He Never Noticed Me Until I Loved Someone Else novel Chapter 258

The interior of the car fell into a suffocating silence.

After what felt like an eternity, Jarrod finally broke it. "Why didn't you tell me you were being mistreated at the Quinn house, or that your father slapped you?"

Stella's lips twitched into a bitter half-smile. She kept her eyes glued to the passing city lights outside the window.

It hit Jarrod then, like a punch to the gut.

She had never told him about the sheer disrespect she endured from his own family. Why would she ever bother telling him about the abuse from hers?

"Stella, have you ever considered me your husband?" Jarrod asked, unable to keep the raw edge out of his voice.

Stella turned her head, meeting his gaze. His handsome brow was creased, a dark, turbulent frustration swimming in his eyes.

Suddenly, a low, exhausted laugh slipped past her lips. "Do you know why my father slapped me?"

Jarrod frowned. His instincts screamed that the answer had everything to do with him.

"Because you were photographed looking incredibly intimate with Chloe at that airport overseas. He blamed me for failing to keep your attention. We fought..."

Just as Jarrod suspected, his own reckless actions were the catalyst for her pain.

"Under those circumstances, how exactly was I supposed to come to you for comfort?" Stella asked quietly.

Jarrod felt a sickening drop in his stomach. He was the root of her humiliation.

He had aggressively stepped in to avenge her tonight, only to realize he was the original villain in the story.

A heavy, suffocating guilt wrapped around Jarrod's throat.

"Jarrod, you didn't have to do any of this for me today," Stella said softly.

Jarrod understood exactly what she meant. He had heard this argument before—back at the Fuller estate, when he had blamed her for not asking him to handle Serena.

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