saved her from serious injury. But initially, Edward had intended to do serious harm. He had targeted Aaron originally, and Avery got involved because of her rumored relationship with Aaron. After all, she got hurt because of her association with him, and Aiden didn't clearly explain the extent of her injuries. Aaron couldn't just turn a blind eye, so he hastily rushed to L.A. and missed the wedding. Unexpectedly, after being detained by the police for a while, Edward dared to come back again. Last time, Aaron let him go because of Edward's son, but it didn't mean Aaron would go easy on him again. After all, in his eyes, Edward was the main reason he missed the wedding. After ending the call with Aiden, Aaron was about to get up when Kate's call came in. "Why can't I reach Daniel? Aurora was so worried she came to me." Aaron glanced at Daniel, who looked innocent. Indeed, it was Aurora who had just called, but he didn't dare to answer her call because the boss's gaze was too intense! "I have something important right now, I'll call you back later," Aaron said. Just as he was about to hang up, Kate quickly stopped him, "Wait! Aurora just called me and said something might have happened to Stella! I can't reach her, you need to go find her quickly!" As soon as she finished speaking, Aaron froze in his tracks, gripping his phone tightly, his expression growing darker. Daniel hesitated. "Boss...the..." The intimidating gaze hit him, and he handed Aaron the phone quickly, finishing his words in a rush, "The kidnappers started a live stream!" ... Stella and Aurora arranged to meet at a coffee shop near the company. Stella and Aurora had been in close contact for two months due to the wedding preparations, which could be considered some level of understanding. Aurora's hometown was in a county below L.A.. She managed to get into a reputable university through her own efforts and later joined a bank after graduation. Later, due to urgent financial needs at home, she resigned and took up a well-paid commission job at Merbeil. Stella admired Aurora's resilience and even felt that if she hadn't been brought back to the Carlson family, she might have ended up like Aurora. She didn't expect Aurora to be fired from Merbeil for helping her, but it worked out coincidentally. Recently, Marcel was promoted, so she had to recruit a new assistant. Aurora was undoubtedly the most outstanding and trustworthy candidate in Stella's mind. Stella admired Aurora, and naturally offered her generous treatment. As expected, as soon as she made the offer, Aurora surprisingly accepted. The meeting was very pleasant. The two sat in the café and talked until it was almost time to leave work. However, Stella never expected that she would be kidnapped immediately after finishing her conversation with Aurora. She had always kept a low profile and didn't dress extravagantly. The Carlson family was no longer the top aristocrat in Seattle these years, and she had never appeared in the media. How could the kidnappers target her? However, despite her doubts, at the first sign of danger, she calmly pressed Aurora's name in the recent call records. She had practiced martial arts for two years, but when she realized that the other side outnumbered her, she chose not to resist in order to avoid revealing the phone call directly. However, after being blindfolded from behind and thrown into a car, her fate of having her phone discovered and confiscated was inevitable. With her vision completely obscured, the car was hot and bumpy, with poor shock absorption, perhaps a van. Stella tried to maintain her composure, telling herself that even if the call she made to Aurora just now didn't go through, Ethan would surely notice her absence when he came to pick her up after work. It was strange, in such a panic-inducing moment, she felt strangely confident that Ethan, whom she couldn't stand, would definitely find a way to rescue her. Except for her, there were at least three people in the car, all of them seemed trained, remaining silent throughout the journey. It wasn't until they got out of the car and she was dragged into an abandoned warehouse reeking of rust that Stella heard the first words spoken, "Is this the woman Aaron likes, as you said?" The blindfold was roughly pulled off, the sudden light causing Stella to instinctively close her eyes. When she finally saw the woman tied to a chair, she understood the reason she had been kidnapped. At the same time, unable to maintain her composure any longer, she cursed in her mind: "F*ck!"