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A second chance for the CEO
Chapter 16
“Nathan, let me explain it to ye. Stella and I have grown up together since we were children, so of course I know what she likes and doesn’t like.” Victor was already getting tired of Nathan and replied with a double entendre.
“Did you grow up together? Why does the way you talk sound like you were childhood sweethearts?” Nathan raised his eyebrows defiantly,
“But that’s just it!” Victor replied with a provocative smile. Nathan’s eyes immediately narrowed in irritation.
There was no further conversation between the two.
Stella had just come out of the bathroom. She felt the atmosphere in the room was strange. She looked around, but said nothing. As she stared at the two men, she noticed the tension between them, as if they were about to fly at each other. If they had met for the first time in a restaurant, how could they already dislike each other so much?
With her back still full of wounds, Stella walked carefully, fearful of opening her wounds. But as she focused on the two men, she accidentally tripped over a chair.
She almost fell to the floor, but Victor, with agile reflexes, pulled her into his arms before she could get hurt.
Despite his quick action, he noticed the pain in her expression and asked, concerned:
“Ella, what happened to you?”
Victor helped her sit up in bed, leaning over to inspect her wounds. But before he could touch her back, a hand stopped him.
“I don’t want to abuse Mr. Arbex’s goodwill, but could you call the doctor to inspect?” Nathan approached, his voice cold, cutting.
Victor hesitated for a moment before stepping back and nodding.
“All right.”
After Victor left, Nathan started to unbutton Stella’s shirt, but she quickly grabbed the collar.
“What are you doing?” she asked, alarmed.
“Lie face down on the bed and don’t move.” Nathan’s voice was firm, irrefutable.
Reluctantly, Stella obeyed. Nathan examined the wounds, noticing that they had not improved. He fixed his clothes again and said dryly:
“In front of Victor, you seemed quite at ease. But now you’re pretending in front of me?”
Stella sensed the accusation in his words and tried to explain herself
“Nathan, what are you implying? Victor and I are just friends. He was just worried…”
Nathan interrupted her dismissively.
“You don’t have to explain. I’m not interested in your relationships. But remember: you and I aren’t divorced yet. Don’t do anything shameful to tarnish the image of the Collins family, Don’t embarrass me either. Understood?”
He stared at her with a mixture of suspicion and coldness. Stella couldn’t contain her indignation and laughed bitterly.
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Chapter 16
“Rest assured, Mr. Collins. No matter how much I can’t help myself, wait until the divorce.”
Nathan didn’t reply, but his face became even darker.
Soon, Victor returned with the doctor.
At the end of the afternoon, Stella was discharged and taken straight to the Collins family home, because, according to the doctor, there was nothing that could be done apart from tending to the wound and waiting for it to heal by itself.
So it was better to rest at home, as there would be more people to look after her.
Stella was very grateful that Nathan didn’t say anything about the cause of her back injury when Anna asked what had happened. She only managed to lie, saying:
“It was glass that I hit and it smashed to pieces against my back.”
Stella didn’t want too many people to know about Fernanda’s illness. What’s more, she didn’t want anyone to think she was a
monster.
In the past, Fernanda was single but pregnant. Thrown out by her family, she received a lot of discrimination. Stella didn’t want Fernanda to go through the same thing again in her old age. As for Liam, Nathan had already warned him, so he didn’t say anything
either.
With Stella’s excuse, of course, Anna didn’t believe it, but she didn’t ask any more questions.
Ever since yesterday’s event, Liam had been worried that his mother would hurt herself again. He wouldn’t leave the door of his room for anything, because then he would feel relieved. But he wouldn’t go into the room, because he remembered what his great- grandmother had said: that his mother needed to rest.
Stella once again saw a small figure standing in front of the door, and also that small head. She laughed.
“Liam, come here.”
Liam came over, took off his shoes and climbed into bed.
“Mom, did I wake you?”
“No, I’ve just been sleeping too much, so I can’t sleep anymore.” – Stella said softly.
Liam lifted his handsome face to look at her. He seemed to want to say something, but stopped. Finally, he plucked up
and asked:
the
courage
“Mom, why did Grandma hit you?”
That was the first time Liam had seen Fernanda angry. It will probably be difficult for him to erase this image from his mind. Stella, however, didn’t expect to have a bad memory of Fernanda.
“Because Mom made a mistake.”
“If you made a mistake, you can just apologize. Why should Grandma hit you?” – He frowned delicately, still not understanding.
Stella stroked his head and smiled slightly.
“Liam, you’re still small. There are many problems that you’ll understand when you grow up. But you have to remember that Grandma loves Mommy. And, of course, she loves you too.”
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Chapter 16
Liam didn’t quite understand, but he nodded nonetheless.
When Nathan arrived in the bedroom, he saw the short conversation between mother and son. Their bodies were resting on the pillow, and Liam’s head was resting on Stella’s shoulder. The scene was undoubtedly soft and sweet. Nathan stood there watching for a long time, until Liam accidentally turned his head and saw him
“Daddy!”
Nathan entered the room, and Stella, remembering today’s events, felt a little strange. She sat down on the bed and coughed softly.
“You’re early.”
“Yes!” – Nathan answered weakly. He went over to Liam, stroked his forehead with his hand and then took off his outer jacket, pulled off his tie and threw everything on the chair.
Then he went into the bathroom to shower.
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