Chapter 10

The sound of the slap faded, and Ryder stared deeply at me.

I met his gaze, head held high, completely unafraid.

"If you touch my fawn, you will regret it."

I ground out the words through clenched teeth.

Ryder closed his eyes, said nothing more, and walked to the desk, tearing off a page from the calendar.

"It's already past midnight, Stella. Twenty-three days left until our wedding."

He walked out of the bedroom.

I had a maid bring me a bottle of wine, drank most of it, and only managed to fall asleep as dawn was breaking.

I woke up when the sun was high in the sky.

A maid knocked on the door.

"Miss Stella, the Master is asking you to join him for a meal."

I was indeed hungry.

I washed up, changed clothes, and went to the dining room.

Valerie was there too.

I wanted to leave, but then decided it wasn't worth starving myself.

I sat down with a cold face and served myself a bowl of soup.

Ryder, in front of Valerie, served me some rice.

"You should eat some carbs, even if you're watching your weight."

I didn't take it, but Ryder didn't seem awkward. He simply picked up a few mouthfuls of greens for me.

"These are grown right here at the Deer Park Estate, better than what you get at the market," Ryder said.

"I know you're picky, but you should try these."

Valerie ate slowly, delicately, as if she didn't see her husband, married for less than a week, exchanging glances with his secret lover.

Finally, Ryder picked up my soup bowl and put a few pieces of meat into it.

He said softly,

"Eating meat doesn't make you fat, don't be so picky."

It was as if Valerie wasn't even there.

As if Sterling Deer Park Estate was still *our* Sterling Deer Park Estate.

He was a completely different person from the Ryder who had publicly slapped me just days ago.

I glanced at Valerie, thinking she indeed had some nerve to marry into the Sterling family, at least she could tolerate this.

As I thought this, my stomach rumbled a few more times. I picked up my forks, first ate some greens, then some rice.

Finally, under Ryder's gentle gaze and Valerie's knowing half-smile, I ate a piece of meat.

I was truly starving. The Deer Park chef's cooking was excellent, perfectly suited to my taste.

I didn't eat gracefully; traces of my past, fighting for food in the orphanage, were visible in my eating habits, unlike Valerie, who was every inch the refined socialite.

After finishing my meal, soup and meat all gone, I stood up to get a second helping.

Ryder immediately rose to serve me soup.

Valerie elegantly wiped her mouth, then slowly, deliberately, spoke.

"I heard this fawn was delivered by you personally, Stella, and you raised it yourself, even bottle-feeding it," Valerie's voice was soft and gentle.

"You were even feeding it carrots yesterday. No wonder the meat is so good, so tender."

My lips and teeth went numb with shock!

I stared blankly at Valerie, as if I hadn't understood what she was saying.

Valerie continued,

"It was called Little Sun, right? It was more delicious than any deer meat I've ever had before, without any of the usual gaminess. Thank you, Stella."

Valerie added,

"Apparently, deer blood is nourishing, so you can't kill a deer like a chicken by slitting its throat and letting it bleed out. So, they put Little Sun in a sack in middle school and drowned it alive."

Valerie said,

"The chef wasn't experienced, so it took him over ten minutes. He had to hold your fawn underwater in the stream multiple times before it finally died."

Realizing what I had just eaten, my stomach churned violently with disgust!

I didn't even have time to turn around. I doubled over in agony, vomiting everything I had just eaten, along with my stomach acid, in one go!

I vomited so violently.

Even after everything in my stomach was gone, the nauseating churning wouldn't subside. What came up next was yellow-green bile.