Chapter 40

It was a bite and not a kiss.

Stella protested with all her might, but Keegan pinned her down along with the blanket. Her limbs were trapped inside the blanket like a cocoon. He ravished her lips recklessly.

Because of the gendered difference between their strengths, Stella had no chance of resisting him.

When she quieted down, Keegan became gentler toward her, and his bites turned into kisses.

As his lips reached her pale collarbone, Stella suddenly spoke. “Keegan, are you mad at me because you’re jealous?”

Keegan stopped to look at her. Stella, who was under him, stared into his eyes and enunciated her question word by word. “Did you fall in love with me?”

Keegan loosened his grip and sat up. He gave her an icy glance. “Don’t flatter yourself. Stella Jewell, before we officially divorce, you’re still a member of the Kane family. Know your place. Don’t mess up and expect others to clean up after you.”

He put on his clothes and left the room. Stella raised her head up and stared at the ceiling. Out of nowhere, she forced a self–deprecating smile.

She knew that she had no place in his heart, but even though she asked that question to anger him, she still had hope for his answer to be affirmative.

I expected that answer,‘ she thought.

Stella hated her heart for skipping a beat at his touch. She hated that she foolishly allowed herself to have hope despite knowing what his answer would be.

Her phone rang again. She unplugged it from the charger and answered the call.

“Stella?” Felicity’s voice transmitted through the phone.

“It’s me,” answered Stella.

Felicity let out a relieved sigh. “You scared me to death! Why didn’t you come back last night? Your phone was unreachable. Where have you been? I almost called the cops!”

Stella massaged her temples, trying to ease the headache from her hangover. “I’m fine. Last night… I was with my mom. I forgot to bring my charger along, and my phone ran out of battery and died.”

Stella hid the fact that she got drunk because she did not want Felicity to worry about her.

“Okay, then,” Felicity said. “As long as you’re alright. I was worried that you might forget about the audition today. Are you still at the hospital? I can pick you up later so that we can reach earlier to prepare for the audition.”

“No need for that. Let’s meet up at the hotel,” Stella answered.

“That works too. See you in an hour,” Felicity replied.

After hanging up, Stella wasted no time. She got out of bed and got ready.

The clothes she wore last night reeked of alcohol, so she had no choice but to brazenly pick an outfit from the dressing room.

For the few days that she was gone, Keegan did not remove any of her belongings. The display of the dressing room was still arranged in the way that she used to arrange them. The only difference was the addition of a few outfits from Prada’s latest spring collection.

Stella assumed that they were gifts from Cordelia. Cordelia was the only elderly in this family that cared for her.

When Stella first married into the family, she was mocked for her outdated clothes on her first family dinner with Keegan.

Although the Jewells were also businessmen, their wealth and status were nothing compared to the Kanes.

For the daughters of these wealthy families, like Aurora, their clothes were always the latest release of the current seasons. Stella, with her last–season clothes, seemed out of place among them. When she stood beside Keegan, they looked mismatched. ‘I should’ve seen the signs,” thought Stella.

The incident at the family dinner was deescalated by Cordelia’s few words. Since then, after each seasonal release, Cordelia would send the latest outfits from various brands over to Stella. Perhaps Cordelia only meant to maintain her family’s reputation by doing so, but to Stella, Cordelia’s attentiveness made Stella’s life in the Kane household easier.

‘I wonder if the divorce would affect Mrs. Lawson.‘ Looking at the clothes, Stella felt guilty.

By the time Stella was ready and came downstairs, Keegan was nowhere to be seen. ‘I guess he left,‘

thought Stella.

As Stella was changing into her shoes, Maya called out to her. “Mrs. Kane, breakfast is ready. Please have some before you leave.”

“No thanks, I’m quite busy.”

“Just a few bites. It’s harmful to take medicine on an empty stomach.”

When Stella paused, Maya had already placed a bowl of dark–colored medicine in front of her.