Chapter 28 Money Can’t Buy You Out of This
“You taught me everything–except how not to have a heart, Stella replied.
If she had been heartless, no one would have been able to hurt her. Just like with the Reed family–because she didn’t care, nothing they did could truly wound her. But the Dawson family was different…
Her mother had loved her so much. From a young age, she had known she wasn’t Abraham’s biological child, that he had taken her in.
But her mother had always treated her as her own, cherishing her like something precious, holding her in the palm of her
hand.
Abraham let out a cold snort. “Hmph!”
Stella asked, “How is Mom, really?”
“She’s fine. She’s been going to church and praying for three years–afraid that divine retribution would catch up to you out there
Stella went quiet. Divine retribution?Is he saying I am too sheltered, incapable of surviving on my own?
But hearing that her mother had been praying for her all this time still made her heart ache with emotion.
She looked up at Abraham eagerly. “Mom has been doing that for three years?”
Abraham flicked her forehead. Stella winced, covering her head, not daring to cry out.
Abraham continued, “Three years ago, there were reasons for what happened. But what about the Reed family? And Ethan?”
Stella wasn’t sure if she was imagining it, but when Abraham said Ethan, his tone grew noticeably colder.
She answered, “They have nothing to do with me.”
Yes, the Reed family were her biological parents, but at the time, Kelly had been hounding her relentlessly. Returning to the Reed family, even getting engaged to Ethan, had been her way of finally getting rid of Kelly.
Once she got engaged to Ethan, Kelly had never contacted her again.
Abraham raised an eyebrow. “Nothing to do with you?”
Stella explained, “Kelly was threatening me. I got engaged to Ethan to make her and Derrick let their guard down
Under Abraham’s sharp gaze, Stella spilled everything.
Now that Kelly was in prison, there was no reason to keep anything from him anymore.
As expected, Abraham’s expression finally eased.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Ethan watched helplessly as Lillian writhed in pain, tormented by her illness.
Just yesterday, she had been able to walk into his office. Now, she was confined to a hospital bed. Susan was beside herself with worry.
“Ethan, we need to get Dr. Rianne back as soon as possible. The team of specialists said that Lillian’s most pressing issues are her liver and uterus.”
A liver surgery was unavoidable, and she would also need heart surgery. If Rianne could treat her uterine cancer naturally. they hoped to spare her from another painful operation.
Chapter 28 Money Can’t Buy You Out of This
Finished
Her suffering was physical, but those by her side were being tormented emotionally. Susan felt awful. Ethan felt even worse.
“I know,” he said.
Even if Susan hadn’t said anything, Ethan already knew–they had to get Rianne back immediately.
He grabbed an unfamiliar phone and dialed Stella’s number.
At Kingston Heights, Stella was still being interrogated by Abraham when her phone suddenly rang.
Just as Abraham was about to say something, the call interrupted them.
Seeing an unknown number, she instinctively ignored it and declined the call. But the caller was persistent–it rang again.
Abraham’s voice was firm. “Why aren’t you answering?”
“It’s not an important call, Stella replied without thinking.
The whole ordeal with her divorce from Ethan had become a huge scandal. She had already blocked Ethan and the Reed family’s numbers.
With things blowing up the way they had, she knew they would reach out to her if things didn’t go their way.
So at this hour, if someone was calling from an unknown number, it could only be Ethan or Susan.
She didn’t want to answer, especially not in front of Abraham. So she hung up again. But the phone rang once more, the caller refusing to give up.
Stella was about to decline again when Abraham suddenly stretched out his hand in front of her.
Stella’s eyelid twitched. “What?”
“Do you want me to answer it for you, or will you do it yourself?”
Her mouth twitched. “It’s not an important call.”
Abraham raised an eyebrow. “Not important? Then why do they keep calling?”
Stella was speechless. Under Abraham’s intense stare, she had no choice but to reluctantly answer.
The moment the call connected, Ethan’s exhausted voice came through.
“Tell me what you want, I’ll give you anything”
His tone was drained and full of surrender. The speaker waen’s loud, but it was enough–both Stella and Abraham heard it clearly.
