It was Stella’s birthday, but the star of the family was always Kiana.
That year, Kiana’s condition had finally stabilized. After getting her attending physician’s approval, Stella was finally able to return to the country with them after eight years abroad.
For the six months since their return, Kiana’s condition had been relatively stable. But that morning, Kiana started feeling unwell.
First, it was a loss of appetite.
Madeline Jennings and Chase Sterling had to coax her in her room for a long ti before she was willing to co downstairs for breakfast.
After just a few bites, she said she felt dizzy and nauseous and refused to eat anymore.
At the ti, Stella was sitting to the side, quietly eating her own breakfast, her gaze lowered to the small space on the placemat before her.
The sight of Stella’s indifferent expression infuriated Madeline.
"Stella, can’t you see your sister is sick? It’s one thing not to offer a word of comfort, but how can you still have an appetite? Do you even have a heart!"
Stella resignedly put down her chopsticks, folded her hands in her lap, and stared blankly at the half-full glass of milk, not saying a word.
Kiana leaned against Chase’s chest and said weakly, "Mom, it’s so early. Don’t be angry. Stella, I’m sorry. It’s my fault. Today’s your birthday, but my body just had to act up. I shouldn’t be ruining your day."
Madeline looked at Kiana’s pale face, her heart aching. She lovingly stroked her daughter’s head, her eyes turning red.
"My dear child, what are you talking about! How could a birthday be more important than your health? Don’t say anything about ruining the day..."
"Mom, please don’t say that. Stella’s birthday is important too."
With that, Kiana turned to Chase behind her. "Chase, I got a present for Stella. It’s in my room. Could you go get it for ?"
Chase agreed. He helped her lean back against the chair, glanced at Stella, and then headed to Kiana’s room.
When he returned, Madeline was still muttering.
"How have you beco more inconsiderate as you’ve gotten older? All you do is walk around with a sour face all day. Does soone owe you sothing? If it weren’t for you all those years ago, would your sister have gotten so sick? And I’ve never once heard you offer a word of comfort.
"It’s your birthday, and even though your sister is feeling so awful, she’s still thinking of you, carefully preparing a gift for you. And what about you? Why can’t you show a little concern for your sister?"
Kiana tugged on Madeline’s hand. "Mom, please stop..."
"Look at her. I’ve said so much, and has she said a single word? Anyone who didn’t know better would think I’d given birth to a mute!"
Madeline only forced herself to stop talking when she saw Chase walk over.
Chase placed two gifts in front of Stella.
The other one was presumably from him.
He looked down at the silent Stella.
"After today, you’ll be twenty. Try to be more mature. Don’t always make Mom and Kiana worry about you."
Stella’s eyelashes trembled, but her expression remained as placid as still water.
A mont later, she quietly said, "I’m finished," and rose from the table.
The gifts remained on the dining table, untouched from where Chase had placed them.
At this sight, Madeline’s anger flared even hotter.
If Kiana hadn’t been holding her hand, she absolutely would have chased after her to lecture her so more.
Because Kiana was feeling unwell, even Gavin Sterling, who was usually busy with work and rarely ho, rushed back from the office at noon.
Gavin rarely ate lunch at ho. He was only halfway through his al when he received a call and had to rush back to the company.
Before leaving, he told Kiana to take good care of herself, not to be sad, and to stay in good spirits.
After the al, the family doctor ca to the house. He said Kiana was showing symptoms of anemia and, given her history with severe aplastic anemia, recomnded she go to the hospital for further tests.
Madeline had planned to take Kiana to the hospital after her afternoon nap, but before they could leave, the unexpected happened.
After waking up, Kiana went to the restroom, where a dizzy spell caused her to collapse.
Shards from a glass tumbler cut a long gash on her calf.
Chase heard the noise and rushed over to find the floor covered in dark red blood.
He imdiately pressed a clean towel to her wound, then rushed to the hospital with Madeline.
With Kiana’s condition, bleeding was the greatest fear.
...
Ethan Rhodes was one of the very few people who would celebrate Stella’s birthday.
When he arrived at the Sterling family’s villa that afternoon, it was completely silent.
He knocked on Stella’s door to find her standing on the terrace, holding a glass of water.
Just then, a breeze swept by, lifting her gently curled hair and the hem of her dusty rose skirt. The sunlight traced the delicate profile of her face, giving it a soft, radiant glow.
She was beautiful, yet possessed a tangible but untouchable sense of detachnt.
As he stood there, srized, the radiant beauty walked up to him with a faint smile.
"You’re early. Did you co to see ahead of ti?"
Ethan Rhodes snapped back to his senses and handed her the gift and flowers.
"Of course. Stella, happy birthday!"
Stella broke into her first genuine smile of the day. "Thank you. I love them."
It wasn’t until they were seated in the living room and a maid brought them tea that Ethan noticed sothing was off.
"Are you the only one ho? They must be out preparing a birthday surprise for you, right?"
Stella’s smile faded slightly as she punctured his thoughtful guess.
"Kiana wasn’t feeling well. They all went to the hospital."
Just as she finished speaking, Chase called.
"Stella, Kiana’s bleeding is pretty serious. Pack a few things. I’m having Joel Joyce co pick you up."
Stella’s smile vanished. She hung up without a word.
The tips of her fingers gripping the phone were pale and limp.
The phone’s speaker was loud enough for Ethan to vaguely overhear.
Stella was clearly beautiful, but right now, her eyes looked lifeless, unfocused, and gray.
Ethan suddenly grabbed her hand tightly. "Stella, you don’t want to go, do you?"
"...What?"
"Stella, let help you run away!"
On her twentieth birthday, Ethan Rhodes gave Stella the gift of an escape.
When she opened her eyes again, Ethan’s face had beco Owen’s.
But the frantic pounding of her heart that day felt exactly the sa as it did now.
As Owen Rhodes looked down, his gaze t Stella’s moist eyes. A few stray tears added a fleeting glimr of light to her otherwise placid gaze.
"I was just about to wake you. We’re here."
He glanced at the ti and added, "Is twenty minutes enough? We don’t have much ti. Just pack the important things, and we’ll head to the airport. We can figure out what to do with the rest later when we have a mont, okay?"
Her thoughts shifted from the dream back to reality.
Stella blinked slowly a few tis, a sense of unreality still clinging to her.
She felt as if she were floating again.
"Why are you helping , really?"
Still drowsy from sleep, her eyes were as clear and innocent as a harmless little rabbit’s.
Looking at her soft expression, Owen felt a sudden, inexplicable impulse.
’I want to ss up her hair, to see her get angry, to make her pale cheeks flush red.’
He forcibly reined in his thoughts. "Actually, if you think about it, it’s not really helping you. It’s no trouble at all. Under the circumstances at the villa, I couldn’t just leave a girl there by herself. As for returning to the country, I was heading back anyway. It was just convenient to bring you along.
"And given how they were looking for you, it’s better for to get you out of here before they have ti to react, rather than you obediently buying a ticket and waiting for them to find you by checking flight records."
Stella said softly, "You can run, but you can’t hide forever."
Just like when she was twenty. An hour later, Joel Joyce and his n had forced Ethan Rhodes’s car to a stop on a country road and then dragged her to the hospital.
’Oh, but so things are different this ti.’
’It seems Joel Joyce can’t win a fight against Owen Rhodes.’
A soft chuckle sounded by her ear. They were probably so close that the slight sound vibrated through her chest, sending a tingling sensation through her.
"How will we know if we don’t try?" After a brief pause, Owen added, "I’m very capable."
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