Next Man Better Plan novel Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Cecilia invited Stephanie out to dinner to celebrate her newfound freedom.

They chose a high–end Japanese restaurant. CecilChapter 20

Therefore, Quennel was certain that Stephanie couldn’t let him go.

She had dressed up so beautifully to come home, wanting to see him captivated and mesmerized by her.

And he was mesmerized. Quennel’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “I give up, Stephanie. Can we please stop fighting? You know how long I’ve waited for that day, for us to…”

Stephanie frowned, yanking her arm away from his outstretched hand.

“Quennel, you’re truly disgusting me right now.

With that, Stephanie turned and left the garden without a backward glance.

Quennel’s brow furrowed.

Disgusting? She actually called him disgusting

Stephanie went to her room and unlocked a drawer. From it, she took out a bracelet, a watch, and a jade pendant broken in two.

These were the belongings of her father and two brothers, items Stephanie had personally retrieved from their bodies at the crash site.

She placed them carefully into a box, terrified of causing any further damage.

Once she was done, she opened the door.

Ternence saw her coming downstairs and smiled. “Stephanie, you’re back! Go wash up, dinner is almost ready.”

Quennel sat beside Ternence, sneaking glances at her from the corner of his eye.

Stephanie’s tone was distant. “I won’t be staying for dinner. I just came back to get some things.”

Wilma emerged from the kitchen, her voice edged with displeasure. “I had the cook make your favorite savory pork roast, and you’re leaving already?”

Stephanie was already in the foyer changing her shoes, but she paused. “Actually, I don’t really like that pork dish.”

Wilma looked confused. “What?”

“The first day I came to live with you, Quennel served me some. I didn’t like it, but I forced myself to eat it. I was afraid you’d think I was being fussy, that I was being picky while living on your charity.”

Stephanie had held those words in for so long, never intending to say them.

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Wilma frowned. “So, you’re not staying for dinner because you don’t like the pork?”

Stephanie shook her head and looked at Quennel.

“Stephanie? If Quennel has wronged you in some way, sit down and tell me. I’ll teach him a lesson for you,” Ternence said.

Wilma interjected, “It’s just a little fight between a young couple. Honey, why are you getting involved? Stephanie, that’s enough. As women, we need to be more forgiving and not get caught up in jealousy. Besides, the whole family is trying to smooth things over with you. Are you going to disrespect your elders?”

Quennel also walked over. “Stephanie, don’t make things awkward for my parents.”

”

It was clear they all knew what he had done but chose to play dumb.

She had once considered this place her home, but she knew now, with chilling clarity, that it never would be again.

Stephanie looked at Ternence and said softly, Mr. Gonzalez, I’ll find time to visit you on holidays. Please take care of yourself.”

As soon as the door closed, Wilma erupted. “Look how spoiled she is! Our son is begging and pleading with her, and she still gives us attitude! Who does she think she is? I told you, Quennel, you let her have her way too much. One day she was bound to walk all over you!”

Quennel frowned but said nothing.

Ternence glared at him. “Quennel, did you or did you not do something to betray Stephanie? I owe a debt to Mr. Jackson, you can’t…”

Wilma couldn’t bear to see her son scolded and reflexively defended him. “It’s Stephanie who’s being petty. You know your son’s character. Besides, they kept the marriage private, so no one knows. Quennel, in a couple of days, you should meet a girl. I hear she’s a brilliant and cultured woman, with a gentle personality.

For a family like ours, there’s no shortage of girls who want to marry in. Stephanie has no real family to speak of anyway. I never thought she was good enough for you.”

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Chapter 21

ia stared at the mountain of salmon sashimi piled high on the plate before them.

“This is costing me half a month’s salary! See? I’m a good friend, right?”

An amused smile touched Stephanie’s lips.

A true friend was a true friend. She might have lost a man, but at least she still had her friends.

Cecilia said, “Are you planning to stay in that hotel forever? You can move in with me if you don’t mind that my place is small.”

The old Jackson family residence was still there.

But since Quennel had brought her into the Gonzalez family, Stephanie had never gone back.

The place held too many happy memories, and now she was the only one left. Stephanie was afraid of being overwhelmed by the ghosts of the past.

Stephanie said, “Actually, my mother called me this afternoon.”

Cecilia put down her utensils. “She has the nerve to call you?”

Just thinking about Susan made Cecilia’s blood boil. She couldn’t imagine a more heartless mother.

Back then, right after Mr. Jackson and her two brothers died, Susan had abandoned Stephanie to marry into the Yates family, leaving her, a minor, to fend for herself.

She’d deserted her at her lowest point, and now she was calling with some phony

concern?

The worst part was, she’d abandoned her own daughter but doted on her new husband’s daughter from his first marriage, spoiling her rotten.

Stephanie said, “She wants me to come over to the Yates‘ house for dinner.”

“You didn’t agree, did you?”

“Of course I refused. The Yates‘ house isn’t my home.”

“Good!” Cecilia nodded emphatically. “If the Gonzalez family was a trap, the Yates family is just another one. You’re an adult now; you don’t need to live under someone else’s roof.”

Years ago, after being abandoned, Stephanie had gone to the Yates‘ house to find Susan

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once.

But Susan had told her, “It’s not that I don’t want you, but I’ve just married into this family. Vivian Yates already has a hard time accepting me. If I bring you along, it will only make things worse.”

Vivian was the daughter from Mr. Yates’s first marriage; Susan was the stepmother.

Stephanie found it bitterly ironic. What kind of mother would cast aside her own daughter just to maintain a relationship with someone else’s?

But back then, Susan had told her something else.

After that, Stephanie never went to the Yates‘ house to look for her again.

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