Chapter 300
Stella nodded at Mrs. Smith without showing any emotions. Mrs. Smith felt awkward, but she said nothing. She swept a glance over the crowd and quickly dragged Joyce away. The crowd soon dispersed, leaving only Yvonne and Stella there.
“Are you okay?” Yvonne asked Stella with concern. “I’m okay,” Stella replied with a smile. “I just feel bad for causing you such huge trouble on the last day…”
“But none of this is your fault!” Yvonne interrupted her, frowning. “But I really can’t believe that Joyce would sneak behind my back and hook up with Mr. Smith! I thought Mr. Smith was especially close with that secretary of his!”
If Mr. Smith hadn’t been so fond of hiring pretty women who were only good in bed and not at their job, Stella wouldn’t have been mistakenly called to Lowe Garden. If that incident hadn’t happened, Yvonne wouldn’t have made a special arrangement to get Stella to work as Ruby’s private tutor.
It was precisely this special treatment that triggered Joyce’s resentment for Stella. She had always been bitter over Yvonne favoring Stella, granting her priority when a great opportunity was available.
Everyone wanted to be a private tutor, so why was Stella given a chance to get the job before everyone else? This resentment soon grew into a grudge. Joyce thought that since she couldn’t compete with Stella fair and square, she would secretly hook up with Mr. Smith instead. She knew what sort of man Mr. Smith was-he would never turn away any young woman willing to go to bed with him.
At first, because Joyce was still new and exciting to Mr. Smith, he seemed head over heels with her and was completely at her beck and call. She really did believe at the time that Mr. Smith would leave his wife and be with her instead.
But it turned out that it was nothing more than a passing fancy. Joyce quickly realized that Mr. Smith would never get a divorce. Nonetheless, Mr. Smith’s honeyed words managed to convince her to stay with him, even though she was terrified that Mrs. Smith would discover the affair.
Hence, she had an idea to save herself.
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