Chapter 25 Not Yours to Manage
She gave a small nod and walked toward the Bentley.
Just a few steps away-
Shane came down from the mountain road behind her. When he saw her about to get into the car, he immediately stepped in front of her with a frown.
“I’ll drive you. Don’t just get into some stranger’s car.”
He stood dead center in her path, refusing to move.
After being blocked by Shane multiple times today, Stella’s patience was gone. Her eyes went cold.
“Did you already forget the slap from earlier? Whose car I get into has nothing to do with you.”
“Star, after thirteen years together, you really think we’re nothing to each other now?”
He leaned down slightly to meet her gaze, eyes filled with fake tenderness.
“I’ll take you home. This is the middle of nowhere-how do you know whose car this is? What if they take you someplace dangerous?”
“I don’t need it.”
Stella brushed past him without hesitation.
Still, he grabbed her wrist again.
“Shane, what the hell are you trying to do?!”
“I want to take you home. Star, let’s just talk. Your father and stepmother are still up there. If they come after you later, how are you going to deal with it alone?”
He was still playing the doting ex, unwilling to let go.
Stella sneered.
“You should save all that concern for Wendy. What are you clinging to me for?”
She jabbed straight at his heart without mercy, and while he stood frozen, she took the chance to yank her hand away.
She had barely taken two steps when a taxi rolled up to the curb.
Wendy stepped out, moving slowly and leaning on the doorframe for support.
She caught sight of Shane grabbing Stella’s wrist-and a flash of jealousy flickered in her eyes.
But it disappeared quickly. She clung to the door, wheezing like she could barely breathe.
1/4
“Stella, Shane really was worried about you. He even came all the way to the Johnson family’s cemetery just to see you.”
“You’ve been gone all this time, and every night Shane couldn’t sleep. I was the one staying up with him until morning…”
Her voice was soft, pitiful.
Shane nodded quickly. “Star, even Wendy knows how much I still care about you.”
“Sure,” Stella snapped. “You care so much you watched the sunrise with another woman. That kind of ‘devotion’? I don’t want it.”
Her blood was boiling. But with her mother’s urn in her arms, she couldn’t lash out.
Instead, she jabbed Shane aside with her elbow and walked past.
Wendy wasn’t done.
“That Bentley… is that some other man’s car?”
“Stella, being someone’s mistress isn’t something to show off. The Johnsons already don’t like you. If you keep this up, you won’t even have a place in Capital City-”
She spoke like she was worried, but every word was a veiled insult.
And the word “mistress”-
Was meant to rip open every wound.
Stella stopped and glanced back at her coolly.
“Wow. Thanks for the concern. But unlike a certain weak little invalid, I don’t fall apart just because someone opens the cage door.”
“I don’t need the Johnsons. I don’t need Shane. I’ve still got a life. And even if I am in someone else’s car- so what?”
“If you’re jealous, just ask Shane to buy one for you. I’m sure he’d be happy to keep you.”
Wendy’s face turned every shade of green and white.
Who are you calling a caged bird?
Who are you calling useless?!
She gritted her teeth. “Shane wouldn’t say that! Stella, just because you’re the other woman doesn’t mean you get to-”
“If your love is really so strong,” Stella cut in with a mocking smile, “then what’s the harm in a few of my
words?”
“You’re twisting things! Are you acting like this because you’re the one who feels guilty?” Wendy cried.
2/4
“That’s enough!”
Shane suddenly snapped.
“Calling her a mistress over and over-is that supposed to be cute? You really don’t know when to stop!”
Wendy’s eyes instantly welled up with tears. “Shane… you yelled at me?”
Stella watched the scene play out with mild amusement.
Incredible. Shane’s actually yelling at Wendy?
Shane realized what he’d said and scrambled to make up for it. “Wendy, I didn’t mean-”
“You hate me that much?”
“No! That’s not what I meant-”
“Then I won’t trouble you anymore. I’ll leave tomorrow!”
Wendy burst into tears.
Shane stood there, completely lost, trying to comfort her.
Stella, watching them, felt nothing.
No anger. No heartbreak.
Just apathy.
She opened the Bentley door, holding her mother’s urn.
“Take me to the villa. I need to place this where it belongs-with her ceramics.”
The cemetery caught fire and required time for restoration.
Her mom needed a new home.
She gave the order, and the driver stepped on the gas-leaving Shane and Wendy behind without a second glance.
At the villa.
Stella calmly placed her mother’s urn beside her ceramics, instructing the housekeeper to care for them carefully.
Only when everything was settled did she send the driver away.
She dismissed the staff.
She just wanted to be alone for a while.
3/4
Sneaking Away
+8 Pearls
