Chapter 42

Chapter 42

She didn’t know how long it lasted.

By the time Stella couldn’t breathe anymore, he finally let her go.

The moment she was free, she sucked in air desperately, gasping as if she’d just surfaced from deep water.

She raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

A sharp crack rang out.

She looked at him with an expression so fierce it was as if she wanted to tear him apart.

A thin line of blood appeared at the corner of Evan’s mouth.

Instead of anger, a dangerous smile curved his lips. He turned back to her and pinched her chin between his fingers, the gesture intimate yet domineering.

“ I’ve already told Patrick to handle it, ” he said in a low voice. “ Everything they took from you will be transferred back to your name. ”

Stella’s clear eyes were icy.

“ You think I need that? ”

Before the words had fully fallen, he moved again, forceful and possessive.

Stella, furious, lifted her hand to strike him once more.

This time, he caught her wrist and pressed her hand against his chest, his presence closing in on her completely.

She had nowhere to retreat.

She felt nothing but revulsion. Every touch disgusted her.

Then she gagged.

The sound was abrupt and uncontrollable.

Evan released her at once. His expression darkened instantly.

“ You hate me touching you that much? ” he demanded.

She had actually gagged.

It was like a blade straight through his pride.

“ Yes, ” Stella said flatly. “ I feel sick. ”

Evan stared at her as if he wanted to kill her.

Then, suddenly, he laughed. Low and sharp.

He grabbed the back of her neck again. “ You’re doing this on purpose. Trying to provoke me.

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Chapter 32

+30 Bonus

“ You’re overthinking it, ” she replied.

She truly despised him now.

His kisses.

His arms.

His hands.

His embrace.

Anything that had ever touched Summer made her recoil.

Evan refused to believe her. In his mind, she was acting, deliberately pushing his buttons.

“ Enough, ” he said, shifting into a coaxing tone. “ I know you’ve been miserable lately. From now on, I won’t see Summer again. ”

He was trying to placate her.

What he didn’t realize was that Stella was long past the point of being soothed.

That night at the Wright family house, when Summer shoved her to the floor and she’d clutched his pant leg, telling him her stomach hurt, that had been her final chance given to him.

For six months, he had chosen Summer first. Every single time.

That one moment, if he had chosen her instead, maybe everything could have been salvaged.

But he hadn’t.

He’d picked Summer up and walked away.

Stella turned her head aside.

Seeing her like this gave Evan a headache. He rubbed his brow.

“ Don’t use divorce to threaten me, ” he said. “ Alright? ”

She didn’t respond.

After a moment, he asked, “ When did you start having contact with Felix? ”

Felix.

Evan was convinced the foreigner by her side had been sent by him.

Stella let out a cold laugh. “ Summer has you completely twisted. She didn’t just blind you. She clouded your judgment too. ”

Felix?

The man so distant and controlled that women barely dared approach him?

What could there possibly be between them?

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Evan’s face hardened.

She continued, mocking, “ You won’t see Summer anymore? How funny. ”

That promise meant nothing. He had never kept it before.

Evan couldn’t stand the disbelief in her eyes. He reached out, trying to pull her into his arms.

Before, that had always worked.

When she was upset, all it took was a hug.

This time, she didn’t move.

She stood there, steady and unmoving, staring at him with nothing but cold detachment.