He Never Noticed Me Until I Loved Someone Else novel Chapter 84

But Stella had only been twenty-two at the time. She had dreams too, and someone she desperately wanted to protect. How could George bear to push her into an arranged marriage?

"Stella, have you been resenting me all these years for marrying you off to the Fuller family?" George smashed his cup onto the floor in a fit of absolute rage. "That was your own choice! I didn't hold a knife to your throat and force you!"

True, he hadn't used a literal knife.

But when she had begged him to help pay for Logan's mounting medical bills, he had laid down his one condition—marry Jarrod.

Otherwise, he wouldn't lift a finger. After all, Logan wasn't related to him.

From George's perspective, he hadn't done anything wrong. He simply didn't care about her as a daughter.

The explosive argument finally drew Sylvia out. She hurried down the stairs to intervene.

She reached out to grab Stella's hand, trying to play the peacemaker. "Stella, your father only wants what's best for you. Don't fight with him. Families should sit down and talk things through calmly."

Stella already despised Sylvia's hypocrisy. But seeing her late mother's favorite emerald earrings dangling from Sylvia's ears tipped her revulsion over the edge.

She violently yanked her hand away. "Don't touch me! And don't touch my mother's things! You don't deserve them!"

Sylvia stumbled back from the force, nearly tripping over her own feet.

Seeing this, George saw red and slapped Stella hard across the face. "You little bitch!"

The loud crack echoed through the room, leaving a stinging, fiery pain across Stella's cheek.

Without waiting to see George's reaction, Stella turned on her heel and bolted out the front door.

The wind swept through the open doorway, fluttering her clothes and coaxing fresh tears to spill over her lashes. She didn't stop. She kept walking, leaving behind the house she had grown up in—a place that had long lost any trace of a home.

The evening breeze carried a sharp chill. Stella leaned heavily against a brick wall for a long time before pulling out her phone. She scrolled to Grandma Margaret's number, her thumb hovering over the call button, but ultimately, she couldn't bring herself to press it.

Right then, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Skylar: [Logan agreed to see you. He has a checkup at the hospital this Saturday, and I happen to be on shift. You two can talk alone.]

Stella typed a simple [Okay] and shoved her phone back into her pocket.

With Mrs. Higgins hovering around The Sterling Residences, going back there would only suffocate her further. Stella decided to find a quiet place to sit down and catch her breath.