Chapter 8 Cutting Her Off Financially? Sorry, She’s the Boss!

Ethan stormed into his car, his face dark with anger. From the driver’s seat, Jason glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “So? Did Ms. Dawson finally calm down?” To everyone else, Stella was just throwing a tantrum, trying to force Ethan to send Lillian away again. Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Like hell she did.” Jason stayed silent. Fair enough. Lillian had suddenly returned, and no one had even given Stella a heads-up. “So she’s serious about canceling the wedding?” Ethan didn’t answer. Is she really serious? Thinking back on the past two years, he let out a cold chuckle. “What do you think?” Serious? Could she really walk away that easily? Jason thought about it. Probably not. The Reed family despised Stella. If she didn’t marry Ethan, she had no other way out. Not to mention, she had spent the past two years invested in Ethan. Jason felt even more convinced—she was just throwing a fit. Sure, she was taking it too far, but it was nothing more than that… … Back at Kingston Heights, Stella stared at the pile of shopping bags in front of her and sighed. Thinking about the card she had mistakenly used earlier, she could feel a storm brewing. She didn’t want to think about it anymore. It had been a long day—trying on wedding dresses, shopping with Tessa—her legs were exhausted. Deciding to treat herself, she ran a hot bath. Just as she stepped out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed, the doorbell rang urgently. “Who is it?” She didn’t open the door, just asked through it. Susan’s voice came through. “It’s me. Open the door.” Stella opened the door to find Susan standing there, dressed in an elegant long gown, a pearl necklace resting on her collarbone. Her makeup was flawless, but her expression was harsh. Susan strode in without waiting for an invitation, taking a seat on the couch with an air of authority. Stella closed the door behind her, towel-drying her hair as she did. Susan was already furious, but seeing how leisurely Stella was acting only made her angrier. “Tell me, what the hell are you trying to do?” “I already told you, Lillian had nothing to do with this! She just got back, and you’re already hitting her? And then you go and cancel the wedding in the most public way possible—do you want the whole city to think the daughter I raised for twenty years is a shameless homewrecker who stole your fiancé?” The more she spoke, the more heated she got, firing off accusations like a machine gun. Stella tossed the towel aside and met Susan’s gaze, cold and unflinching. Susan’s temper flared even more. “Do you have to drag the entire Reed family into a scandal before you’re satisfied? Ugh, I never should’ve brought you back.” In her mind, all of this was because she had found Stella. This wasn’t like bringing home a lost daughter—it was like inviting a curse into their home. Hearing Susan’s words of regret, Stella let out a mocking laugh. “I agree. You shouldn’t have found me. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been in that car accident either.” Susan’s face stiffened. She hadn’t just ruined their lives; they had ruined hers too. Susan clenched her fists. “You—” Stella cut her off. “Didn’t I already say? Just act like you never found me. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other. Oh, and you do realize the daughter you raised for twenty years really is shameless, right? At least you’re smart enough to be scared of people finding out.” Having barely spent any time with the Reed family, Stella felt no attachment to them. Her sharp words only made Susan angrier. “You—! You’re going to be the death of me!” At this point, there was nothing left to say. Susan stood up abruptly. “Think it over. The moment you stop targeting Lillian, I’ll reinstate your card.” With no better way to punish Stella, she resorted to financial control. Leaving those words behind, Susan stormed out, convinced that Stella would eventually cave once she ran out of money. When that time came, she wanted to see how much fight Stella still had left in her. … After Susan left, Stella went to the kitchen, washed an apple, and bit into it. She had no intention of “thinking it over.” Her phone rang. She answered, “Hello?” “Ms. Dawson, we’ve got a huge job. A really big one.” “How big?” Stella asked. “Triple the usual rate.” Hearing that, Stella suddenly found her apple even sweeter. Taking another bite, she stood up. “I’ll be right there.” She changed quickly and rushed out the door. Half an hour later, she arrived at the studio. Her assistant, Kimmy York, greeted her with barely contained excitement. “Ms. Dawson, we landed a massive project!” Grinning, Kimmy handed over the proposal. Stella flipped through it and asked, “Sterling Global again?” Sterling Global’s tourism business was huge. This was already her second major project from them this year. And they paid well. Each project had been worth over two hundred thousand dollars. This time, the offer was even higher… Kimmy nodded. “Yeah! Their representative said they love our work. From now on, they want to give us all their design projects.” Hearing love our work, Stella finally broke into her first real smile of the day. “Gather all the designers for a meeting.” “On it!” … After leaving Kingston Heights, Susan headed straight for the hospital. Ethan was already there, along with Susan’s son, Jonathan Reed. Before Susan arrived, Jonathan had been comforting Lillian. Having grown up with her, Jonathan always took Lillian’s side over Stella’s. Now that Lillian had been beaten up by Stella, his anger only burned hotter. When Susan walked in, Lillian looked up, her face full of guilt and sorrow. “Mom, I’m sorry. I made Stella upset again…” Susan’s heart ached. She stepped forward and held Lillian’s hand. “Silly girl, it’s not your fault. I know what kind of temper she has.” At the mention of Stella’s temper, everyone’s expressions soured. Susan sighed. “Who knows what kind of family raised her to be like this…” They only knew that she had been adopted by the Dawson family. Beyond that, they had no idea whether her adoptive family was from the countryside or the city. They had asked before, but Stella never answered. Jonathan scoffed. “What kind of family? With a temper like that, she was probably raised in some backwater village.” To him, Stella was nothing but a loud, brash, and uncivilized woman. Susan sighed again. Jonathan added, “You froze her card. Don’t unlock it this time.” Let her struggle without money for a while. Let her suffer. Then they’d see how long she could keep up her arrogance.