Chapter 1269

[ 757 words ]

stella , I know you must be disappointed in me,” Michael said. “But this wasn’t your brother’s fault. It was mine.

“ You and Aaron grew up in completely different worlds. I promise you, from now on , I won’t let him interfere with your life.”

Stella said nothing.

She looked up at Michael, her nose suddenly stinging.

Michael continued,

“If you never want to see him again, that’s fine too.”

The Hogarth estate was enormous, with more than a dozen separate residences.

If Stella didn’t want to see Aaron, it was entirely possible for them to avoid each other.

And besides, the family owned plenty of other properties.

The last time Stella returned, she had lived in the main house with Aaron.

Looking back, putting the two of them under the same roof had been a mistake from the start.

Michael should never have arranged it that way.

Apparently, having two children really did come with its share of problems.

Stella hesitated.

“Can I… not live in Eirden?”

Michael’s expression changed slightly.

“But if you go to another country, I’m worried…”

He didn’t finish.

He didn’t need to.

Stella understood.

Michael had spent years in politics.

Naturally, he had made plenty of enemies.

In some ways , Stella had been fortunate that everyone believed she was dead during this period.

If the outside world had known she was alive and living somewhere unprotected, the

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enemies might already have started moving against her from the shadows.

In fact , ever since word got out that Stella was still alive, some of them had already begun making moves.

That was one reason Michael had personally sent David to bring her back.

Under normal circumstances, he never would have needed to send someone of David’s level.

That alone showed how terrified Michael was of anything happening to Stella again.

“In any case,” Michael said, “you can just pretend Aaron doesn’t exist.”

Stella stared at him.

Pretend Aaron didn’t exist?

Was he serious?

“ If you don’t want to acknowledge him as your brother, then don’t,” Michael said. “But you still have to keep your father.”

The last sentence came out with the wounded tone of an ordinary old man.

In that moment, Michael was no powerful figure.

He was simply a father who had nearly lost his daughter.

Stella’s throat tightened.

“ I really don’t have to accept him as my brother?”

There was a hint of bitterness in her voice too.

Why had Stella wanted to leave Eirden in the first place?

Because she had discovered that family wasn’t anything like what she had imagined.

She simply couldn’t accept having a brother like Aaron.

And at the time, she hadn’t been able to understand Michael’s position either.

Whenever she called him while everything was falling apart, their conversations had been brief before he had to hang up.

Was he truly that busy?

Or did he secretly approve of everything Aaron was doing?

Back then, Stella had had no way of knowing.

It had felt as though this so– called family bond had simply been forced on her.

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Good or bad, she was expected to accept it.

With the Wright family, Stella had been able to fight back and walk away.

But with the Hogarth family, she hadn’t felt she had that option.

And that had thrown her into a spiral of anxiety.

Stella had never been the kind of person to torture herself over things she couldn’t control.

But that situation had trapped her inside her own emotions until she could barely breathe.

Now Michael was telling her she didn’t have to accept Aaron.

If she didn’t want that relationship, she could reject it.

Michael nodded.

“Of course.

“You and Aaron are two separate people. You always have been.

“You have every right to decide whether you want that relationship or not.”

Stella’s nose stung even more.

Tears suddenly burned behind her eyes.

“Two separate people?”

“Of course,” Michael said gently. “You both get to decide what you will and won’t accept.

“You don’t have to accommodate each other.”

Stella fell silent.

She didn’t have to accommodate him.

She didn’t have to go along with his decisions just because he was her brother.

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Ruby Walker

Ruby is a rising voice in the world of romance and spicy fiction. With a gift for weaving deep emotions, sizzling chemistry, and unexpected twists, her stories are a blend of passion and drama that captivate readers from start to finish.

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