Chapter 3

Stella POV

The air in the living room seemed to freeze for a moment.

My fingers curled slightly, my nails digging into my palm. Ask the woman who loves him deeply to design his engagement ring for another woman? This wasn't Chloe asking for a blessing; she was clearly trying to rub salt into my wound.

"Ms. Foster, I'm quite junior; I'm afraid I can't handle such an important design." My voice was dry, and I flatly refused.

Chloe bit her lip, looking wronged, her eyes instantly reddening. "Stella, are you still mad at me? I know you used to like Ethan, but we're about to get engaged. Won't you even give me this small blessing?"

At her words, the relatives around us immediately looked at me with disdain. An adopted daughter coveting her benefactor. It was scandalous, a dirty secret best kept hidden.

Ethan's face darkened completely. He stared at me coldly, his eyes conveying a clear warning and pressure.

"Stella, since Chloe wants it, you draw it. The Lynwood family took you in for ten years, this is your responsibility."

Responsibility.

That word felt like a mountain, pressing heavily on my spine. I looked at Ethan's emotionless eyes and suddenly, I smiled.

"Fine. I'll draw it."

The next morning, I took my measuring tape and notebook and knocked on the guest room door.

Chloe was sitting at the vanity, trying on jewelry. When she saw me enter, a smug smile played on her lips.

"Stella, thank you for your trouble." Chloe extended her right hand, slender and delicate.

I walked over expressionlessly and wrapped the measuring tape around her ring finger.

"You don't have to torment yourself like this, you know." Chloe lowered her voice, speaking just loud enough for only the two of us to hear. "Watching the man you love marry someone else, your heart must be bleeding, right? Stella, what do you have to compete with me? Ethan said you're nothing but a nuisance he picked up on a whim."

My hand paused, but I said nothing, just silently noted the measurements.

Seeing my lack of response, a malicious glint flashed in Chloe's eyes. She picked up a freshly brewed cup of scorching hot tea from the table and, feigning a slip of the hand, hurled it directly at my right hand, the one I used for drawing.

"Ah!"

The scalding tea instantly drenched my hand, and I gasped in pain, my hand swelling red before my eyes.

Just then, the bedroom door burst open, and Ethan strode in.

Chloe immediately cried out, throwing herself into Ethan's arms, looking utterly pathetic. "Ethan, I didn't mean to! I just wanted to offer Stella some tea, and she suddenly dodged, and the tea spilled..."

Ethan didn't even glance at my scalded hand. He shielded Chloe behind him and snapped, "Stella, are you done making a scene?! Chloe was being kind, offering you tea. How did you respond to her?"

I trembled with pain, biting down hard on my teeth. Looking at the man who was protecting someone else, I lost even the desire to explain.

I turned and left without a word, heading straight for the glass conservatory in the backyard. That was my private studio, built specifically for me by Ethan, my only safe haven.

But when I pushed open the conservatory door, I froze.

My easels, plaster molds, and design sketches were being roughly packed and thrown into a trash can by several housekeepers.