Chapter 13: Are You the Number One Protected Animal of This Country?​

Stella thought that he was referring to her contract with SG Jewellery Magazine, so she replied, “As you can see, this is my profession anyway. Can’t I resume my career?”


He bellowed, “I am not asking about this.”


Stella was perplexed, “Then, what do you want to ask about?”


“I am talking about…”


Clarence began his barrage but Stella suddenly felt nauseated. She covered her mouth quickly but she couldn’t stop herself from making a vomiting sound.


Stella reached out and pushed him slightly, and she said with difficulty, “Mr. Conrad, I hope that you can leave me alone for now. I feel a little distraught.”


Clarence gazed at her with cold eyes, “You’re keeping up your act, I see.”


Don’t ever think that he couldn’t see through that she was trying to get this over with as quickly as possible.


“I didn’t think you would see through me. Mr. Conrad, what do you want to ask about? If it’s nothing important, I need to go to the toilet.”


Ever since a few days ago, her symptoms of morning sickness had grown severe. She had the urge to vomit for some time before, and now she was really going to vomit.


Clarence clasped her wrist and said in an emotionless voice, “What is the deal with your Puppy Love?”


Stella was stunned a little. She never expected that he would ask about this.


“It’s just… my Puppy Love.” Stella replied while swinging her head up at him. She then seriously said, “Mr. Conrad, I hope you are not going to find fault with me about this matter. Don’t you think that it would be just plain funny to talk about this, given our relationship?”


Clarence knitted h is brows and increased his grip on her wrist, “What is our relationship now?”


“We are just waiting for notice to divorce.”


“Stella, you better don’t challenge my bottom line.”


Stella couldn’t understand him. She was just waiting for him to have time to get this divorce going without making any troubles. She had been very reasonable, so she didn’t understand how she was made out to be challenging him.


The discomfort rushed up once again. However, Clarence was stubbornly grabbing her wrist without letting go.


In the nick of time, Stella quickly grabbed a rubbish bin and bent over to vomit.




Although Clarence was quick to retrieve his hand, his sleeve couldn’t escape the fate of getting stained with a little of her vomiting stuff.


Clarence immediately became upset as he gnashed his teeth, “Stella!”


After Stella finished vomiting, she took in some water to cleanse her mouth before smiling at him apologetically, “I’m sorry, but I can’t hold it in.”


Clarence removed his coat and put it to one side, and then he opened the window to allow the breeze to carry away the faint scent of vomit.


“Mr. Conrad, if you really don’t have anything else to talk about, I really need to go. Or perhaps… if you have time today to get the divorce proceedings going, I will inform Sherry about it so that I can go with you after finishing up some work in the company.”


Clarence turned around and looked at her with a deadpan expression. It seemed that his face had become even colder.


Stella didn’t know what to say.


Couldn’t he wait for her given that it was going to only take a few minutes?


At that moment, someone knocked on the door, and Sherry called out, “Stella, are you done talking? Mr. Leif is looking for you.”


Stella replied, “I’m done. I’m coming now.”


Then, she added to Clarence, “Mr. Conrad, I need to go out for a while. Please wait for me outside.”


After emerging from the dressing room, Sherry pulled Stella’s hands and wanted to break into a run, but as she recalled the baby in her stomach, she could only scurry along instead of running.


Stella asked, “Where is Mr. Leif? Didn’t you say that he is looking for me now?”


“That is all a line. Mr. Leif is busy chatting with those affluent people. If without any excuse, how can I save you from that devilish man?”


“…”


She was right about that.


When she reached the door, she heard a voice from somewhere nearby, “Stella.”


Stella and Sherry both stopped in their tracks.






They couldn’t avoid what was going to hit them anyway.


At the entrance of the hotel, the two of them didn’t say anything for a long time. In the end, Horace couldn’t help breaking the ice, “Stella, how are you… recently?”


Stella pursed her lips and answered, “I’m doing quite well.”


“I have been back for half a month, and I have been looking for you. Everyone said they didn’t know your whereabouts.”


Stella didn’t say anything to that. Three years ago, not only he had cut off her ties with Horace, she also cut off her ties with all of her classmates.


She didn’t want her embarrassing stories to spread among those whom she knew.


She was still a human after all, and even though it was laughable, she wanted to preserve her last remaining sense of dignity.


After some time, Stella put on a smile, “Then, will you be gone once again after coming back this time?”


Horace stared at her and shook her head, “Stella, I…”


“Horace!”


Annie shot out of nowhere all of a sudden, and she was now in between them.


Stella didn’t expect her sudden intrusion, which caused her to stagger backwards. Luckily, there was a wall behind her, which allowed her to steady herself in the nick of time.


She tried to calm her furiously beating heart now, “Annie!”


Annie turned her head and glared at her, “Stella, do you think that you are so great with that loud voice of


yours? My cousin is just inside there, but you are here seducing other man. Aren’t you feeling shameful?”






Stella’s already pale face became even paler, and her blood from her leg to her head seemed to freeze.


She never intended to hide the fact that she was married from Horace, but she never expected that this fact would come out into the light by way of Annie’s exposure.


Horace who was always composed was visibly shaken. He flung Annie’s hand to one side and howled, “Annie, what the hell are you doing here?”


Annie never expected Horace to roar at her, which caused her eyes to redden. She then said with a feeling of wrongfulness, “Horace, I’m doing is for your own good. You can ask for yourself what type of methods this woman had used in order to marry my cousin! Do you think she would admit to it?”


Stella interjected calmly, “There’s nothing I wouldn’t admit, but Annie, let me give you a warning. If you don’t even know how to walk in a straight line, I don’t mind teaching you just that.”


At the moment, Annie was very heated due to jealously, and there wasn’t any trace of sensibility left in her mind. She had never seen Horace saying anything so gently to herself, and at the same time the one at the receiving end of Horace’s kindness was none other than Stella!


“Why, do you think you are the number one animal protected by the country? You can’t get offended or being talked to?”


As she said that, Annie was about to push Stella, but she was stopped by Horace.


“Annie, enough is enough.”


“Horace, how long has it been since you know her? It’s not long, right? Yet, you choose to believe her rather than me…”


“I have known Stella since three years ago. I don’t need to learn from you how she is as a person.”


Annie widened her eyes in disbelief, “You guys…”


“Is that so? Tell me, in the eyes of Mr. Jason, how is Stella as a person?”


A voice devoid of any warmth sounded from behind. It was a cold and mechanical voice.


Stella shut her eyes in despair. What kind of pandemonium was this?


Seeing that Clarence had stepped into the fray, Annie finally tried to keep her behaviour from going out of control, and at the same time she felt that a backer had appeared. She was even more outlandish, “Clarence, you should hold the reins on Stella. She has become unbelievably shameless now.”


Clarence’s emotionless gaze swept over Stella.


Horace positioned himself in front of Stella the moment Clarence started to glare at her.


Clarence couldn’t help snickering, “Mr. Jason, just what do you think you are doing?”


Horace couldn’t come up with any answer to Clarence’s probing.


He still couldn’t pull himself out of the disbelief feeling that Stella was already a married woman, and her partner was none other than Clarence.