Chapter 289

Marshall followed Stella’s gaze to see Bella cheerfully chatting with someone else.

It was windy on the deck. Yet, despite being quite chilly, Bella’s outfit was rather revealing.

She wore a long light gray sleeveless mesh dress. The dress complimented her well, as the bright lights on the deck illuminated her dress with a soft shine. She had an eye-catching glow. Bella had put effort into her makeup. Her long hair was in a loose updo with strands of her bangs strewn in front of her forehead, which made her seem quite graceful. With the addition of Bella’s professionally curated facial expressions as an actor, even Stella, who disliked Bella, had to admit that Bella looked pretty that night.

“Maybe she was hired by the organizers to take part in the play,” Marshall guessed.

There was a huge theater on the cruise that held three plays daily. It was possible that Bella was one of the performers.

“Are the organizers rich enough to hire her?”

The theaters on cruises would normally hire professional teams of play actors or orchestras to perform.

It would be a markdown if someone of Bella’s status came to perform here.

While she was speaking, Vermont quipped from behind her. “I told you Stella was on the deck. It’s not a big cruise! There’s no way she would have swam back to shore, right?”

Stella turned around to see Keegan walking toward her with a long face.

Once he was in front of her, he gripped her wrist and pulled her closer to him. “Wandering off as soon as you’re awake. Aren’t you scared of falling off the deck?”

‘Bastard, shut your mouth if you have nothing good to say!’ Stella thought to herself.

Stella pulled her arm back and gave him a side-eye. “Even if I do fall, I don’t need you to scoop me back up.”

Keegan glanced at her and calmly said, “Even if I don’t scoop you back up, I still have to pay for someone to do it since I spent so much money marrying you.”

Stella’s heart fluttered, and she thought to herself, ‘Something feels strange about what he said. He doesn’t sound like he’s mocking me. He sounds rather helpless.”

“Marshall, where have you been?”

Vermont suddenly inquired.

Stella thought that Marshall would tell them the truth as it was. Instead, he replied, “I went back to my room, and I met Stella on my way out.”

Stella gave Marshall a confused look.

‘Why didn’t he tell the truth? Is he worried that Keegan might get the wrong idea?’ thought Stella.

Keegan’s eyes swept back and forth between Stella and Marshall. Once again, he pulled Stella by her arm and said, “Let’s go.”

“To where?”

Keegan did not answer, but he brought her back to the room.

Aldor had just finished placing food on the table when he saw that the two of them were back. He said warmly, “Mrs. Kane, you slept through the day, and you didn’t have any lunch. Mr. Kane was worried that you might be hungry when you woke up, so he left you some food. I’ve had them heat the food up for you. Please see if the food is up to your taste.

Keegan glanced at Aldor. “You’re so talkative.”

Aldor smiled and said, “Enjoy your meal.”

Being aware of the situation, Aldor tactfully left the room.

The room was filled with the aroma of the food. Varying from Pairin-Union cuisines to Hustuabourg dishes, each dish was placed in a palm-sized container, and there were more than ten dishes on the table. Stella caught the munchies just from the scent. But, she was already full, so all she could do was stare.

“What are you staring at?”

Keegan handed her a set of cutleries and asked, “Did the hunger get into your brain?”

‘How do I tell him that I’ve already eaten?

‘Why did Mr. Moore lie? We had nothing to hide, but his lie made it hard for me to explain the situation to Keegan,’ Stella thought.

Seeing her dawdling without making a move for a long while, Keegan frowned and said, “Do you want me to feed you?”

Stella immediately hurried over to take the cutleries from Keegan. “I wouldn’t dare to.”

Keegan gave her a glance and stayed silent.

Stella pushed and flipped her food around with the cutleries and barely had a few bites, even after a long while.