He Gave Her Strawberries, Gave Me Hives (Ford and Sylvia) novel Chapter 97

Chapter 1

In the elite circles, it was a common saying: any man in the world might cheat, but never Felix Vance.

He was the picture of self–restraint, a cool, noble figure with eyes only for the woman he’d loved since high school.

But in their fifth year of marriage, Stella Winter received news that Felix had a lover tucked away.

When the photos landed in her hands, Stella went rigid.

Because the other woman wasn’t some bright–eyed ingenue, nor a brilliant career woman. She was a divorced diner owner–plain in looks, common in background, and, to top it all off, three years his senior!

But the way Felix looked at her was with a love and tenderness that seemed to come from the very marrow of his

bones.

At nine o’clock that night, Felix came home, looking as cool and ascetic as ever, his suit impeccable, not a hair out of

place.

Stella was sitting on the sofa in the dark. As he approached, she violently hurled the stack of photos at him, the papers scattering to the floor.

“Felix. Explain.”

Felix was silent for a moment, then bent down to pick up the scattered photos one by one. This man, so notoriously meticulous, was now gently wiping a speck of dust from the woman’s face in one of the pictures.

He looked up, his gaze calm as it met hers. “There’s nothing to explain. It’s true. I’ve fallen in love with her.”

Stella felt as if an invisible hand had wrapped around her throat. Her breath caught, her mind a blank canvas of

shock.

“You’ve fallen in love with her?” Every word trembled. “Then what about me? Felix, when you confessed to me at sixteen, your ears were red in the moonlight as you swore you would only love me for the rest of your life, that no one else could ever catch your eye!”

Felix looked at her agitated state, but his eyes held no trace of emotion, only a deep, profound exhaustion.

“I did say that,” he began, his tone still calm, yet carrying a cruel, analytical edge. “But Stella, loving you all these

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He Gave Her Strawberries, Gave Me Hives. I Gave Them Both A One–Way Ticket To BANKRUPTCY.

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Chapter 1

years, I’m just so tired.”

“We dated for four years and have been married for five. I’ve loved you for nine whole years. In all that time, every time you got angry, regardless of who was right or wrong, wasn’t it always me groveling to win you back? The limited–edition handbag you wanted–I flew overseas overnight to get it for you. You were unhappy because another woman glanced at me, so I immediately fired the secretary I’d had for three years. You craved dessert from the West End in the middle of the night, so I drove halfway across the city to buy it, even with a crucial meeting the next day…”

He listed them off, one by one–moments Stella had treasured as proof of his love, now repurposed as evidence in his indictment against her for being too demanding.

“For you, I lost almost all of my dignity, my sense of self. But Stella, I’m a person too. I get tired.”

He paused, his gaze distant. “Three months ago, you were furious because I forgot to buy your favorite dessert. Nothing I did could make you forgive me. I waited outside our door all night, and the next morning, I was on my way to get you those mango crepes when the pain in my stomach got so bad I collapsed in front of Hazel’s diner.”

“She was the one who gave me medicine and made me warm porridge that soothed my stomach. She used her hands, calloused from work, to gehtly rub my stomach as it cramped in pain.” As he spoke, his voice took on a tenderness Stella had never heard before, a near–reverence. “With her, I felt a warmth I have never felt with you. That day was the most comfortable, most relaxed I’ve been in nine years. I finally felt at peace.”

Stella’s whole body trembled, her mind buzzing so loudly she could barely stand. “So… just because of a bowl of porridge? You’re throwing away our nine years together and falling for her?”

Felix’s gaze returned to her, his expression complex. “Stella, you’re beautiful. In all my life, I’ve never met anyone more beautiful. You’re also brilliant, your career as a pianist is flourishing, you shine so brightly. But because of that, I always have to look up to you, to carefully placate you, to hold you in the palm of my hand like a fragile

treasure.”

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“Hazel is ordinary. She isn’t brilliant, she isn’t beautiful. But she worries when my stomach hurts, she makes me a bowl of hot porridge, she gives me a massage when I’m exhausted. With her, I feel an unprecedented sense of peace… and belonging.”

Belonging? The word pierced Stella’s heart like a dagger.

Then what was their home of nine years?

“But don’t worry, I won’t divorce you,” his tone shifted, returning to the cool logic of a businessman. “The Vance Corporation needs a wife like you–beautiful, accomplished, presentable. Besides, I promised at your parents‘ graveside that I would take care of you for the rest of your life. And after all our years together, I won’t be that cruel.”

He looked at her, his gaze drawing a clear, cruel line in the sand. “But from now on, I won’t love you, not one bit. And you are not to interfere in my affairs with Hazel.”

“I’m sorry. I know I’m the one who broke our vows. But I can’t control it. For the sake of the many years I loved you,

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He Gave Her Strawberries. Gave Me Hives. I Gave Them Both A One–Way Ticket To BANKRUPTCY.

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Chapter 1

if you have to blame someone, blame me. This has nothing to do with Hazel.”

With that, he turned away from her ashen face and, without a moment’s hesitation, left their home.

Stella collapsed onto the floor, watching his resolute, indifferent back as he walked away, feeling as though she’d been struck by lightning.

Nine years ago, she was the undisputed campus belle, bright and dazzling, he was the cool and noble campus king, adored by all. Everyone said they were a perfect match.

And he had fallen for her at first sight, launching into a passionate pursuit.

But because of the shadow cast by her parents‘ broken, constantly quarreling relationship, Stella had an instinctive aversion to love and intimacy.

It was him, with all his patience and passion, who brought her breakfast every single day without fail, who snuck out of school to buy her medicine when she was sick, who was always the first to stand up for her when she was bullied… Little by little, he had steadfastly pried open her tightly shut heart.

After they got together, he continued to dote on her, but the trauma from her family made her accustomed to being independent, to shouldering everything herself. When she saw other girls ask for his number, her heart would ache with jealousy, but she would just quietly walk away, never questioning him.

Until the summer after their final exams, when a sudden car accident took both of her parents.

The immense grief nearly broke her, but she didn’t tell anyone, forcing herself to handle all the arrangements and

hold the funeral on her own.

But just then, Felix, who was on a graduation trip abroad, somehow heard the news and rushed back like a madman.

Covered in the dust of his journey, he burst into the funeral hall. When he saw her in black, so thin and pale she looked like a piece of paper, his eyes instantly turned red.

Without a word, he fell to his knees and pulled her cold body tightly into his arms. “Stella! Look at me! It’s me, Felix! I’m the most important person in your life! In front of me, you can cry, you can scream, you can let down all your guards! If you’re jealous, you can question me! If you’re feeling petty, you can take it out on me! Because there will never be a wall between us! I will always come to you, always coax you! Do you hear me?!”

In that moment, all the walls Stella had built around her heart completely crumbled. She collapsed against his shoulder and wailed, releasing all her sorrow, helplessness, and grief.

It was him who had personally pulled her out of her hard shell, who encouraged her to live like a child.

So for these nine years, she had learned to express herself, learned to be “dramatic“, learned to make demands and vent her petty frustrations like any girl who is deeply loved… because she believed him when he said, “I will always come to you, always coax you.”

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He Gave Her Strawberries, Gave Me Hives. I Gave Them Both A One–Way Ticket To BANKRUPTCY.

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