In that instant, it was as if a hand had reached out and clamped around his throat, leaving him breathless and suffocating.
’How could this be...’
’Why Owen Rhodes?’
’What right did Owen Rhodes have!’
It was impossible to say how much ti had passed before Ethan Rhodes finally broke free from the suffocating feeling. His face was pale as he collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.
He lifted his head, his gaze vacant. This ti, he saw it clearly.
It was Owen Rhodes, the one who used to sit behind a pile of books, always grim-faced and taciturn.
Owen Rhodes, the one who, because of his illegitimate status, didn’t even have a decent room to his na.
Owen Rhodes, the one who had lived under the sa roof at the Rhodes Estate, yet was ordered around at his whim.
But it was also Owen Rhodes who had taken the throne as the head of the Rhodes Family—and stolen Stella Sterling!
Ethan Rhodes shot to his feet. The sudden movent made his vision go black, and his body swayed, nearly causing him to fall.
Once he steadied himself, his chest felt as if it were stuffed with waterlogged cotton, making him so agitated he wanted to smash everything in sight.
So this wasn’t so whim on Owen Rhodes’s part. It was preditated.
’I’m so stupid,’ he thought. ’How could I not have seen it? For all those years, I actually had Owen Rhodes help write back, help pick out gifts for Stella Sterling.’
And what about Stella Sterling?
’Does Stella Sterling know she was deceived by Owen Rhodes?’
’Does she know that the person who corresponded with her for all those years was actually Owen Rhodes?’
Ethan Rhodes felt as if his heart was about to burst into flas.
He couldn’t tell if the emotion raging inside him was anger or jealousy. Or perhaps, it was both.
’So why did Stella Sterling agree to be with in the first place?’
’Was it she liked, or was it Owen Rhodes, pretending to be ?’
’And those three years we were together—what was I then?’
Ethan Rhodes’s face was terrifyingly dark as he turned and strode away.
He was desperate to rush to Stella Sterling and demand to know if she had just been putting on a show for him, all so she could be with Owen Rhodes.
Had she known all along? Was she just waiting for the right mont to break up?
Ethan Rhodes’s mind was a chaotic ss. He had completely forgotten that Stella Sterling had nothing to do with him anymore—that he was the one who had given up on her.
He stord into the reception hall, his grim expression a stark contrast to the superficially cheerful and harmonious atmosphere.
The cool air inside dispelled so of the agitation in his heart.
When Yolanda Thorne turned to look at him, he managed to force a smile. "Mom, where are Kiana and Stella Sterling?"
Yolanda Thorne noticed his sweat-dampened hair.
"Where have you been? You look like you just crawled out of the water."
As she spoke, Yolanda Thorne took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow.
Ethan Rhodes took the handkerchief and wiped the sweat himself, asking urgently, "Mom, where’s Kiana?"
Right now, only Kiana Sterling and Stella Sterling were missing. They must be together.
Seeing that he was asking about Kiana Sterling, Yolanda Thorne’s expression softened slightly.
"The two sisters had sothing to talk about and went that way. Go find them and tell them to co back."
Ethan Rhodes agreed and hurried off in the direction Yolanda Thorne had pointed.
Sitting to the side, Faye Rhodes saw that sothing was off with Ethan Rhodes’s expression. Recalling the fleeting look of difficulty on Stella Sterling’s face when Kiana Sterling had called her away earlier, she couldn’t shake the feeling that sothing was wrong.
Her dislike for Kiana Sterling was long-standing.
If she had to pinpoint a reason, it was probably her persistent feeling that there was sothing wrong with those high-priced paintings of Kiana Sterling’s.
Faye Rhodes was an art student. In college, she had once seen a painting by an artist nad Umi in a classmate’s travel photos from abroad.
At the ti, Umi wasn’t famous, and even this photo had been taken by her classmate in so obscure little shop.
But even so, the delicate brushstrokes and bold use of color had captivated her.
After that, she even went to that shop in person to see Umi’s actual painting.
She had wanted to buy it, but the shop owner told her it had already been sold.
However, the buyer seed to greatly admire the artist. To allow more people to see Umi’s work, the buyer had said they would only pick up the painting once Umi delivered a new one to sell.
Faye Rhodes went back several more tis, but unfortunately, each ti she visited, Umi’s paintings were already sold. This continued until, six months later, Umi’s work began appearing in galleries.
But even after Umi’s paintings were in galleries, she still had no chance to buy one.
When she finally learned that Umi also accepted private commissions, she imdiately contacted Umi’s assistant.
Unfortunately, Umi was a spontaneous artist with a full schedule. To this day, Faye Rhodes owned only one of Umi’s paintings, which was frad and hung in her studio.
In a way, Faye Rhodes was a fangirl, but the "star" she followed was the painter, Umi.
It felt like watching her own child grow up, from when Umi was completely unknown to when she won the Jason Will Painting Award.
But during this process of "raising her child," a character like Kiana Sterling had erged.
She first found out during a Rhodes Family dinner, when Yolanda Thorne casually ntioned that the Sterling Family’s precious daughter had a painting sell for a high price at auction.
Out of curiosity, she looked it up online. The mont she saw the painting, she was stunned.
Having followed Umi for so long, she was all too familiar with Umi’s painting and coloring style.
Kiana Sterling’s and Umi’s paintings weren’t identical, but the resemblance was uncanny.
But besides her, no one in the Rhodes Family knew anything about art, so she had no one to talk to about it.
At first, she thought it might be a misunderstanding, a coincidence, just an accidental similarity.
So she began to discreetly follow news about Kiana Sterling’s art.
The strange thing was, after that high-priced auction, it was as if Kiana Sterling had stopped painting entirely. She produced nothing new.
It wasn’t until a year later that Kiana Sterling began posting photos of her paintings on social dia, though there weren’t many—you could count them on one hand.
The style of these new paintings was drastically different from the one sold at auction.
’Well, it’s understandable for an artist to try new things,’ she’d thought. That was until Kiana Sterling’s "Sea Mist" once again sold for a high price, making her the talk of the town.
But "Sea Mist" was once again in a style similar to Umi’s.
anwhile, throughout this entire period, Umi’s style had remained consistent.
Faye Rhodes knew this could no longer be explained away as a misunderstanding or a coincidence.
Unfortunately, thanks to the Sterling Family’s manipulations, Kiana Sterling’s fa was imnse, while Umi, though well-known within art circles, was known to far too few people.
So, she had slipped in a little sothing extra into the planning for Zion Shawcross’s latest album cover.
She hadn’t expected it to actually be accepted!
’In summary, neither Kiana Sterling nor Ethan Rhodes is up to any good. I’d better go check on things.’
’Protect our little aunt!’
anwhile, the mont Stella Sterling saw that aningful, curved smile on Kiana Sterling’s lips, alarm bells were already screaming in her head.
After being tornted by Kiana Sterling so many tis, she’d be a fool not to have learned her lesson.
Besides, she was no longer the naive Stella Sterling of the past. She was in her empress era now.
Just as Kiana Sterling’s body swayed, about to tumble down the stairs, Stella Sterling closed the distance in a few quick strides, grabbing her arm and pulling her back to safety.
The situation reversed in an instant. Kiana Sterling was pulled far from the edge, but Stella Sterling, having lost her balance, twisted her ankle and stumbled toward the stairs herself.
At that mont, Stella Sterling even had the stray thought, ’If I fall, will I lose my mory like Ethan Rhodes?’
She braced for the impact of pain, but what ca instead was an embrace that slled of alcohol.
The lights in the wine cellar were off, so Stella Sterling couldn’t see who it was. But Kiana Sterling saw.
The person who had cushioned Stella Sterling’s head as they fell was Ethan Rhodes, who had co running.
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