Chapter 3
1097 Words
Stella had no idea how long she'd been unconscious when muffled voices drifted in from outside the bedroom.
"Ethan! You bullied my daughter? I won't let you get away with this!"
The angry voice belonged to an elderly man.
Stella's eyes snapped open. She spotted a men's dress shirt crumpled at the foot of the bed, grabbed it, and hastily slipped it on.
"You'd better know what you're talking about before you accuse me of anything," Ethan said coldly. "Bullied her? Wasn't it you who asked her to climb into my bed 5 years ago? Victor, I've shown you respect because you're her father. Don't mistake that for weakness."
His words made Stella freeze. Her mind went blank.
Without thinking, she crept toward the bedroom door, desperate to hear what was happening outside.
"You've gone too far, Victor Hayes!"
"Victor Hayes," she silently repeated the name.
It meant absolutely nothing to her.
What she didn't know was that Victor was her biological father.
When Stella was 12, Victor married his second wife, Vivian, and promptly sent Stella overseas to study. He called it "giving her a better education", but in truth, he simply wanted her out of the house.
Five years ago, the Hayes family business was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Desperate for funding, Victor revived an old marriage agreement signed by Stella's late grandfather. In exchange for the Reid Group rescuing the Hayes family, Stella was supposed to marry Ethan, the eldest grandson of the Reid family.
Everything had been arranged. Then Stella ran. She disappeared after a car accident right before the wedding, leaving everyone to believe she'd vanished.
Over the next 5 years, Victor never once searched for her. It wasn't because he couldn't.
Vivian constantly urged him to forget about Stella, and with the family business in crisis, he chose the easier path.
He abandoned his own daughter.
Now the family factory needed another massive investment. Victor had repeatedly gone to Ethan asking for help, only to be turned away each time.
So when Ethan called him that morning, Victor had rushed over without hesitation.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ethan noticed the shadow beneath the bedroom door.
She was awake. She was listening.
Something tightened inside him. It wasn't concern. It was anger. Possessiveness even. And buried beneath both, a roaring instinct to protect her that he refused to acknowledge.
"Since I've found her," Ethan said evenly, "I'll marry her."
He made the decision on the spot. She wanted to run? She'd rather disappear than become his wife? Fine. He'd make sure she became Mrs. Reid.
"Really?" Victor could hardly believe his ears.
"If you don't want the deal, forget it." Ethan deliberately turned away, giving Victor the chance to panic.
Unable to listen any longer, Stella threw the bedroom door open.
"In your dreams!" Her voice trembled with anger. "Even if every man on earth disappeared, I'd never marry you!"
Ethan wasn't the least bit offended. A lazy smile spread across his face. "Good thing they won't." His eyes met hers. "So you are going to marry me."
Stella was so furious she couldn't find a single word to throw back at him.
"Stella!" Victor's face lit up. "You're alive. Thank God."
He rushed toward her. Before he could reach her, Ethan stepped directly in front of Stella.
His expression darkened.
She was still wearing his shirt, the hem barely covering the tops of her thighs.
"Were you hoping I'd be dead?"
Stella took two quick steps backward, hiding behind the bedroom door.
Victor stopped awkwardly, his outstretched hand hanging in midair.
"Stella, I..."
"You can leave now." Ethan cut him off without even looking at him.
"But we still need to discuss..."
Victor caught Ethan's icy expression and swallowed the rest of his sentence.
"I'll come back another time."
Without another word, he turned and left.
He didn't even glance back at his daughter.
Watching him walk away, Stella felt nothing.
"See that?"
Ethan's voice was cold.
"Blood means nothing when money's involved. The Hayes family is desperate for cash. Marrying me is your only way out."
"What exactly do you want from me?" She glared at him. "Let me go. Once people realize I'm missing, they'll call the police."
"You mean Ryan?" His expression immediately turned colder. "Does he know what you were like with me back then?"
The mere thought of her spending the past 5 years with Ryan made his blood boil.
"Watch your mouth!" Stella shot back without hesitation. "Ryan is a good man. You don't get to insult him."
Seeing her defend another man made Ethan's jaw tighten.
He walked into the bathroom and turned on the bathtub faucet.
Water thundered into the tub.
"Take a bath." He leaned casually against the doorway, blocking the exit.
Stella didn't move.
"You don't have to." His tone remained perfectly calm. "But if you walk out wearing nothing except my shirt, that's your decision."
Grinding her teeth, Stella shoved past him and slammed the bathroom door behind her.
The sound of running water filled the room. She sat in the bathtub as warm water slowly rose around her knees. She didn't cry. She didn't scream.
The conversation she'd overheard had told her everything she needed to know.
Her biological father saw her as nothing more than a bargaining chip. She would never sacrifice herself for a man like him. But Ethan's comments about Ryan unsettled her.
They hadn't been made casually. He'd already investigated Ryan. He knew Ryan would come looking for her. And he was prepared to use Ryan against her.
Right now, she had almost no information while Ethan seemed to know everything.
For some strange reason, her body didn't react to him the way it did around complete strangers.
If she wanted answers about her forgotten past, Ethan was the only person who could give them.
When she stepped out of the bathroom, Noah had already laid down several shopping bags.
Everything was inside. Underwear. A dress. Shoes. A handbag. Every item fit her perfectly.
"Get changed." Ethan glanced at his watch. "The City Hall closes in an hour. I'm not waiting until tomorrow."
Stella stared at him for 2 full seconds before the words finally registered.
"You think you can force me into marriage? Forget it. I'll never marry you."
She still believed the law meant something. No one could force someone into a marriage against their will.
Ethan looked at her without the slightest trace of emotion.
"I don't mind watching you try to fight me. That's assuming you can."
- Writer
