Stella didn't realize it, but she ended up staying on the video call with Anthony for a long time. There were times when she even giggled at his jokes. Her sour mood was instantly uplifted thanks to Anthony's antics.

In seven days, she'd be able to stay by Anthony's side while listening to Ethan's heartbeat. She no longer had to go along with Julian's demands.

To her, the next seven days would undoubtedly be the darkest times before she got to welcome her sweet freedom. She couldn't wait to embrace freedom with her own arms.

Since the meeting had been canceled, Stella ended up staying in the company till late at night, dealing with the mess Julian had left behind. Only then did she get to return to Chapman Manor.

Unexpectedly, she bumped into Ariana in her own room.

At that time, Ariana had just finished taking a shower. She was wearing nothing but a towel wrapped snugly around her body. Her soft skin was dotted with red bite marks.

Stella's clothes and belongings, on the other hand, were strewn all over the floor. Ariana was currently standing on a few of Stella's garments, barefoot.

She shot Stella a provoking look as she said, "Where on earth did you hang out till this ungodly hour, Ms. Atkinson? Because of you, I moved into your room right away without the means to inform you of the news in advance. I don't want to be viewed as a rude woman, you know."

Julian, who was clad in a bathrobe, walked out of the bathroom as soon as he heard Ariana's voice. He laced his fingers with Ariana's intimately right away. Both of them exchanged affectionate looks, which painted a picture of true love before Stella's eyes.

Then, Julian turned to look at the exhausted-looking Stella as well as her clothes, which were scattered across the floor. In an apologetic tone, he said, "Aria adores this room. You can spend the night on the couch for the time being. I'll have the maids clean the guest room for you tomorrow."

As soon as he was done speaking, he dug out his phone and punched in a string of numbers. The next moment, Stella tapped on her buzzing phone.

It turned out that Julian had just transferred her another 50 thousand dollars.

Julian explained softly, "This is your overtime pay. You must have worked hard after I canceled the meeting this evening. Rest well."

To his surprise, Stella chose not to accept this transaction.

She merely smiled faintly at him. "You're being too courteous, Mr. Chapman. This is my job as your secretary. I'll just spend the night in a hotel."

Julian was stunned, to say the least. He didn't expect that Stella would turn his money down.

Weren't they supposed to be in a transactional relationship? This was the sole reason why Stella had allowed him to do whatever he wanted to her in the past three years!

Why did she suddenly reject his money?

Did she no longer need the money? Or was she mad at him?

Julian frowned, feeling an inexplicable sense of frustration. "Stop kicking up a fuss. It's already this late, yet you still want to spend the night—"

But Ariana quickly hugged his arm and began acting all cute and coquettish before he could finish his sentence.

"Jules, someone must be waiting for Ms. Atkinson in a hotel room as we speak. Stop meddling with her business, alright? Let's go to bed already! I'm already tired!"

After that, Ariana kicked Stella's clothes out of the room. She continued to hug Julian's arm as she closed the door on the spot.

Stella bent down to toss her clothes into her suitcase one by one. Then, she left Chapman Manor with her luggage in tow.

Three years ago, when Stella first became Julian's private secretary, Ariana had barged into Chapman Manor just to kick up a fuss about the whole thing.

She had yanked Stella by the hair and smashed her head into the wall while screaming at her for being the third wheel who had ruined her relationship with Julian. Not only that, but she had also attempted to drown Stella by dunking her head into the pool.

In the end, Julian showed up just in time to stop Ariana. But that was the only thing he'd done.

He still showered Ariana with love and care. She was gifted with jewelry and high-end clothes, but she was never acknowledged as Julian's girlfriend.

If she demanded a star to be presented to her, Julian wouldn't hesitate to pick it for her.

Stella knew very well why Julian wanted her by his side. He wished to repay Ethan for his benevolent decision to donate his corneas to him, after all.

As for his way of paying Ethan back, it was to sleep with Ethan's beloved fiancée and watch how humiliated she looked beneath him.

Perhaps this was one of those mean pranks rich people pulled for fun.

By the time Stella reached the hotel she was staying in, it was already in the wee hours of the morning. She was so exhausted that she went straight to bed after washing up in the bathroom.

Suddenly, the hidden figure in the bed flipped Stella over and pinned her down. Having trapped her in his arms, he began peppering her face with kisses.

Frightened, Stella began resisting the man's advances. She managed to bite the man in the chaos.

The man let out a low grunt, which sounded very familiar to Stella. As soon as the bedside lamp was turned on, she was surprised to see the naked Julian lying on the same bed with her.

Julian inhaled sharply before hooking her chin with his fingers.

"Our 100-thousand-dollar session was rudely interrupted earlier. Don't you think we should continue the second half of the session?"

Stella was already exhausted, to begin with. At first, she didn't want to go along with Julian's whims, but she quickly recalled that the 100 thousand dollars would be transferred into her bank account next Monday, along with her salary.

If she were to turn Julian down now, she might not be able to clear the entire debt.

Had she known that Julian would ambush her in her hotel room, she should've accepted the 50-thousand-dollar transaction back in Chapman Manor.

Left without a choice, Stella could only let Julian thrust into her.

"Ahh… Your body feels so much better."

Julian kept claiming Stella's body over and over again. The burning friction made Stella's body temperature rise as well.

But it didn't matter what sort of techniques he used or how much strength he exerted on Stella's body, for she never reacted to his ministrations, as though she were just a soulless marionette. She just let him do whatever he wanted to her.

Frustrated, Julian pinched Stella's cheeks and forced her to look into his eyes.

Shockingly enough, this time, Stella wasn't affected by the sight of Julian's eyes at all. It was as though she no longer cared about Ethan.

First, Stella didn't care about the transaction. Now, she didn't care about Julian's eyes.

Julian didn't know if the feelings coursing through him at the moment were dissatisfaction or reluctance. All he did was tighten his arms around Stella while pounding into her with all his might.

It was as though Stella would permanently be his if he were to do this to her.

That night, Stella didn't know how she managed to fall asleep out of exhaustion. By the time she woke up the next day, it was already late morning. This was her first time being late to work.

Upon arriving at the company hastily, Stella found out that Julian wasn't in his office at all. Meanwhile, Ariana, who was well-dressed without a single hair out of place, let out a cold, dissatisfied huff.

"Do you have any idea what time it is right now? Is this how you treat your job?"

Stella lowered her gaze and apologized to Ariana. Then, she said calmly, "Excuse me, can you get out of my seat? This is my workstation. I still have a ton of work tasks to deal with."

She didn't care about Ariana's hostility aimed at her. As long as she could complete her tasks without any delay and receive her salary on time, Ariana could humiliate her however she wanted.

Meanwhile, Ariana was pissed by how nonchalant Stella had been acting around her.

That bitch was just a secretary, yet she was already this arrogant after sleeping with Julian a few times in the past. To think that she had the guts to talk back to Ariana!

It had been three long years! How dare that bitch sleep with Julian over the past three years when Ariana wasn't around!

Julian Chapman was her man, dammit!

How could Ariana not settle the score with Stella?

Ariana slammed a hand on the table before rising to her feet. As soon as her gaze landed on Stella's neck, she froze momentarily. Julian had left behind many hickeys and bite marks on Stella's neck, it seemed.

She strode toward Stella in wide steps right away. Out of sheer anger, she ripped Stella's collar apart to see more red hickeys occupying her chest.

Poor Stella went pale. She was in a hurry to get to work earlier, so she didn't have time to check herself out in the mirror. That was why she had no idea that Julian had left so many marks on her body.

She was about to explain herself when Ariana slapped her heavily on the face. Before she knew it, Ariana was already strangling her angrily while screaming, "I can forgive the past three years, seeing as Jules has already proposed to me last night! But how dare you still seduce him despite that! Die, bitch!"

Stella was about to struggle against Ariana's grip when the latter picked up a cup of scalding hot tea and dumped it onto her.

It hurt!

The scalding tea left blisters growing all over Stella's skin. She collapsed to the floor instantly while wailing in pain.

Her body trembled violently as she tried to explain herself in a feeble tone. "I didn't seduce him! He was the one who showed up in my hotel room all of a sudden…"

But Ariana refused to listen to Stella's explanation. When she noticed a few employees entering the office to submit their documents, she couldn't help but smile cruelly.

"You guys, get over here and strip her bare! I want you to leave marks all over her body!"

Then, she addressed Stella, "You like being fucked by men, don't you? I shall grant your wish, then!"

When Ariana saw the way the male employees hesitated without budging from their spots, her expression darkened instantly.

She snapped coldly, "Hurry up and do it already! Jules has already named me as the vice CEO of the company! Do you want me to fire you all instead?"

Stella could only watch in horror as her male colleagues pinned her limbs down while ignoring her struggles. Slowly, they began to strip her jacket and shirt off her body, leaving her in her underwear.

Those men might be forced to carry out Ariana's orders, but the sight of Stella's stunning figure invoked their lust and greed from within. This time, they began peeling her underwear off with malicious intentions.

Stella, who was on the verge of suffering from a breakdown, could only shriek at the top of her lungs. "No! Stop! Please, I'm begging you! We're all colleagues, aren't we?"

Ariana dug out her phone while barking out a burst of harsh laughter. She kept urging the male employees to start defiling Stella.

"Hurry up and fuck her already! Are you even manly enough to do this?"

Stella kept struggling against the men's advances with all her might.

Suddenly, someone kicked the office door open from the outside. His expression thunderous, Julian roared at the offending employees, "What the hell are you doing?"

The employees were so frightened that they released Stella instantly, causing her to fall backward because of the momentum. Her head crashed against the floor loudly as a result. The pain was so intense that she blacked out immediately.

Before her senses faded away, Stella remembered seeing Julian's concerned eyes.

Did the concern come from Julian? Or was that Ethan?

She had no idea, but she no longer cared.