The air went dead silent.

Tension hung thick between the three of them, sharp and ready to explode.

Stella stared at Evan, then kicked over the chair beside her. It crashed to the floor with a thunderous bang.

Her whole presence turned cutting and aggressive. “Go ahead. Tell your mother. What kind of soup do I even know how to make?

“Summer says she wants the chicken soup I supposedly make. Is that really not obvious enough for you? Or did you forget that I don’t even know how to cook?”

Every word was charged with anger, each sentence sharp as a blade.

Stella had just lost her child. Her entire system was still in shock. Anyone who dared poke her right now was asking to get blown up.

Dora flew into a rage. “You— I mean—”

Evan cut in, his expression stern. “If you don’t know how to make it, then don’t. Have the staff do it. Is this really worth making such a scene over?”

That same dismissive tone again. Like none of it was a big deal.

Stella fell silent.

Her heart went completely cold.

Dora snapped, furious. “What kind of bad luck did our family run into? She can’t even give birth herself, and now someone else has children and she’s the one causing trouble—”

“That’s enough.”

Evan interrupted her sharply before she could finish.

That only made Dora angrier. “You just keep indulging her!”

She turned to storm off.

Just as she was about to leave, Stella spoke again.

“Mrs. Wright, you’ve got it wrong,” Stella said coldly. “It’s not that I can’t have children. It’s that the baby I was carrying two years ago was lost after Summer ran her car into me.

“Don’t twist the facts and slap the label of ‘infertile’ on me to cover up your cruelty.”

Stella threw off the label Dora had pinned on her for the past two years without mercy.

And the way she addressed her as Mrs. Wright made it unmistakably clear.

The formal title hung in the air like a physical barrier.

Dora nearly fainted on the spot when she heard Mrs. Wright and cruel mother-in-law in the same breath.

“This is outrageous. Absolutely outrageous.”

Had she completely lost her mind?

Dora was so furious she could barely stand. She turned on Evan instead. “This is the woman you married. Do something about her!”

With that, she stormed out in a rage.

Evan’s gaze darkened when Stella called his mother Mrs. Wright. Displeasure flickered in his eyes.

But in the end, he said nothing. He turned and followed his mother out.

Watching his back as he left, Stella felt nothing but bitter irony.

Things had blown up like this, and he still went after her.

Was it really because his brother was gone and he felt responsible for Summer?

Or was it simply because he wanted to be there for her?

Once they were gone, Marianne approached anxiously. “Mrs. Wright, you don’t look well at all. Should I call a doctor to come take a look?”

Even the housekeeper could see something was wrong. She knew a doctor should be called.

But Evan—

Stella waved her off. “No, it’s okay. You can go.”

She was too angry to hold herself together.

Marianne hesitated, then finally nodded and left.

Once Stella was alone, her phone began to vibrate.

It was a call from her best friend, Jennifer Tanner.

At the sight of the name on the screen, some of the rage drained from Stella’s body. “Jennifer.”

“I’ve been calling you all afternoon. Why didn’t you pick up? Did you hear about Summer Bailey giving birth to twins?”

“I did,” Stella said flatly. “Evan was there with her.”

“You knew? And you didn’t stop it?” Jennifer snapped. “Summer gives birth, and he’s there with her? In what role exactly? Doesn’t the Wright family have enough people to take care of her?”

Jennifer was furious on Stella’s behalf. Evan didn’t even know how to keep his distance.

Steven had been gone for six months.

And for those six months, Stella had been simmering in resentment over Summer’s complete lack of boundaries.

Was Evan really that oblivious, or did he just not care how Stella felt?

Stella’s voice was as cold as her eyes. “What can I do? Evan has the same face as Steven. Apparently that’s enough to soothe her depression.”

Wasn’t that the excuse they’d used over and over these past six months? Calling Evan away whenever Summer lost control?

Whenever Summer lost control, the first call always went to Evan.

Jennifer knew all of this, and it only made her angrier. “The entire Wright family is seriously messed up in the head.”

Summer couldn’t accept that Steven was gone, so they kept Evan paraded in front of her.

He had a wife of his own. Comforting another woman like this, what kind of nonsense was that?

“I miscarried this afternoon,” Stella said quietly. “When you were calling me, I was already on the operating table.”

Jennifer fell silent.

“…What?”

Then it hit her, and she exploded.

“You miscarried, and Evan was by his sister-in-law’s side when she’s giving birth? Is he insane? Does he even know?”

His wife was going through surgery for a miscarriage, and he was accompanying another woman deliver twins. What was wrong with him?

Stella opened her eyes, dark and hollow. “Come pick me up.”

She was exhausted.

And she loathed every inch of this place. Even the air made her sick.

She hung up the phone.

Stella went upstairs and packed her personal belongings at record speed.

She also gathered everything she’d bought for Evan over the years.

Marianne saw her carrying a pile of things outside the villa and setting them on fire. She rushed over in alarm. “Mrs. Wright, what are you doing? Please stop burning things.

“If the madam finds out, she’ll say it’s bad luck again.”

Dora had already been furious over the earlier scene. If she saw this, there was no telling how ugly it would get.

“Bad luck is perfect,” Stella said coldly. “If I knew witchcraft, I’d curse the entire Wright family to hell.”

Her voice was filled with hatred and disgust.

As she spoke, she went back upstairs.

Trip after trip, she carried down everything tied to Evan and threw it into the roaring flames.

When Jennifer arrived, she saw Stella standing at the villa entrance.

In front of her, a mound of charred things smothered in ash.

Stella’s face was pale. She looked fearless. Detached.

Jennifer strode over. She was tall and pulled Stella straight into her arms, shielding her with an umbrella from the pouring rain.

“You just miscarried, and you’re standing out here getting soaked?” Jennifer scolded. “Are you trying to wreck your health?”

Without waiting for an answer, she wrapped an arm around Stella and marched her toward the car.

As she felt the warmth of Jennifer’s embrace, the tension Stella had been holding all night finally collapsed.

…

Inside the car.

Jennifer grabbed a dry towel and roughly wiped Stella’s wet hair. “What were you burning?”

“Everything I bought for him. And everything he bought for me.”

Jennifer glanced at her. “If you want to cry, then cry. I know you’re not supposed to after a miscarriage, but it’s still better than bottling it up.”

They’d been so good together once.

And yet, in just six months, everything had been torn to pieces.

Stella kept wiping her hair and let out a short laugh. “Cry? No. Why should I cry alone?”

She would make the people who deserved to cry do it properly.

Jennifer fell silent.

When Stella’s hair was mostly dry, she put the towel aside. “Just watch. Someone in the Wright family is about to cry plenty.”

Meeting Stella’s ice-cold gaze, Jennifer nodded. “You’re right. They should be the ones crying, not you.”

There was no room for a third person in a relationship, no matter how that third person tried to exist.

And Summer hadn’t even bothered to hide it these past six months. She’d been openly competing for Evan’s affection.

That kind of shamelessness only came from one belief: Stella couldn’t do anything about her.

Jennifer started the car and drove away from the villa.

Rain pounded against the windows as the wipers swept back and forth.

“After you lost that baby two years ago,” Jennifer said, “you couldn’t get pregnant again, right?”

Two years ago, Stella and Evan had been expecting a child.

Before Stella even knew she was pregnant, Summer had hit her with a car. She had lost the baby before she even reached the hospital.

Summer had cried harder than anyone afterward, insisting it hadn’t been intentional.

In the end, the matter was quietly buried.

Steven was still alive then, and Summer hadn’t shown any obvious interest in Evan, so Stella hadn’t pushed it further.

But looking back now, it was likely Summer had already set her sights on Evan back then.

She’d known about the pregnancy and had done it on purpose.

After that, Stella never conceived again.

For the past two years, because she couldn’t get pregnant, Dora had treated her with open contempt.

Bag after bag of herbal medicine had been sent to her.

And today—

When Summer went into labor, the shove she gave Stella had felt deliberate.

Jennifer frowned. “Back then, I didn’t think much of it. But after Steven died, watching how Summer’s been acting around Evan, it really feels like that car accident was intentional.”

The word intentional made the air around Stella turn icy.

Two years ago. Today.

Stella said flatly, “She shoved me today, too.”

The image flashed through her mind. Evan holding Summer, looking at Stella with that dismissive ‘stop making trouble’ expression.

Rage surged through her chest.

“So that means two years ago was definitely deliberate,” Jennifer said sharply. “Her husband was still alive, and she was already eyeing her brother-in-law. That’s twisted.”

Stella didn’t respond.

Twisted?

Looking at it now, yes.

Especially over the past six months. Summer’s obsessive, aggressive possessiveness toward Evan was anything but normal.

“So what are you going to do?” Jennifer asked. “Just let it go?”

Let it go?

Stella looked out the window. The rain was heavy, flooding the streets in no time.

Did she look like someone who would just let it go?

Her eyes were as cold as the rain outside. “First, I divorce Evan.”

“And then?”

Stella didn’t answer right away. She watched the rain slide down the glass before asking calmly, “Ruby Bailey’s export business has been doing very well these past few years, hasn’t it?”

Ruby Bailey was Summer’s wealthy mother.

These past two years, Summer had dared to act the way she did because she had Dora backing her. And because she had a rich mother standing behind her.

Jennifer said carefully, “Yeah, but why are you bringing up her mother? That’s not a woman anyone can easily mess with.”

She was warning her.

Ruby hadn’t built an empire by accident. A woman who could grow her business to that scale didn’t get there without ruthless methods.

“What if that business gets cut off?” Stella asked calmly.

Jennifer fell silent.

Cut off… the business?

“The materials she deals in are only sold overseas,” Jennifer said slowly. “If that pipeline gets shut down, it’d be no different from taking her life.”

She glanced at Stella. “Why are you asking this, babe? Don’t tell me you expect me to help you take on the Bailey family. I don’t have that kind of pull.”

Ruby’s network was no joke.

She was like an old tree with roots tangled deep through Harbor City. No one could shake her easily.

Seeing Stella remain unmoved, Jennifer squeezed her cold hand. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

Something stupid?

Stella didn’t answer.

But in her mind, a face surfaced.

She thought of the foreign man from Eirden who had found her a month ago, the memory of him pulling her into his arms still vivid.

Jennifer wanted to take Stella back to her place.

But Stella insisted on going to Azure Heights on Starlake Avenue. It was an apartment she had bought herself three months ago.

This made one thing painfully clear. She’d been preparing to leave Evan for a long time.

“I tell you to come stay with me and you refuse,” Jennifer said. “You need someone to look after you right now. When did you even buy this place?”

As she spoke, she pulled out a blanket and draped it over Stella. Then she went into the kitchen to make some food.

Stella adjusted the blanket around her shoulders. “The second month after Steven died.”

The second month?

That was early.

“You were already planning to divorce Evan back then?” Jennifer asked.

Stella gave a tired hum in response and lay down on the couch.

The month Steven died, Evan had practically moved into the family estate. He was rarely home.

And even when he was, one call from the estate about Summer would send him rushing out again.

Who could endure a marriage twisted like that?

The phone started vibrating.

It was the landline from the villa.

Stella didn’t even think twice. She hung up and blocked the number.

A moment later, Jennifer’s phone rang.

It was Evan.

She answered, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “What, your sister-in-law doesn’t need you anymore?”

“Let Stella answer the phone.”

Evan’s voice was low and tight.

He’d just arrived at the hospital when Marianne called to say Stella had left.

He rushed back to the villa. The moment he reached the gate, he saw the stone slates outside scorched black in a wide circle.

Marianne told him Stella had done it.

Her clothes were gone from the closet. Everything she’d bought for him was gone too.

Burned.

What was she trying to do? Was she really going to keep escalating this?

Jennifer let out a mocking laugh. “Your sister-in-law just gave birth and she’s weak. You should be worrying about her. Why are you looking for Stella? What is Stella to you, exactly?”

“Jennifer Tanner!”

Evan’s patience snapped.

Jennifer glanced back at Stella. She was staring at something on her phone, her expression dark.

Seeing that Stella wasn’t paying attention to who she was talking to, Jennifer walked into the kitchen and shut the door.

“Evan Wright, are you out of your mind?” she snapped.

“Does Summer see you as Steven, or does she want you, with that identical face, to be her stand-in husband? Don’t tell me you’re too stupid to know the difference.

“And you don’t even bother keeping your distance. Do you have any idea what people in Harbor City are saying about you two right now? Or are you just deaf and blind?”

She was furious.

Summer had no shame, the entire Wright family indulged her, and Evan went right along with it.

Evan gritted his teeth. “I said, let Stella talk to me.”

He was out of patience. Stella was clearly spiraling, and he had no intention of arguing with Jennifer.

“She just miscarried,” Jennifer shot back. “With your attitude, you shouldn’t be talking to her at all.”

“If you can’t be a proper husband, then stop ruining her life. Your sister-in-law needs you so badly, go stay with her for the rest of your life.”

If Evan wouldn’t care for Stella, then Jennifer would.

Thinking of what Stella had said earlier — that Summer shoved her today — Jennifer didn’t give Evan another chance to speak.

She hung up.

Back in the living room, she saw Stella gripping her phone so tightly her knuckles had turned white.

“What are you looking at?” Jennifer asked. “If it’s upsetting, don’t look at it.”

She reached out to take the phone, but Stella avoided her hand.

“Redcrest Valley,” Stella said. “You remember it?”

“Of course,” Jennifer replied. “You worked on the tourism design project there three years ago. Your proposal got rejected.”

Redcrest Valley.

A place Stella loved.

Especially in October, when the hills turned red and gold.

They’d been there together.

When the area was being developed for tourism, Stella had entered the design competition.

She’d stayed up night after night for three months, traveled there more than five times for site inspections.

And still, her design wasn’t chosen.

“Why are you asking about it?” Jennifer asked.

Stella handed her the phone.

It was an article praising Redcrest Valley’s successful tourism launch, recommending it as a new destination.

Influencers were already flocking there. The reviews were glowing.

Jennifer frowned. “Wait…”

She stared at the photos.

“These spots… this is your design.”

Every section matched what Stella had created back then. Jennifer remembered it clearly. Stella had designed everything from a visitor’s point of view.

Jennifer’s expression darkened. She quickly searched for more articles, then tapped on the project details.

When the words “Lead Designer: Summer Bailey” appeared on the screen, Jennifer nearly smashed the phone.

She shoved it back at Stella.

Stella let out a quiet laugh when she saw the name. “So that’s how I got eliminated.”

Jennifer’s lips pressed into a hard line, fury burning in her eyes.

“I was planning to start with her mother,” Stella said calmly. "But now, looks like I should turn the gun on her first.”

Jennifer’s heart jolted. “Stella… what are you saying?”

Was she talking about Summer? And Ruby?

No, wait…

Jennifer was angry too, but seeing the cold clarity in Stella’s eyes, she forced herself to calm down.

“Listen, babe. Forget how the entire Wright family, including Evan, has always sided with Summer. Just her mother alone… that woman isn’t someone you can take on,” she said carefully. “Don’t do anything reckless, okay?”

Stella’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Not someone I can take on?”

Of course she hadn’t forgotten how untouchable Ruby Bailey was.

But what if that woman lost the very thing that made her untouchable?

At the thought of how Summer had spent years in the Wright family, teaming up with Dora to corner and humiliate her, the last trace of warmth in Stella’s eyes vanished.

All that remained was anger and hatred!

Evan finally lost his temper completely.

He grabbed his phone and made a call. It was answered almost immediately. “Sir.”

“Find out where Jennifer Tanner and my wife are. Right now.”

Patrick hesitated for a split second. “Understood.”

“Now,” Evan barked.

It was pouring rain this late at night. What did she think she was doing?

She’d burned everything connected to their marriage. She’d made scenes before, but never like this.

For the first time, a flicker of unease rose in Evan’s chest.

Patrick moved fast. Ten minutes later, he called back. “Mrs. Wright is at Azure Heights on Starlake Avenue.”

Evan narrowed his eyes. “What is she doing there?”

Starlake Avenue.

He didn’t remember them having any friends in that area.

“Miss Tanner is with her,” Patrick added.

At the mention of Jennifer, Evan’s expression darkened.

In his view, women shouldn’t have close girlfriends. Once they did, it was like they suddenly grew ten extra brains.

Every time Stella got together with Jennifer, nothing good ever came of it.

By the time Evan arrived at Azure Heights, Stella—exhausted from the day—had already fallen asleep.

Jennifer had left. Stella hadn’t wanted to go with her, so she decided to arrange for someone to come take care of Stella.

Stella had just drifted off when the doorbell rang insistently, jolting her awake.

She thought Jennifer might have forgotten something.

Half-asleep, she got up and opened the door. “What did you forget to—”

The word died on her lips when she saw Evan.

Her expression immediately turned cold.

“How did you find this place?”

Evan’s face was hard. Raindrops still clung to his black suit jacket. “What do you think?”

Seeing Stella in her pajamas only made his anger spike.

He leaned forward and glanced inside. When he saw no one else there, his presence softened slightly.

“Jennifer said you miscarried,” he said. “Wouldn’t it look bad if I didn’t come check on you?”

As he spoke, he reached instinctively, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward him, familiar and practiced.

But this time, Stella didn’t let herself be dragged into his arms.

She stayed where she was, her gaze sharp and guarded.

Meeting the cold in her eyes made something tighten briefly in Evan’s chest.

But the next second, he smiled. “All right, all right. You miscarried. I’ll take care of you, okay?”

That indifferent tone dripped with sarcasm.

It was just short of saying she was faking it.

The anger Jennifer had just managed to calm flared right back up.

Stella lifted her leg and kicked him hard.

Evan wasn’t prepared. The blow landed squarely in his stomach. He sucked in a sharp breath of pain and instinctively let go of her arm.

Seeing her bristling like a cornered hedgehog gave him a headache.

“You’ve made your scene. You burned half the house. Are you still not over it?”

Stella said nothing.

But the chill in her eyes deepened.

Over it?

This anger wasn’t going anywhere. Not unless someone paid for it.

She let out a soft, humorless laugh.

She didn’t say a word, but the mockery in that laugh made Evan feel inexplicably irritated.

A dull headache throbbed behind his temples.

“Enough,” Evan said, clearly exhausted. “This is on me. All of it. Okay? Come home with me.”

As he spoke, he reached out again, trying to grab Stella’s arm.

She stepped back, dodging him easily.

Her distance, that icy rejection, finally wiped the patience from Evan’s face. His expression darkened completely, the air around them turning heavy and tight.

“Is that really my home?” Stella let out a mocking laugh. “A house where the deed isn’t even in my name?”

“The name on the title belongs to Fiona Wright.”

Fiona was Evan’s younger sister. She was especially close to Summer.

The villa Stella and Evan had lived in after their marriage had long since been transferred into Fiona’s name.

The Wright family had never approved of Stella, an orphan raised without family backing.

They’d agreed to the marriage under one condition. A secret marriage.

Any time Evan tried to give Stella something substantial, his mother would quietly take it back and register it under the names of his two sisters instead.

Even their marital home.

They’d been terrified Stella might benefit from the Wright family in any way.

“The house is in Fiona’s name,” Stella said calmly. “And you still call it my home. Don’t you think that’s ridiculous?”

Evan paused. “Then I’ll transfer it back to you tomorrow. Is that enough?”

The strain in his voice was obvious. His patience was gone.

Stella didn’t want to hear another word from him. She reached for the door, ready to shut it.

Evan caught the edge of the door with his hand.

“Stella,” he said, his tone no longer coaxing. “There’s a limit to how far you can take this.”

“What limit?” Stella raised an eyebrow.

Her emotions should have been spiraling. Instead, she was eerily calm. Even when she spoke about Summer, her voice was steady.

“You and Summer are crossing lines, and you still expect me to stay within limits?”

Evan’s chest tightened.

“Stop lumping me together with her,” he snapped. “There’s nothing between us.”

Stella looked at him coolly. “Steven is dead. Everyone in Harbor City thinks you’ve stepped in to take his place.

“No one knows you’re married. No one even knows your wife’s name is Stella Rowan.

“And you’re telling me that has nothing to do with you?”

Six months.

In those six months after Steven’s death, Evan and Summer had been seen together constantly.

At events. In public. In private.

There were even rumors that the twins were Evan’s.

Some people whispered that Steven’s death itself had something to do with Evan.

Hearing her mention those rumors, Evan stiffened. “You believe that nonsense?”

Rumors?

Stella didn’t answer. She looked at him in silence.

He felt the door pushing harder against his hand. His voice dropped, restrained. “She’s sick. Depression. You know that.”

The word depression iced over Stella’s gaze completely.

“Right. Depression,” she said flatly. “So your face is her medicine. Her personal sedative.”

What a convenient excuse.

Every time Summer lost control, the first thing the family did was send Evan over to calm her down.

Stella closed her eyes briefly. “Sign the divorce papers I’ll have delivered tomorrow.

“Then take care of her for the rest of your life.”

He could stay with her as long as he wanted.

This twisted attachment made Stella sick to her core.

Her indifference finally snapped the last thread of Evan’s restraint. “Stella Rowan!”

She opened her eyes, cold and resolute. “And tell Summer to prepare herself.

“She’ll be receiving a court summons soon.”