Chapter 52

Chapter 52:
Beatrice was fuming after hearing Stella accuse Haley. She was certain her daughter hadn’t said anything of the sort.
She stepped forward protectively, positioning herself in front of Haley. “Ms. Russell, you might be bold, but that doesn’t give you the right to spout lies. That accusation is completely out of line.”
Not giving Stella a chance to reply, Beatrice turned to Marc with her chin held high. “Mr. Walsh, I only agreed to work with you because of Haley’s feelings for you. But after this baseless slander against my daughter, I see no reason to continue our partnership.”
And with that, she made a show of turning to leave, signaling for Haley to follow. Haley, of course, didn’t want to go. But she was scared Stella might actually expose something real, so even though she hesitated, she followed her mother.
Still, she dragged her feet slightly, watching Marc out of the corner of her eye, hoping he’d stop her.
Marc, however, found himself stuck between two paths.
At first, teaming up with the Smith family had seemed like the smart move—he figured their power and connections could help pull his company through the storm.
To make it work, he didn’t mind entertaining Haley’s obvious interest in him. She was eager and persistent, and at the time, he hadn’t seen any harm in playing along.
But now, if what Stella said was true, then there was no longer any need to keep up the act. He couldn’t keep pretending for the sake of business, not when it meant letting someone like Haley get close enough to hurt Stella.
That thought hit him hard, and his expression darkened. He turned to Haley, eyes sharp and cold, a storm brewing behind them.
“Hold on—what exactly did you do to Stella?”
Haley’s heart pounded. Trying to keep her voice calm, she said, “Marc, I haven’t done anything! Don’t you believe me? Hasn’t Stella been ignoring you lately and staying away from home?”
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She wasn’t wrong. Marc had complained about Stella avoiding him, often saying she’d been staying at her work dorm.
Haley had been holding onto that information, waiting for the right moment to strike. Now, she used it like a trump card.
“If she’s so innocent, then why hasn’t she come back home?” she said slyly.
Her words landed exactly where she wanted. Marc’s mind started to spin.
Stella had been distant lately—was something going on between her and William?
William had connections. Could it be that Stella was leaning on him… maybe even growing close to someone else through him?
Marc glanced over at Stella, suspicion clouding his gaze. He looked torn, as if caught between love and betrayal.
He still loved her deeply. But if she had cheated on him… he wasn’t sure how he’d even begin to deal with it.
The moment Stella met his eyes, she understood—Haley had gotten to him again.
Before Marc could say anything, Stella gave him a frosty smile. She pulled a recorder from her bag and pressed play.
The speaker’s voice rang out clearly: “Do whatever you want. If anything goes wrong, I’ll handle it.”
Then came another voice—sharp and mocking. “Stella, Marc told me to handle this. You refused to sign the contract nicely, so this is your punishment. Let’s see how proud you act next time!”
Before meeting Jazlyn and Haley, Stella had sensed that something wasn’t right. Trusting her instincts, she had slipped a recording device into her bag—just in case.
She never took it out, and when she left later, she didn’t get the chance to turn it off before those men grabbed her.
That’s why the recorder stayed hidden in her bag, quietly recording everything that happened in the hotel room.
Later, during the struggle, Stella had hit the men with her bag, damaging the recorder.
Yesterday, she gave it to Lainey to see if it could be fixed.
And luckily, after some repairs, the recording turned out to be fully intact.
Once the recording finished playing, Stella walked up to Haley with a cold look in her eyes.
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