Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 307

Not only that, but he was going to give her the grandest wedding imaginable. He would announce to the entire world that Stella Hawthorne was his wife. He was going to make her the happiest bride on earth.

But he couldn't do that just yet. He had to take it step by step and not rush the process.

The first step was convincing her not to divorce him, and he felt fairly confident he had achieved that.

After everything that happened yesterday and today, she hadn't brought up the word "divorce" once. That had to be a success, right?

The second step was securing his rightful title. He refused to be a secret husband. He wanted to be her acknowledged partner, which meant formally introducing Stella as his wife to his friends and family.

He was already halfway there with this step. Her family had met him, and his friends would know soon enough.

The third step was throwing a massive wedding to declare to the world that she was Mrs. Blackwood.

Ian sounded shocked. "It's *that* girl?! Well, she definitely matches you. She's gorgeous. Hurry up and ask her, my sister is nagging me to death over here. She's going to break my arm."

The girl had left a lasting impression on him. Not only had she drank several grown men under the table, but at Sylvie Jennings's birthday party, he was absolutely certain she had intentionally egged Vernon Lowell on to ruin his sister's barbecue.

And when Vernon's sister and her friend threw that humiliating public tantrum, he strongly suspected this little woman had a hand in it too, though he had no proof.

Julius pulled the phone slightly away from his ear and quietly relayed Ian's request to Stella.

Stella answered generously, "Sure, you can give her my number."

Cecilia was a sweet, innocent girl. Giving her a phone number wasn't a big deal.

With Stella's permission, Julius forwarded her number to Ian.

After lunch, Julius took Stella back to the Imperial Gardens for a nap. He had no intention of returning to the office that afternoon; he was going to accompany her to the Eames family residence.

Cecilia had insisted on hosting Stella for dinner to thank her for saving her life.

"I had them brought over for you. Take a look. Keep whatever you like, and they can take the rest back."

He had noticed that the extravagant pieces he bought previously weren't really her style. She preferred simple, elegant designs—whether it was clothing or jewelry, she avoided anything too overly complicated or flashy.

Stella looked through the racks and was genuinely impressed.

"Julius, I actually really love these. Thank you." She detested being draped in heavy, ostentatious jewels.

Aside from feeling incredibly cumbersome, looking too flashy was basically broadcasting to criminals: "I'm loaded, come rob me!"

And given how resentful some people were of the wealthy, standing out too much might just earn you a knife in the back.

Sure, she could fight, but wasn't there a saying about how you can never be too careful?