He Never Noticed Me Until I Loved Someone Else novel Chapter 15

Stella knitted her brow.

George rarely reached out to her unless he needed something.

For him to call this urgently, Mrs. Higgins must have already tattled on her.

Taking a deep breath, Stella answered the call. "Dad."

"What is wrong with you!"

True to form, George opened the conversation with a lecture. "I couldn't reach you all day yesterday! Your phone was either off or ignored! Mrs. Higgins said you never went back to The Sterling Residences last night! Where the hell did you go?"

George never actually cared about her safety. He only cared about whether she was embarrassing him or causing problems for his bottom line.

Exhausted, Stella didn't even want to answer him.

"Mr. Lennox told me Logan woke up, and you were running around like a lunatic looking for him yesterday! You even showed up at the Lennox estate!" George demanded.

The mention of Logan made Stella's heart ache all over again.

Yesterday, when she couldn't find him, panic had driven her straight to Mr. Lennox for help.

But Mr. Lennox couldn't have cared less about his son's situation, leaving her with nothing but crushing disappointment.

None of that mattered to George, though. If he knew the truth, he would only be angrier.

Stella chose to remain silent.

"Why aren't you saying anything!"

George's temper flared. "Stella, do you have any idea what your status is? You are Jarrod's wife! Running around after another man—do you have no shame?"

"He's not just 'another man,'" Stella said coldly.

"You—!"

"Listen to me, Stella. Consider this a warning! If you cause any sort of scandal, don't blame me for ignoring the fact that you're my daughter!"

Ignoring the fact that she was his daughter?

Stella let out a bitter, mocking laugh. When had he ever acted like a father to begin with?

After her mother passed away, George completely ignored her hysterical crying and married another woman.

The unspoken message was clear: *If you're busy, you can say no.*

But Jarrod gave a curt nod and walked over to her.

Left with no other option, Stella reluctantly tapped the video icon and handed the phone over.

"Father-in-law," Jarrod greeted politely but blankly as he looked at George on the screen.

All traces of anger had magically vanished from George's face, replaced by the beaming smile of a doting father. "Jarrod, thanks for taking such good care of Stella last night."

"The two of us had a little argument yesterday, and she ran off in a huff. I couldn't reach her all day, and I was worried sick!"

Stella knew exactly what George was doing. He was covering up the fact that she had been out hunting for Logan.

Back when she was forced to marry into the Fuller family, George had strictly warned her: she was forbidden from pining after Logan or visiting him constantly. If she disobeyed, he would cut off Logan's medical funds.

If he hadn't blackmailed her, there was no way she would have been left in the dark about Logan waking up...

"She's a stubborn girl. When she gets emotional, she just acts on impulse and does whatever she wants!"

George continued, "Jarrod, Stella is usually very sweet and well-behaved. The argument was my fault yesterday. If she did anything out of line, please don't be too hard on her!"