Chapter 28

[ 673 words ]

Ronald raised an eyebrow. But Stella threw her arms around his neck, sobbing so hard she could barely catch her breath, as if the world had wronged her deeply. Her instinctual action shattered the anger in Ronald’s eyes. His hands, hanging in mid-air, finally wrapped around her slender waist as Stella cried hysterically. Stella clung to Ronald’s neck tighter, “Is Mom okay?”

Ronald held her, “You still remember she’s your mom?”

He had thought that after she went back to the Larkins, she had completely forgotten everything about Ferrowland!

Stella hugged him even tighter, her sobs growing more pitiful.

…

Two hours later.

Stella had recounted the reasons for leaving Ferrowland three years ago, through intermittent sobs and tears.

In her three years in Portis City, she hadn’t cried once. Not even when the Larkins treated her poorly, but mentioning everything about Ferrowland made her break down.

The Quinns had always been her rock, and Ronald, her emotional support. Losing everything overnight was like being in purgatory, something she dared not revisit over the past three years.

As people said, her departure came when the Quinn family faced its toughest storms. If possible, she wished to have stayed by Ronald’s side.

But Regina Schultz, the woman who adored Ronald, joined forces with her brother Xander Schultz during the tumult of her father’s death, capturing her mother and forcing her to leave the Quinns.

If she didn’t leave the Quinn family, they threatened to kill her mother; in that case, Stella had no choice but to agree. Leaving the Quinns meant no contact with Ronald.

Back then, the Schultzes held king-like power in Ferrowland. With Ronald’s shaky foundation following his father’s sudden departure, he was no match for the Schultzes. Ronald and Xander had always been at odds, but his sister Regina’s infatuation with Ronald kept Xander from targeting the Quinn’s ventures.

Stella couldn’t risk Ronald falling into danger. If her departure could grant the Quinns a moment of peace, she was willing to fight for that breathing space for him.

The more Ronald heard, the colder his expression became, “They threatened you, and you just caved?”

“I had no choice. They used Mom’s life as leverage.”

Ronald’s eyes narrowed slightly, “And you just cut all ties with us?”

“I didn’t dare!”

As she spoke, Stella felt even more wronged. She had been exceedingly cautious even just to hear news of him. Especially in that first year after leaving the Quinns, Regina kept threatening her! This was also a major reason she returned to the Larkins and even got engaged to Yorick.

Despite seeing Ronald rise rapidly over the past three years, taking over Ferrowland’s underworld, she still feared for his safety against the Schultzes.

Stella had laid it all out, and yet Ronald’s sternness only made her feel more aggrieved. Her eyes reddened as she gave Ronald a look.

“What about Regina?”

That despicable woman, she wished she could end her.

Ronald answered, “Crippled. In prison.”

“Prison? You put her in prison?”

Ronald gave her a cold look, his familiar gaze showing his anger hadn’t subsided.

Stella tugged at his shirt, looking up at him silently, her eyes full of sorrow.

Ronald scoffed, “Useless, getting bullied and still playing the victim? What have I taught you all these years?”

“You taught me everything except how to be heartless.”

If she were heartless, no one could ever hurt her, just like with the Larkins.

But it was different with the Quinns…

Her mother loved her dearly, and she had always known she was taken in by Ronald. Yet her mother treated her as her own, pampering her like a princess. Ronald snorted dismissively.

Stella pressed on, “Is Mom really okay?”

“She’s good. She’s been praying for you these past three years, afraid you’d perish in the cold outside.”

Stella was taken aback.

Perish in the cold? Was he saying she was a delicate flower that couldn’t survive outside?

But hearing that her mother had been praying for her for three years still moved her. She looked eagerly at Ronald, “Mom really went three years praying?” Ronald flicked her on the forehead.

Stella winced, not daring to utter a sound.

Ronald then asked, “What about the Larkins and Yorick after all this time?”

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