He Never Noticed Me Until I Loved Someone Else novel Chapter 29

Stella froze again.

Had Jarrod overheard Cassidy asking her 'Do you really have a husband?' that day?

Jarrod's own hands were entirely devoid of rings, and he had a well-known childhood sweetheart everyone knew he favored.

Yet here he was, self-righteously interrogating her over a piece of jewelry.

Stella rolled her eyes internally, but her expression remained perfectly serene and pleasant.

She smiled. "Mr. Fuller, the ring is not only expensive, but the design is a bit too extravagant for everyday office wear. If it bothers you, I can go buy a simpler band to wear instead."

—They had exactly two and a half months left on their contract. There was zero point in angering him over something this trivial.

Jarrod opened his mouth to reply, but his phone started ringing.

It was the same annoyingly cheerful, customized ringtone she had heard at Skyview Lofts—the one reserved exclusively for Chloe.

Since she had finished fastening his cufflinks, Stella tactfully stepped back to give him privacy, grabbed her bag, and headed downstairs.

On the main floor.

Mrs. Higgins had just finished setting out breakfast.

Seeing Stella, the housekeeper's fake smile instantly dropped a few degrees. "Is Mr. Fuller not awake yet?"

"He's up. He's taking a call," Stella replied evenly.

"Then come help me carry the rest of the food to the dining room so he can eat the second he comes down!"

In the kitchen, Mrs. Higgins had prepared toast, milk, a plate of pan-fried ham and steak drenched in a rich sauce, and a massive bowl of guava—

Stella was highly allergic to almost everything on the menu.

She had informed Mrs. Higgins about her food allergies multiple times.

But the woman had deliberately ignored her every single time.

Stella was used to it, and frankly, too exhausted to waste breath arguing with the help.

She simply carried the plates out to the dining room table.

"One trip back to the Quinn house and Mr. Fuller is suddenly willing to sleep here again. He even carried you up the stairs last night. George and Sylvia were thrilled when they heard. It just goes to show you how important a woman's maiden family is," Mrs. Higgins lectured, adopting the tone of a scolding elder.

Stella smiled sweetly. "Absolutely. Honestly, if we just packed up and moved into the Quinn estate permanently, I bet our lives would be utterly perfect."

"You—!"

"Isn't preparing three meals a day for your employers the bare minimum requirement of your job description?" Jarrod's voice cut through the tension.

He had walked over to the dining table. His tone was perfectly flat, yet laced with a chilling authority.

Mrs. Higgins instantly paled and forced an apologetic smile. "Of course it is, sir. I was just worried Stella would be hungry if she skipped breakfast."

The words of an outsider held infinitely more weight in this house than Stella's ever could.

That was the power George had handed to this housekeeper.

"I'm not hungry. I'm leaving."

With that, Stella walked straight out the front door.

She hailed a cab to the venue and immediately began delegating tasks.

Her team's brutal overtime had paid off—more than half the setup was completely finished.

They still had plenty of work for the next few days, but they wouldn't have to pull all-nighters anymore.

She worked tirelessly straight through the afternoon.