Keegan’s voice ca from the other end of the phone, carrying a sense of urgency.
"Madam, please go have a look."
He kept on persuading tirelessly.
"Since you left, President Fordham has been desperately searching for you. He suffered severe family punishnt at the Fordham Family, almost had his leg broken at the Sterling Family, was slapped by Mrs. Whitman at the Whitman Family, and got handled by Eldest Master Whitman on Lumina Isle..."
"Though he deserved all this, I feel like he’s about to break. He’s deeply regretful for causing you to lose that child. I’m afraid he’ll collapse again like when he lost the D’s data before."
Eventually, Stella changed her clothes, ca out expressionless, and got into Keegan’s car.
Inside the car, Keegan glanced at her through the rearview mirror and spoke again.
"President Fordham has never felt secure since childhood. When his father passed away, Mrs. Fordham deed him unlucky, stopped loving him, neglected him, and abused him. Hence, he grew up cold, extre, and suspicious."
"His heart longs for love, but he doesn’t know how to love soone, which leads him to hurt you repeatedly."
Stella said nothing.
She just stared out the window, watching the familiar streets swiftly retreating behind her.
She was aware of that car accident. Mr. Fordham died protecting him with his body, and since then, Mrs. Fordham stopped liking him.
So, he studied desperately, charging forward, while she chased fiercely from behind.
But at this mont, she was really exhausted.
She wanted to stop.
Soon, the car ca to a steady stop under the Fordham Tower.
Keegan led her directly to the exclusive elevator, heading for the 82nd-floor rooftop of the Fordham Tower.
As the elevator doors opened, a gust of cold wind intermingled with chill rushed over, causing the temperature to drop five or six degrees instantly.
Stella instinctively squinted and tightened the not-so-thick woolen coat around her.
The wind roared wildly in her ears.
Step by step, she walked towards the man standing at the edge of the rooftop.
Standing behind him, her clear voice resonated in the wind.
"Keegan said you’re looking to end it all?"
Aiden’s figure paused before slowly turning around, his tone remaining calm.
"No, It took a great effort to save my life, and I won’t just hand it over to The Grim Reaper easily."
Stella coldly threw out a sentence.
"Since you’re fine, I’ll leave now."
The cold here was frightful, and the air carried a moist vapor, like night fog, or fine drizzle.
"Stella!" Aiden hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed her wrist.
The next mont, he suddenly knelt down on one knee before her.
He landed heavily, his knee hitting the cent ground with a dull thud.
He spoke, "Stella, I’m sorry, please forgive !"
Stella lowered her eyes to look at him, attempting to pull her hand back, only to have him grip it tighter.
"Aiden Fordham, the things I wanted to say, I’ve already made clear."
"From now on, let’s part ways and live well separately."
As soon as she finished speaking, ritopia suddenly lit up.
All the LED billboards on the exteriors of the high-rises switched images at the sa ti.
That image was precisely this scene.
The ruler of The Fordham Group, ritopia’s richest man, was seen kneeling on one knee, holding tightly onto a woman’s hand.
In the image, the first sentence he uttered spread clearly throughout the city.
Stella was startled by this sudden change.
Fordham Tower is the tallest building in ritopia, and standing here allows one to overlook the city’s nightscape.
At this mont, the thousands of enormous screens were covered with his humble apology.
What she didn’t know was that in The Imperial Capital, as well as four first-tier cities and twelve new first-tier cities, all the billboards belonging to The Fordham Group were occupied by this apology from the richest man.
In The Imperial Capital, Ethan Monroe, on his way ho, deepened his gaze upon seeing the billboard content, instructing the driver to pull over.
Indeed, Aiden Fordham was truly shaless, playful beyond asure.
He told his assistant to book the earliest flight for the next day; he wanted to go to ritopia.
The assistant quickly responded, okay.
The internet instantly collapsed.
The hashtag #RichManBeggingForgiveness# exploded directly.
The spectators in front of the screens went crazy, speculating wildly about the grave mistake the richest man must have made to put on such a big show before the nation.
Aiden continued to kneel, looking up at her, and spoke again.
"Stella, I will never make these mistakes again. I’m a brute, I deserve death. Whether you forgive or not, please don’t stay too far from , so that I can see you anyti, okay?"
His second sentence was again displayed on all the large screens.
The cara only gave a close-up of him, his handso face filled with pain and supplication, but cleverly didn’t show Stella’s face.
At this mont, he wasn’t the high-and-mighty President Fordham but just a husband who had erred, begging his wife for forgiveness.
Gazing at the thousands of synchronous revolving billboards, Stella felt a chill run through her head and quickly said.
"Aiden Fordham, turn off the billboards!"
Afraid he’d say sothing even further out, Aiden seed not to hear and spoke another sentence.
"Honey, forgive . If we can’t be together in this life, I will remain alone forever and never remarry."
Once this sentence ca out, the internet completely blew up.
"Whoa! Isn’t this too heartfelt!"
"What kind of godly love is this, let swoon first in admiration!"
"Richest man’s wife, forgive him quickly! A prodigal who repents is invaluable, unless it’s a matter of principle, he can be saved!"
"Exactly, bring him ho to kneel on the keyboard, and give him a good teaching!"
"Truly extravagant, we poor folks seem unworthy to even apologize."
Stella glared at him, holding back her temper, her voice smoldering with suppressed anger.
"Aiden Fordham, turn them off."
"Stand up." She applied so force, and he followed her lead, rising from the cold ground.
Aiden looked at her, a fleeting look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Netizens watching the richest man stand up then saw all the screens go dark.
"Is this... forgiveness?"
"Aiden Fordham, don’t do anything so puerile again."
"I don’t like it." Stella finished speaking and turned to leave.
However, he suddenly hugged her from behind, his strong arms tightly encircling her waist, his chin resting in the hollow of her shoulder.
"If life is void of you, existence is but a stagnant pool, Stella, don’t leave ."
His voice carried a slight tremor.
Stella held her body stiffly and replied faintly.
"Aiden Fordham, let go."
An ambiguous remark, as cold as ice shards.
Suddenly, a fierce gust swept across the rooftop.
"Bang!"
The heavy iron door behind them was slamd shut by the wind, followed by the sound of an electronic lock engaging.
Stella was startled by the commotion, her brows furrowing tightly.
Aiden imdiately released her, quickly turned around and went over, exerting force to pull the massive iron door, though it didn’t budge.
It couldn’t be opened from the outside.
Stella’s temper flared instantly, "Aiden Fordham, is this another one of your tricks?"
Aiden didn’t argue, he directly pulled out his phone, dialed a number, and activated the speaker.
He barked into the phone, "Get up here and open the door to the rooftop!"
Keegan’s anxious voice echoed from the receiver.
"President, the rooftop door has a safety feature. Once shut, the password changes imdiately. I need to find President Scott from the engineering departnt, please bear with us for a mont."
Aiden hung up the phone, turned to her, his tone softened a little.
"Don’t worry, soone will be here to open the door soon."
Just as he finished speaking, it began to drizzle from the sky.
Aside from the small canopy one ter wide at the entrance, the enormous rooftop had nowhere to shelter from the rain, and the temperature continued to drop.
Aiden quickly scanned the area, soon spotting a chair discarded in a corner.
He brought the chair over, took out tissues from his pocket, and carefully wiped down the water droplets on it.
Then, he swiftly took off his black coat, still warm with his body heat, and wrapped it snugly around her small fra.
He supported her, allowing her to sit down in the chair.
"Just sit here, rest for a while, don’t worry, Keegan is going to find soone, he’ll be back soon."
Stella didn’t say anything, obediently taking a seat.
With his coat on, she felt a lot warr instantly.
However, the rain seed to be pouring down even harder.
Aiden Fordham stood close to her, right in front of her, arms open, enveloping both her and the chair within his embrace.
Her head lightly leaned against his waist.
With his broad body, he shielded her from every cold raindrop falling from the sky.
The dense rain quickly started soaking his back, dampening the expensive woolen sweater he wore.
Yet, he was like a silent mountain, holding her firmly beneath him, not letting her get hit by even one drop of rain.
Stella’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and she finally spoke, "You’re getting wet."
He lowered his head, his voice tender enough to drip water.
"It’s alright, I’m not cold."
At that mont, in the stairwell of the 81st floor.
Old Zhang from the engineering departnt asked Keegan sowhat uneasily.
"Assistant Lindsey, when are we going up to open the door?"
Keegan calmly glanced at the ti on his phone and patted Zhang’s shoulder.
"Old Zhang, do you want your year-end bonus to double?"
Old Zhang’s eyes lit up, and he nodded quickly.
Keegan smiled.
"Then let’s go down and have a cup of hot tea. We’ll co back up in two hours."
Old Zhang: "..."
About two hours later.
The heavy iron door made a series of soft sounds, indicating the password was being entered.
The door was pushed open.
Keegan quickly walked over, holding a soft thin blanket, and imdiately handed the blanket up.
Aiden Fordham reached out to take it, gently wrapping the sleeping person in the blanket, leaving only a small face exposed.
The next mont, he placed one arm under her knees and the other behind her back, effortlessly lifting her up horizontally.
His arm muscles were smooth and solid, holding the person in his arms steady without any wobble.
Aiden Fordham carried her straight to the elevator, going downstairs.
Ultimately, Stella was placed in the resting room of the president’s office.
The soft bed sank slightly.
Aiden Fordham tucked her in carefully, making sure the corners were snug, and stood by the bed looking at her for a while.
His gaze was deep, impossible to see clearly in the dim light.
After a long mont, he turned around, changed out of his already soaked clothes, left the room, and lay directly on the sofa in the office reception area.
The sofa was quite cramped for his six-foot stature.
He bent his long legs, closed his eyes.
He was afraid of contaminating her with the coldness from his body or worrying that she’d be unhappy waking up next to him if they slept.
At this mont, two new words were added to his dictionary: respect.
...
The next day.
Stella woke up in a golden morning glow.
She opened her eyes, still a bit dazed, staring blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling for a few monts.
She got up from bed, walked out of the resting room, and pulled open the door.
Beyond the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, the morning sun was rising, pouring a golden glow over the bustling city, casting an eye-catching golden sheen.
So beautiful.
She walked out of the office, Keegan was already waiting outside.
"Good morning, Mrs. Sterling." He nodded respectfully, "I’ll drive you ho."
Stella nodded without speaking.
At that mont, Secretary Cole hurried over, handing a set of packed exquisite als to Keegan.
"Assistant Lindsey, are you going to the hospital now?"
Hospital?
Keegan took the al, shook his head.
"Let handle this."
He glanced at Stella before speaking to Secretary Cole, "I’ll take Mrs. Sterling ho first, then head to the hospital to see President Fordham."
He paused, adding as if complaining or clarifying.
"Last night, President Fordham suddenly spiked a fever, scared the life out of ."
"Luckily I discovered it early and sent him to the hospital imdiately, asured, 41 degrees, almost cooked."
Stella’s steps abruptly halted.
She was silent for a few seconds, then without saying a word, walked straight towards the elevator.
...
Back at the Sterling Family’s ho, Mrs. Sterling was coming out with breakfast, and upon seeing her, quickly went over with a hint of reproach in her tone.
"Where did you run off to, couldn’t reach you by phone, scared half to death."
Stella smiled slightly, "It’s alright, Mom, I went out to see the sunrise."
"Hurry up, freshen up, and co down for breakfast."
"Okay!" Stella nodded, going upstairs.
At the dining table, Mrs. Sterling served her a big bowl of at porridge, steaming hot, and slowly peeled a boiled egg for her.
She softly asked, "The New Year is in a few days, do you want to stay here or return to The Imperial Capital?"
Stella paused, she had promised Selene Sloan that she would go back.
Mrs. Sterling saw her hesitation and understood, patting her hand.
"Then go back to The Imperial Capital, after all, it’s about finding family, the first year at the Whitman Family, they must be looking forward to it."
"Hugh also said Mrs. Whitman is urging, planning to leave in three days."
Stella nodded.
"Alright."
Mrs. Sterling instructed again, "I’ve scheduled a doctor to co over, later he will check you and Vivi, see how the baby is doing."
She nodded again.
The doctor arrived soon, bringing simple equipnt to the bedside, the ultrasound probe feeling cool as it glided over the belly.
The doctor pointed at the image on the screen.
"The fetus is normal, just a bit small, rember, eat nutritious food, relax your mind, you’re already nearly fourteen weeks."
After the check-up, Vivi accompanied Stella for a walk in the garden.
The warm sun in late winter felt very pleasant.
Vivi asked, "Aiden Fordham is quite cunning, now his apology video is everywhere. You... haven’t softened, have you?"
Stella shook her head, "No."
Vivi laughed, whispered, "That’s good. I’ve heard that Mrs. Sterling secretly collected dozens of photo profiles of golden bachelors."
"New Year’s is the pri season for matchmaking, all those good n returning ho, you can schedule them from the first to the fifteenth."
Stella: "..."
"Anyway, I guess you and Claire won’t escape. She is determined to upset Aiden Fordham."
Suddenly, the small iron gate at the back of the garden was pushed open from the outside, and a tall figure walked in.
It was Hugh Whitman.
Stella’s steps froze instantly, she glanced at Vivi and then at the man walking over, finding random excuse.
"Vivi, I’m a bit tired, going upstairs first."
Finished speaking, she turned and left, walking quickly.
Vivi watched her hasty back, then looked at the small gate, sneering in her heart.
Alright, already finding loopholes.
Seems like the electric gate installation should be quickly arranged.
Hugh had approached her, wearing a perfectly tailored black suit today, his posture tall, imposing pressure.
He spoke directly, voice low.
"Vivi, I don’t want to marry you, can we make up?"
Vivi: ...
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