Chapter 5

Mr. and Mrs. Hayes were very busy, constantly traveling for work all over the world, so they rarely stayed at the house.

Thinking that one more person might make the house feel livelier, I smiled and welcomed Stella in.

At first, Stella was always cautious around the house.

Christian kept her by his side every day, buying her new clothes, teaching her how to interact with people.

Slowly, Stella’s smile grew, and Christian seemed happier too.

So she would laugh and twirl, showing Christian her new dresses.

She would pull Christian out for a run every morning.

They’d meet up for walks on the track, their hands brushing casually.

Though I was neglected more and more often, seeing Christian’s radiant smile, I didn’t feel much resentment.

After all, I loved him.

Despite all this, Stella’s daily clinging to Christian still drew dissatisfaction from those around us.

“Who’s that freshman girl?”

“I heard she’s Christian’s charity student.”

“Why is she always glued to him? Doesn’t she know Christian has a girlfriend? No sense of boundaries at all!”

“Exactly! Christian and Eleanor have been engaged since childhood. I heard their wedding date is set; they’re getting their marriage license right after college.”

“She’s from a small town, what does she know? She probably just wants to latch onto Christian and skyrocket her life…”

Everyone knew about my relationship with Christian, so naturally, they disliked Stella’s behavior and targeted her, sometimes subtly, sometimes overtly.

Then, one bright morning, Stella ran into my classroom with red eyes and dropped to her knees in front of me.

“Ms. Vance, I know I was wrong. Please stop spreading rumors that I’m a homewrecker.”

“I won’t bother Christian anymore, please, please don’t let those people bully me anymore…”

Before I could even process her nonsensical words, Christian, who was beside me, shot up.

I rarely saw him get that angry, even angrier than the day he heard some delinquents jokingly call me a ‘cripple.’

He harshly warned everyone around us to stop spreading rumors, and even his gaze towards me held a chill.

Stella’s crying grew even more heartbroken.

“After being talked about like this, I can’t bear to stay here anymore!”

With that, she ran out, crying.

“Stella!”

Christian immediately chased after her, frantic.

As he left, he bumped my wheelchair, and I inexplicably felt a sharp pain.

It turned out the pen he’d dropped had scratched my lower leg, and a string of bright red blood trickled down.

For a moment, it wasn’t just my heart that ached.

Christian no longer belonged to me.

This thought crossed my mind for the first time.