There had been a plan. Emily, Kevin, and Stella had promised that for Stella’s next birthday, the other two would throw her a big party and invite everybody.
Emily was working hard to patch things up with Stella, But Stella caught every bit of disgust hiding in Emily’s eyes
Stella didn’t even bother to reach for the invitation. She stared at Emily and said, “You’re throwing me a party, but you’re giving me an invitation? What do you really want?”
“Stella, why would you think I want something? I have always been your friend. Even if you don’t think of me that way anymore, I haven’t given up on us. But just as she opened her mouth to speak, Stella tore the invitation to shreds.
“This invitation is specially made for you. I was hoping that one day, you’d look at it and remember that your best friend threw you
birthday party… like proof of our bond.”
Stella finally took the invitation and studied it. A triumphant smile spread across Emily’s face.
She pressed the shreds into Emily’s palm. “Kevin and I are still friends–always will be. You and me? We’re not. If I weren’t worried about making extra work for the street cleaners, I’d toss this garbage right in your face.”
“You hold on to this and find a trash can. From today on, we’re not friends anymore.”
Stella turned to leave, but Emily scrambled after her. “Stella, wait. It’s because I’m friends with Anna now, isn’t it? Is that why you can’t forgive me?
“You’re my friend, my best friend. I didn’t have a choice back then. She helped me out. What was I supposed to do? Being an ungrateful bitch?”
Stella stopped and turned back slowly. “You’re right,” she said. “You made your choice. I respect it. I’m not saying you were wrong But since you picked her, you need to stay away from me.”
Emily pleaded, “But why? Anna is your sister, Stella. I so wish you two could get along again.”
Stella scoffed. “Get along? Again?” She thought this was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.
“Anna and I,” she said, “are enemies till the day we die.” And with that, she was gone.
Emily stood frozen, freaking out, tears streaming down her face.
Back home, Stella collapsed onto the sofa, spending a long time just trying to get her breathing under control.
For a while now, she’d been digging into the kidnapping on her own, but she’d hit a wall. The truth wasn’t buried on the internet
anymore.
Every digital footprint, every lead, had been erased. That just convinced her even more that Anna had set up the whole kidnapping hersell,
Stella’s mind raced. She thought, ‘But the real horror show is this… What if my parents and Max were all part of it? Then…
The thought sent an icy shockwave through her, a violent shiver racking her body.
1/3
Chapter 80
Jordan happened to walk in right at that moment. “You cold?” he asked, seeing her shiver.
Stella met his eyes. “No.” Somehow, he didn’t look away.
She thought. No one knows a thing about him. No parents, no history. It’s like he just materialized out of thin air.
“Yet he has this… quiet authority, this old–money vibe that one can’t fake. It makes everyone wonder if he’s from some crazy rich family that stays off the radar.
Taking a deep breath, Stella decided. “Jordan, could you help me look into what happened back then!
Jordan crossed over and dropped onto the couch near her,
“I was gonna
down.
“Thave
hire a private investigator,” Stella explained. “But the Hayes family would sniff out anyone I contacted and shut it
“I have cash, but I don’t have the right kind of power or connections. I figured you probably know people. People who can get things done quietly.”
“Simple enough. What exactly are you after?” Jordan asked.
Stella hesitated, then finally confessed, “Jordan, I suspect… it was Anna who hired the kidnapper back then.”
Jordan’s eyes went wide. He thought, ‘Family people with the same blood running through their veins. Maybe they don’t have to love each other, but they shouldn’t destroy each other either.
Anna was eighteen back then. An adult. There must have been years of bad blood between them. Stella must have been a threat,
or had something Anna would kill for.
So Anna set this up. Not just to get her out of the way, but to erase her. And even if Stella survived, Anna would make sure she could never, ever come home‘
“Okay,” Jordan said. “I’ll find someone to dig into it. But are you really ready for whatever comes out?”
Stella gave a firm nod. “Back in that small town, thinking about this was all I did. I’m ready.”
Jordan nodded back. He grabbed his phone and called his assistant, telling him to get someone on the case.
After hanging up the phone, Jordan looked at Stella and said, “I know you’re not ready for a wedding yet, but i really it to throw you a proper birthday party this year, I want to make it a big deal.”
Stella’s first instinct was to say no. Back when she lived at home, her birthdays were always a shared “celebration” with Anna, where all the real attention and excitement were directed at her sister.
Every year, in front of all their guests, her family would make a show of giving Stella a gift. But the presents for Anna were always perfect, thoughtful, and expensive.
Stella had been a fool back then. She truly believed the story that she’d somehow leached Anna’s health in the womb, making her weak. She’d told herself it was normal that everyone coddled Anna.
But it still hurt like hell. Now Stella knew better. All her quiet tolerance and endless patience had gotten her exactly nowhere.
Stella said, “Alright, let’s do it. Make it a huge party. The bigger, the better. Take the money from my share of the profits. I want everyone to know.”
THE THU 21 Jul
Chapter 80
Jordan got it immediately. “Consider it done. A guest list that size is good PR for the company anyway. And you’re not paying for
your own party..
“Your only job that night is to be the star. I’ve already booked you a team of stylists–the top tier. The kind A–listers have to book months in advance.”
Stella looked at him, truly grateful. She knew, on some level, this was still about business, about their partnership. Anyway, he’d do all this for her. That was more than she could have asked for.
Stella called Eleanor. She knew her grandmother couldn’t make it to her party, but she wanted to share the news about the grand birthday party Jordan was planning.
Eleanor said, “Your parents are throwing a grand birthday party for Anna, too. They even had the nerve to tell me they want you to come home. I know they sent Emily to you. But you know, I would never help them convince you.
“This whole birthday thing is just a desperate stunt to fix their reputation. But who are they kidding? Everyone’s done with them.”
“I can’t let them torch the whole company. Stella replied. “I’m just biding my time. I’m gonna wait till they’ve blown through every penny, sold every last thing. Then I’ll swoop in and take Hayes Group.”
“Good,” Eleanor said. “Make them pay for it, Stella. They’ve earned everything that’s coming to them. God, I hope I’m still around to watch the show.”
Stella managed a small smile. “I’ll make it happen as fast as I can, Grandma.”
Eleanor was dying to see Hayes Group safe in Stella’s hands. Every day that passed, she worried those idiots would trash it beyond repair.
Jordan casually brought up that Stella should get a passport. “Just to make things smoother, in case I need to take you on a business trip,” he said.
With some time to kill, Stella figured she’d start the process and went to the DMV to get a Real ID.
The DMV clerk typed her information into the system, then looked up at her. “Excuse me, Ms. Hayes? Someone filed a death certificate for you a few days ago. You’ve been erased from the system.”
C
