Ethan Rhodes sat to the side, frowning, unable to speak.
He had indeed handled this matter poorly.
His fiancée was Kiana Sterling. Regardless of what he was truly thinking, he should have explained things to her first.
His original plan was to talk to Kiana first. After calming her down, the two of them would break the news to their parents together.
During the day, while he was bored and alone in the hospital room, his mind uncontrollably replayed the monts Stella Sterling had appeared before him after her return from Lumina.
Every side of herself she revealed overturned the impression of "Stella Sterling" that he had built up over the past twenty-so years.
It was like she was a completely different person.
Then, he thought about how every ti Owen Rhodes was around, Owen was always so protective and biased toward her.
’Looking back now, I realize Owen wasn’t hiding it at all.’
’How could I have been so stupid not to notice before?’
mories churned in his mind.
In a flash, the image of Stella Sterling injuring Kiana Sterling in the hospital room leaped out from countless other fragnts of mory.
He had been too shocked at the ti to notice, but looking back, he realized that when Stella made her move, he seed to have seen so faint, intimate marks beneath her collar...
A naless rage suddenly burned in his heart.
He abruptly clenched his fists, but then it felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over him, chilling him to the core.
’It can’t be...’
’I was with Stella for so long. She was never affectionate with people, and I never brought myself to touch her. How could she do sothing so intimate with Owen!’
The rage of sothing that belonged to him being suddenly sullied by another burned away all his reason.
That’s why he had grown anxious, impatiently summoning Kiana to his parents’ house that evening.
But before he could explain things to Kiana, Jonathan Rhodes had already laid everything bare at the dinner table.
He couldn’t hold back and blurted out his thoughts. This ant Kiana was unilaterally receiving notice that he wanted to end things.
It wasn’t a discussion.
Now, faced with Kiana’s question, Ethan Rhodes knew he was in the wrong.
After a long silence, he fidgeted, rubbing his fingers together, and looked at Kiana to speak.
"I’m sorry. It’s not you, it’s my fault."
Beyond that, he truly didn’t know what else to say.
Kiana’s eyes were red, brimming with tears, yet she wore a stubborn and restrained expression.
He was used to her crying at the drop of a hat. Seeing her now, pretending to be strong, made his heart ache for no reason.
His brow twitched, and he subconsciously wanted to hold her.
Kiana rely gazed at him with a sorrowful look.
"Have you forgotten all the ti we’ve spent together? Is none of it... worth holding on to?"
Ethan Rhodes fell silent again.
Just because his previous mories had returned didn’t an the mories from the past six months after he woke from his coma had disappeared.
Of course he still rembered every little mont he’d spent with Kiana.
Unlike Stella’s distant indifference, Kiana, despite her poor health, was bold and proactive when it ca to love.
"Ethan, I’m so lucky to have t you."
"Ethan, you’re so good to . I will definitely cherish our relationship. Thank you for loving . I love you too."
"Ethan, even though I feel terrible for what this ans for Stella, I really do love you. Thank you for loving ."
"Ethan, I miss you so much."
"Ethan, I’ll never leave you."
Every straightforward declaration had made him fall for her.
Unlike Stella’s perpetually unapproachable deanor, being with Kiana ant he knew clearly that Kiana loved him, that Kiana depended on him.
Seeing him frowning in thought, Kiana stood up and walked over to his side.
She cupped his face with both hands, forcing a difficult smile as their eyes t.
"Ethan, let’s not break up, okay? I can’t live without you..."
She gently caressed his cheek, the love in her eyes practically overflowing, invisibly steeping Ethan Rhodes’s heart in honey.
"If we break up..."
Then she leaned over and kissed him lingeringly.
When Kiana kissed him, Ethan Rhodes responded almost instinctively.
The kiss grew wet and long.
When it ended, Kiana was sitting on Ethan Rhodes’s lap. Their breaths mingled, short and rapid.
At that mont, Kiana pulled back from his embrace, putting distance between them just as his eyes revealed his arousal.
"If breaking up is what you want, I..." The tear she had been holding back for so long finally escaped. "I’ll disappear from your sight... Ethan, I’ll give you everything you want, even if... even if that ans you don’t want ."
Ethan Rhodes could no longer bring himself to say those cruel words.
Watching Kiana smile through her tears, Ethan Rhodes knitted his brows tightly.
After a long ti, he finally said, "Kiana, I’m sorry. I... I think I still have feelings for you, but now that my mory is back, I really can’t let go of Stella..."
He bent over in anguish, clutching his head, and rasped, "I don’t know what to do..."
Kiana watched him for a mont, then walked back over, wrapped her arms around him, and held him to her chest.
"Ethan, it’s okay. Even if you can’t let go of Stella, I just want to be by your side. Don’t leave , okay? Even if you go looking for Stella, I won’t complain, okay?"
Ethan Rhodes shuddered, shocked that Kiana would go to such lengths for him.
He looked up in surprise. "That’s too unfair to you."
"I don’t mind, really." Kiana smiled through her blurry tears. "Just being by your side is enough for . So, Ethan, let’s not break up, okay? Or, you could give us a little more ti. If you still want to break up in a few months... then we’ll part amicably, alright?"
Ethan Rhodes’s heart completely lted. He lovingly caressed Kiana’s cheek.
"Okay."
Seeing the gauze-covered wound on her temple, he touched it gently. "Does it still hurt?"
Kiana snuggled into his arms. "It won’t hurt if you hold ."
Hearing this, Ethan Rhodes tightened his arms around her.
But in his arms, the surging, tender love on Kiana’s face had vanished, replaced by nothing but venomous resentnt and hatred.
’Call off the engagent?’
’What a joke.’
’Ethan Rhodes might want to beco the laughingstock of the city, but she certainly didn’t.’
’He wants to break up?’
’Fine.’
’But that can only happen after Stella Sterling’s reputation is utterly ruined.’
Jonathan Rhodes and Yolanda Thorne didn’t know what the two had discussed, but at least Ethan Rhodes had stopped talking about calling off the engagent for the ti being.
Only then did Jonathan Rhodes’s anger subside a little.
Calling his son into the study, Jonathan Rhodes said earnestly, "Ethan, romantic feelings are fleeting. Resources and power that you can hold in your hands—that’s what’s real. Even if you really want to win Stella Sterling back, what do you have right now to compete with Owen Rhodes?"
Ethan Rhodes had also been montarily overwheld, completely forgetting that he was currently just a bottom-tier employee at the Kyros Group.
Even with the title of Mr. Rhodes, he had no real power within the group.
"And about Stella Sterling—why do you think Dad chose Kiana for you? Because Kiana is the favored one in the Sterling Family. That way, the Sterling Family can be of use to you. Plus, she’s outstanding in her own right and can bring you connections and resources. When you’re in a high position in the future, will you still have to worry about Stella not coming back to you?"
Thinking about his situation, Ethan Rhodes was a bit disheartened. "But how can I compete with Owen Rhodes?"
Jonathan Rhodes patted his son’s shoulder. "At least when it cos to the Sterling Family connection, you’ve already beaten him. And Kiana... that girl has unconsciously created a rare opportunity for you."
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