Chapter 18

In the living room, Stella dipped a cotton swab in iodine, lifted and supported Ethan's left hand, couldn't help but take an extra glance before holding her breath and carefully tending to the wound on his forearm. His fingers were slender and elegant, with clearly defined joints, rounded and clean nails, and faint blue veins visible beneath the skin. Stella gently held his hand, carefully applying the iodine. There was a warm heat where their skin touched; her hands were always cool, but he was just the opposite. But after the seventh time he pulled his arm away, Stella couldn't help but furrow her brow. "If you move again, we'll have to go to the hospital after all." She was trying to help him with the medication, but he wasn't cooperating very well. After several times, Stella was starting to get a bit annoyed. "I'm not going," Ethan lightly snorted in refusal, paused, then furrowed his brow again. "Put some effort into it, don't be so gentle." Stella found a hint of disdain in his words. "I'm being careful because I don't want to hurt you," she retorted, applying more pressure with her hand. After nearly half an hour of fussing, Stella finally finished applying all the iodine and ointment, and wrapped a layer of gauze around his arm. With the treatment completed, the man leisurely lowered his loosely rolled-up sleeve, casually leaned back on the sofa, and reached for his phone on the coffee table. Stella glanced at him, thought for a moment, and felt she owed him a thank you. So she lightly pursed her lips lightly before speaking, "Thank you for coming today." "You're quite polite," Ethan remarked casually, lifting his eyelids nonchalantly. However, Stella felt that, despite troubling him today, his mood seemed relatively fine. His personality was truly unpredictable, wasn't it? "So, earlier..." Stella assessed his expression, pondered for a moment, and finally asked, "Why were you angry?" She was referring to the silent atmosphere between them in the past few days. Although today's turmoil had broken the ice between them directly, Stella still didn't understand why he suddenly got angry. Since they had agreed to get along well and resolve conflicts, she thought she should understand his thoughts, right? Ethan's gaze was deep as he looked at her, he chuckled and said lightly, "Because of some insignificant little things." Indeed, they were insignificant and not worth arguing about. If they did argue, he would be the only one getting upset. Seeing him evade the question, Stella couldn't help but furrow her brow. Ethan lazily raised an eyebrow and interrupted her thoughts, "I'm hungry. Since you're supposed to thank me, why don't you make me a meal?" It was another one of those acts of expecting gratitude, with an air of entitlement. Stella hesitated, glanced at him, but still stood up and walked to the kitchen. His mention of food made her realize she was hungry too. Ethan then casually pulled out his phone, unlocked the screen, and opened the message that had just come in from Jason. "You are moving fast! In such a short time, Stella actually declared that she wants to live and die with you?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, then seriously recalled her previous words about giving her all to save him. As for Stella's statement to Aaron, "Within my ability, if it were someone else, I would do the same," he had already dismissed it from his mind. His SnapChat account was just registered during the day, and Jason was the only friend in his contacts. He raised his phone, adjusted the angle, sneakily took a picture of Stella busy in the kitchen, sent it to Jason, and then typed back, "Just making sure I don't go hungry." After a pause, he remembered something else, discreetly rolled up his sleeve, took a picture of the bandage on his arm, and continued typing, "Just a minor injury, took half an hour to dress." Jason sent a meme with the caption "just a little bit envious." Jason: Didn't expect that you can be a stand-in groom and still get such a good wife. Love comes and can't be stopped. Is she hopelessly in love with you? Ethan: Just barely. Ethan: She's shy, you know. Jason: Got it. Can make her shy. On the other end of the phone, after sending this message, Jason suddenly realized something—wait, what's this "just barely" about? After a while, he slapped his forehead in sudden realization—no way, no way, no way, is Stella also secretly in love?! Ten minutes later, Stella came out of the kitchen with two plates of noodles. She saw Ethan scrolling through his phone, a casual smile playing on his lips. Catching her glance, he put down his phone and calmly took the plates from her hands, then gracefully made his way to the dining room. Stella took her seat opposite him. At the table, neither of them spoke. After a few bites of noodles, wanting to express her willingness to get along with him, Stella casually brought up a topic to break the silence. "What were you laughing at just now?" Ethan lifted his head slightly, his voice casual. "Jason sent some funny pictures." "You mean... memes?" "Exactly, do you have any?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, then set down his fork and handed the phone to her. "Add me and then send me some." His attitude was relaxed and easygoing. Without much thought, Stella sent herself a friend request. The account seemed newly registered, with even the profile picture still the default gray blob. She carefully selected a few interesting emojis as she asked, "By the way, why did you bring the marriage certificate today?" Stella didn't have any ulterior motive, purely curious. Although Ethan's act of pulling out the certificate seemed somewhat absurd upon reflection, she didn't think it was a big deal. Since Aaron had always believed that her marriage to Ethan was fake, allowing him to see the certificate might help him come to terms with it. But as she thought about it, she worried about the potential fallout when they divorced a year later. Wouldn't this lie be exposed immediately? At her question, Ethan's eyes flickered slightly, but his tone remained casual, "Oh, Jason has never seen a real marriage certificate, so he insisted on seeing one." But hadn't he seen a real marriage certificate before? Lost in her worries about the future disclosure of their divorce, Stella absentmindedly nodded, "Then keep it safe after you've shown him. It would be troublesome if it got lost when we divorce." Ethan gritted his teeth and asked, "It's only been half a month since we got married, and you're already thinking about divorce?" When Stella looked up, she realized Ethan's smile held a hint of mockery. She instinctively explained, "No, I'm just worried about you losing the marriage certificate. And today, you made a big show of showing it to them, so it might be awkward if we divorce soon." Originally, she hadn't cared about what would happen after the divorce, but now that he had shown the certificate so prominently, wouldn't it be embarrassing if they divorced shortly after, becoming the subject of ridicule for Aiden and Avery? "Really?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, setting down his fork and locking eyes with her. "So, you mean that you don't want to divorce too soon?" Stella glanced at him, feeling like something was off with his words, but at the same time, they seemed oddly appropriate. At least at this moment, she indeed didn't want the divorce to come too soon. Ethan chuckled lightly, saying, "As long as we're getting along relatively well, I wouldn't mind considering a postponement." /// "What!? A postponement?" In the beauty salon, Stella lay back on the beauty bed, her eyes closed, enjoying a spa session with her friends. After she mentioned the postponement of the divorce, Layla exclaimed in surprise, almost causing her face mask to crack. "That's what he said," Stella said. Ethan's reasoning was simple: the continuation of this marriage would benefit both of them. For him, maintaining the image of a married man could help stabilize the stock price. And for Stella, not getting divorced could help her avoid a lot of trouble. As long as she and Ethan didn't divorce, Dean would have reservations. And since she had helped Ethan, he promised to further advance cooperation with the Carlson family and help her when she needed it. So far, their marriage relationship had been relatively pleasant. As long as there were no objections from both sides, they could consider signing another extension agreement after the expiration date. Natalie commented quietly, "Neither of you are dating anyone else, so just keep the position of Mrs. Powers. Although Ethan is a bit aloof, I have to admire him this time." She was referring to the incident half a month ago when Stella was kidnapped due to her involvement with Aaron and Avery. Although it turned out to be a false alarm, Ethan's ability to rush to her side that day showed some responsibility. This makeshift husband was indeed better than Aaron, her former fiancé. "You're right, but since Stella got married, got a marriage certificate, and started living together, now even the divorce is on hold, leaving me all alone," Layla said. In the past, on weekends, she used to stay at Stella's apartment. But now that Stella had moved in with Ethan, she felt lonely every weekend. "Then why don't you find a boyfriend?" Natalie couldn't help but tease her, then added, "By the way, Director Sheffield's female lead has been changed to Lavinia." Layla asked, "Isn't Avery causing trouble again?" "Trouble?" Natalie chuckled, "Aaron is still hospitalized; when would he find the time to deal with her?" Juan told her when he came home that Aaron was really badly injured this time and wasn't cooperating with the doctors' treatment. He still hadn't been discharged from the hospital. Natalie understood her husband's intention. Juan hoped she would persuade Stella to visit Aaron in the hospital, but Natalie didn't want to persuade her at all. Layla adjusted her face mask and said, "After that live broadcast incident, Avery's image has taken a nosedive." After the kidnapping case, Edward and his accomplices were all imprisoned. It was also revealed that Edward's son had taken a fatal overdose due to the pressure, despite the doctor warning him about the possibility. However, the father, unable to accept his son's abandonment, stubbornly sought a scapegoat, and Aaron became the unlucky one. Because of this kidnapping, Avery was labeled as the third party. Although her fans still tried to justify her with their fantasy of love, Aaron's subsequent statement directly denied any relationship with Avery. Layla felt that this was a classic case of a scumbag suddenly realizing his mistakes and publicly humiliating the woman. Thinking of this, she tilted her head slightly and asked Stella, "What triggered that statement from Aaron?" "I have no idea." Stella couldn't be bothered to think about Aaron's attitude towards Avery. Natalie scoffed, "I hate it when men suddenly have an awakening. Their belated love is cheap." With that said, she took out two invitation tickets from her bag, "You both make sure to clear your schedules for the show next week." Stella reached out and took them. As expected, they were invitations to Natalie's design brand, Bing's summer fashion show. It was scheduled for next weekend, and she had the time to attend. Stella nodded, "I'll go." Natalie reached out and made a heart gesture towards her. After a moment, as if suddenly remembering something, Natalie gently patted her with her eyes closed and reminded her, "Do you know about Ethan's stepmother? She'll be there next week too." Stella was taken aback. She had heard some rumors about the Powers family's past. At that time, Eastside Real Estate had just taken over the development project in Novastar, but before it even started, the government's allocated one billion dollors mysteriously disappeared. Dylan was then accused of embezzlement. Ethan's stepmother, Jessica, quickly divorced Dylan after he was sent to prison, taking away the remaining money of the Powers family and marrying someone else. Ethan had to drop out of school for a year to take care of his grandfather who had suffered a stroke. The once proud young master had fallen to the point of needing to work to save up for tuition fees. If Jessica hadn't remarried at the time, she might have become Stella's 'mother-in-law' by now in name only. Stella pondered quietly. She wondered what Ethan's attitude towards Jessica was now.