Stella was having a hard ti getting used to the title "Auntie."
She and Faye Rhodes were about the sa age, yet they were a generation apart in the family hierarchy.
All thanks to Owen Rhodes.
She instinctively looked up at Owen, who gave her a slight smile and patted the back of her hand reassuringly.
Reassured, Stella smiled at Faye Rhodes. "Hi, Faye."
As they walked toward the main house of the estate, Audrey Rhodes had so work matters to discuss with Owen, so the two of them walked ahead, leaving Stella and Faye to follow behind.
On the way, Stella picked up on what Faye had said earlier. "I heard you ntion you wanted to see an art exhibition. Is it a solo show for a painter you like?"
For so reason, Faye found that Stella had a surprisingly approachable air about her, unlike the coldness she felt toward Kiana, so she answered obediently.
"She’s a painter I like, but unfortunately, it’s not a solo exhibition. It’s for a new artist nad Umi who just won a major international award. Her winning piece is going to be displayed in Westerfall, and I really want to go see it, but my mom won’t let ..."
Faye could have just snuck away and flown there without a word.
But Ms. Audrey Rhodes knew her too well. She’d already confiscated her passport, nipping that plan in the bud.
The thought made Faye angry, but all she dared to do was shake her little fists in protest behind Ms. Audrey Rhodes’s back.
Stella was slightly taken aback. She hadn’t expected to gain a little fan of her own just by attending a Rhodes family dinner.
An idea seed to strike Faye. Her eyes darted around mischievously as she spoke to Stella.
"Auntie, are you interested? We could go together if you have ti!"
’I can’t convince my mom,’ Faye thought, ’but maybe Little Uncle can.’
Besides, if she went with her new aunt, she was pretty sure Ms. Audrey Rhodes would agree.
But they had only just t. ’Would Auntie agree?’
Stella, however, gave it a mont’s thought and nodded.
"Sure. I’ll make so ti, and we can go together another day."
She had been planning to go see it anyway, so there was no harm in going with Faye.
Stella’s answer made Faye ecstatic.
If Ms. Audrey Rhodes hadn’t been discussing business with her Little Uncle, Faye would have rushed over right then and there to get her mom’s approval.
As the group passed by a small garden, they ca across Kiana Sterling and Ethan Rhodes, who had arrived much earlier.
The two of them were talking about sothing, but it didn’t look like a pleasant conversation.
Owen and Audrey, walking in front, stopped. Naturally, Stella and Faye stopped as well.
The pair over there noticed them and walked down from the gazebo to greet them.
Just then, Owen held out his hand to Stella. "Stella, co here."
Stella obediently took his outstretched arm and stood beside him.
Owen was wearing a light gray suit today, and standing there with Stella, they looked like a perfect match.
The mont he saw Stella, Ethan Rhodes’s steps faltered. He stopped awkwardly on the stone steps of the gazebo.
His eyes were stubbornly fixed on Stella, completely ignoring Owen beside her.
It wasn’t until Kiana called out to him that he reluctantly snapped out of it.
Kiana affectionately linked her arm with his, but he kept his brows furrowed, standing silently before Owen and Stella without a word.
After a long silence, Owen remarked coolly, "Don’t know how to greet people?"
Only then did Ethan tear his gaze away from Stella and reluctantly greet them, "Fourth Aunt, Little Uncle... Auntie."
Hearing this, Stella broke into a grin. "Well now, what a polite nephew. Your auntie has prepared gifts for you both. Don’t forget to take them with you later."
After speaking, she looked up at Owen, a triumphant expression on her face.
Owen shot her a helpless glance before leading her into the drawing room.
As Faye walked past Ethan, she shot him a sharp glare. "Scumbag. You’ve got one on your plate and you’re still eyeing the one in the pot."
Audrey heard her and reached out her hand. "You had better not find soone like that in the future, understand?"
Faye obediently trotted over and took her mother’s hand. "I know! I would never date soone like that."
The disdain was written all over her face.
Ethan Rhodes: "..."
Kiana Sterling: "..."
Kiana looked at Ethan, and tears imdiately welled up in her eyes again.
Today was the Rhodes family dinner. Kiana had co alone. Ethan hadn’t picked her up; when she arrived at the entrance of the Rhodes Estate, it was the butler who had to show her in.
At the ti, she’d assud Ethan hadn’t arrived yet. It was only after asking the butler that she learned he had been there for an hour already.
He had apparently been looking for sothing in his old rooms at Elden Court and hadn’t co out.
A growing unease filled her heart. Kiana let go of Ethan’s arm and looked at him pitifully. "Ethan, what’s wrong with you today? Why... why do you keep staring at Stella?"
Ethan just felt irritated. He had originally planned to use today’s visit to look for the letters Stella had ntioned.
But he had turned Elden Court upside down and hadn’t found a single scrap of paper.
He was certain, however, that he rembered sothing like them. ’How could they just not be there?’
He couldn’t figure it out, and to make matters worse, Kiana had started crying the mont she showed up.
Before, he had always found Kiana’s tears heart-wrenching. Now... they were just annoying.
What unsettled him even more was the sight of Stella standing radiantly beside Owen.
A part of him was furious—’Why should Owen be the one standing next to her?’—while another part resentfully told himself that Owen only had this chance because he had cast her aside.
His thoughts raced back and forth. He clicked his tongue and impatiently kicked a pebble at the edge of the gazebo.
"Faye was talking nonsense, why are you getting worked up over it? Wasn’t I clear enough at the engagent party? There’s nothing between Stella and !"
The abrupt change in his attitude left Kiana frozen on the spot, the well-prepared tears stuck in her eyes, refusing to fall.
Realizing Kiana was stunned, Ethan snapped back to his senses and apologetically pulled her into his arms to comfort her.
"Kiana, I’m sorry. I didn’t an it. It’s just that Little Uncle has been putting a lot of pressure on at work lately, and I couldn’t hold it in... I’m sorry, Kiana..."
’What the hell am I even thinking!’
’Even if those letters really exist, even if I found them, what could I change now?’
Ethan held Kiana, but his mind couldn’t help but drift away.
He belatedly realized that, deep down, he actually still hoped he could change sothing.
’I must be going crazy...’
In the drawing room, Jonathan Rhodes and his wife, along with Simon Rhodes and his wife, were seated in the seats of honor.
When Owen and Stella walked in, Jonathan glanced up. "You’re here."
Owen then led Stella around to greet everyone. "This is my third brother and sister-in-law."
God only knew how bitter Jonathan and Yolanda Thorne felt when they heard Stella call them "Third Brother" and "Third Sister-in-law."
But there was nothing they could say, so they could only force a smile and let it pass.
Owen then introduced the couple next to them, Simon Rhodes and his wife. "This is my fifth brother and sister-in-law. They have two children. I sent their son, Evan Rhodes, to Veridia a few days ago for work, so he hasn’t returned yet. The one next to them is their younger daughter, lody Rhodes."
Because their son, Evan, had been entrusted with such an important task, Simon and his wife, Serena Kane, greeted Stella very warmly.
Serena Kane glanced at Yolanda Thorne beside her and said cheerfully, "Owen, thank you for giving Evan this opportunity. We should also thank Ethan for knowing his own limits and stepping aside in a tily manner."
The battle among the wealthy began without any warning.
This ti, it was true that Ethan had failed to live up to expectations. Yolanda Thorne, having been on the receiving end of Serena’s snide remarks, felt a knot of anger stuck in her chest.
In the end, she pretended not to have heard and decided to pick on Stella, the soft persimmon.
"This is your first ti at a family dinner, yet you don’t even know to co earlier? As a junior, how could you have the nerve to make everyone wait for you?"
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