Chapter 836: Chapter 838

“Of course not, Aunt Diana!”

Stella frowned with concern and added, “Please don’t overthink it and get the wrong idea! You’ve done nothing wrong!”

“Then why didn’t you reveal your real identity to me when I saw you at that shopping mall?”

“Well…” Stella smiled bitterly. “You’ve heard of what happened at the engagement party yesterday, haven’t you? That was the reason why…”

“I can understand that.” Diana pursed her lips. “Still, you could’ve just told me that you were Stella. I never would’ve revealed it to anybody else! Didn’t you know how happy I was when I saw you? I was heartbroken when you insisted that you were Ella Steele, not Stella Sealey…”

“I’m sorry, Aunt Diana.”

Stella had no idea what else to do apart from apologizing. She couldn’t possibly tell Diana that she had to keep her identity a secret because she knew something Michael was doing everything in his power to hide from the rest of the world that he’d been cheating on Diana behind her back, and that the woman he had cheated on her with was Stella’s own roommate.

Meanwhile, Michael waited anxiously outside, his eyes kept shifting toward the door behind which his wife and Stella were chatting.

“You look nervous, Mr. Sealey.”

Even Weston could clearly see that he was tense and agitated.

“It looks like you’re afraid that my fiancée would reveal something to your wife that you wish she wouldn’t know.” Weston stated his observation.

The corners of Michael’s mouth twitched in concealed chagrin. He turned to Weston and said, “You’re overthinking, Mr. Ford. It’s only because I’m anxious to talk to Stella myself. She is my own niece, after all.”

“That reminds me.” Weston drummed his fingers on the coffee table. “I do find it strange that while my fiancée was excited to meet Mrs. Sealey, she had no desire to talk to you at all, even though you are the one related to her by blood.”

“Is that a genuine question ?” asked Michael, now on pins and needles. “Or are you insinuating something?”

“Which do you think it is?”

“I wouldn’t dare to presume to know what you’re thinking, Mr. Ford.”

At that point, the door opened, and out came Stella and Diana. Michael immediately rose to his feet and rushed toward his wife.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concern written all over his face.

“Of course I am!” Diana replied. “I was just catching up with Stella. Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“I…” Michael fumbled, realizing that his overreaction might look too suspicious. His eyes darkened as he glanced at his niece. “I was just worried because you’d been in there for a long time. I wondered what you two were talking about.”

He was obviously testing the waters to find out if Stella had revealed his secret to his wife. Stella found his antsy attitude in front of her aunt immensely amusing.

What was the point of looking so concerned about his wife now when he didn’t seem to care a jot about her when he cheated on her?

“A long time?” Diana sighed, discontented but still oblivious to the looks exchanged between her husband and Stella.

“What do you mean, a long time? It felt like we’d hardly talked about anything at all! There’s still so much to say… Stella, we must meet up again, okay?”

Before Stella could say anything, Michael wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulder and reminded her, “Don’t forget that Stella is soon to be Mrs. Ford. You can no longer expect her to come out to see you anytime you’d like!”

“Why not?” asked Diana, disconcerted by what her husband had said. “She’ll still be the same person even after getting married! She’s our niece no matter what! She’s only getting married, not getting sold to other people!”

Those words created instant tension and awkwardness, especially since Weston was still right there.

“Don’t be ridiculous !” barked Michael with a stolid face. “She should know her place once she’s gotten married. It has nothing to do with getting sold to anyone!”

Diana didn’t like her husband’s response at all, but she had always made a point of not challenging her husband in front of strangers, so she didn’t argue with him about it for the time being.

Weston saw that Stella was not looking very well, so he approached her and took her hands into his before announcing,” As long as my fiancée is willing to see you, you may come and see her anytime you’d like.”

The warmth in his tone created a stark contrast to the way he had treated Michael earlier.

Diana was pleasantly surprised herself. She didn’t have that good an opinion of Weston up till then, mainly because of what she had learned that he and Guinevere had done to Stella. But seeing the way he treated Stella now softened her heart somewhat.

“I don’t care what happened between you in the past,” she uttered to Weston, “but Stella is my niece. I would hope that you wouldn’t take advantage of the fact that her parents had died to treat her poorly. I would never forgive you if you hurt her again!”

“I promise you that I will take good care of her,” declared Weston somberly while his captivating eyes, which crowned his exquisitely handsome face, were fixed on Stella’s.