Chapter 1031
[ 640 words ]
Yvonne didn’t even spare Xander a glance. Instead, she picked up a piece of tender beef and dropped it into Stella’s bowl. “Ignore him. Just eat, sweetheart.”
Xander just stared, at a loss for words. Hadn’t he said it a hundred times? Stella was hardly a child anymore-she didn’t need to be fussed over like this. Or… did she? Was he missing something? Best to stay quiet, he decided when Stella was around, anything he said just seemed to come out wrong.
He cut off the call with Shawn, who was still rambling on the other end, and turned his attention to Yvonne with a pleading expression. “You really want to be this harsh with him? I just don’t want anything to happen while he’s out there on his own.”
It was pitch black outside, nothing but mountains for miles. Shawn had over forty miles to walk-he might not even make it by sunrise.
“You’re welcome to go with him, you know,” Yvonne said, barely looking up.
Xander was left speechless.
Yvonne went on, “Honestly, he’s a grown man, not some helpless damsel. You really think ‘it’s not safe’ is a good enough excuse?”
He winced—when she put it that way, his argument did sound pretty flimsy. Shawn was furious right now; if anyone tried to intervene, they’d probably end up on the receiving end of that anger.
So, Xander fell silent.
Finally, Yvonne nudged him along. “Alright, enough. Eat up. Once we’re done, we’re heading back to the Schultz estate.”
Xander’s head snapped up. “Back to the Schultz estate?”
“Of course. Where else? I’m your wife now, aren’t I? Unless you think I should be staying somewhere else.”
He couldn’t help the twitch in his jaw as he glanced at Stella, wondering what conversation she and Yvonne might have had upstairs. As far as he knew, Yvonne would rather walk on hot coals than live with the Schultz family. Truth be told, the feeling was mutual-he found the whole place suffocating. The people, the atmosphere, their very presence seemed to make the air unbreathable.
And now Yvonne was volunteering to move in?
“Technically, we should… but—”
Yvonne shut him down before he could finish. “No buts.”
He hesitated. “You’re serious? You actually want to live there?”
She shot him a look. “Do I seem like I’m joking?”
He swallowed. No, she definitely wasn’t joking.
If he was honest, he almost felt sorry for the others back at the estate. Nobody could torment that crowd quite like Yvonne could. And then there was the whole Berry and Mona situation. Was Yvonne really planning to live there or was she laying groundwork for revenge? He couldn’t help but wonder.
He glanced at Ronald, whose face soured the instant the Schultz family was mentioned. Carefully, Ronald placed a peeled shrimp into Stella’s bowl.
“I really can’t eat any more,” Stella protested gently, pushing her bowl away. “I’m stuffed.”
She had eaten plenty already. Ever
rn
since they’dHearned she was expecting twins, Ronald had been. obsessed with her nutrition. Her stomach kept growing, but she herself was barely putting on any weight-enough to make Ronald believe she was dangerously undernourished.
Yvonne, still battling morning sickness, just picked at her food before finally pushing
her plate away. She and Xander set off for the Schultz estate as soon as they finished.
Once they were out of earshot, Ronald turned to Stella. “So what did you and Yvonne talk about earlier?”
Stella glanced at him, her eyes calm. “She said she was going back to take Mona and Berry down, once and for all.”
Ronald’s expression darkened.
Stella added quietly, “I just don’t want them to get off easy.”
As far as the Schultz family went, aside from Xander-now that everything had been cleared up-there wasn’t one among them she could folerate Tristan Schultz, Mona, Regina, Yale Schultz..cand
w there was a new name to add
now
to the list, Berry.
“But I don’t think Berry’s real goal is to replace me,” Stella murmured, half to herself.
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