Chapter 176
Chapter 176
Kevin was the first to rush over, looking worried. “Stella, are you alright?”
Stella moved a little. “I feel much better now. Why did you come here?”
“I didn’t see you come back during dinner, so I got worried. I asked around and found out you’d been brought here. I’ve already asked Cavan to investigate who did this to you.”
Stella glanced over at Monroe, who hurried to explain, “It wasn’t me, I swear. I had no idea what was going on. I was eating with my clients.
And they are all still waiting for me over there.”
Kevin still didn’t buy it. “Stella, just tell me. What exactly did he do to you?”
Stella kept her eyes fixed on Monroe. To Kevin, it looked like Monroe was up to something.
“See? Stella’s only looking at you. And you still won’t admit it? What are the odds you just happened to find her? Are you still saying this has
nothing to do with you at all?”
Monroe gave Stella an innocent look. “Come on, tell him. Did’t do anything?”
Kevin was about to say more, but Stella cut him off. “It wasn’t him. If it weren’t for him, I might’ve been in real trouble.”
Kevin froze, clearly not expecting Monroe to be telling the truth.
Stella looked at him. “Thank you, Monroe. You saved me. But why did you help me
Monroe was stunned by her question and didn’t know how to answer. After he’d calmed down, he’d been asking himself the same question.
But no matter how he turned it over in his mind, he just couldn’t figure it out. ‘Good thing we’re not in Seavale. If Anna ever found out about
this, she’d lose it,‘ he thought.
“I’d rather it stayed just between us,” he said, hinting that Stella shouldn’t mention it to Anna.
Kevin seemed to catch on. “Wait, don’t tell me you actually like Stella, not Anna. Are you worried Anna will get mad if she finds out?”
“No, I like…” Monroe started, but then he glanced at Stella. I like Anna, don’t I?‘ Monroe thought to himself. ‘Everyone knows who I like.‘ But right now, he just couldn’t say it out loud.
“All right, just drop it,” Kevin said. “It’d be better if you liked Stella. I mean, I know you probably don’t stand a chance, but that’s still way better than helping Anna with all her shady stuff.”
Monroe couldn’t help but speak up for Anna, “Anna’s not the person you think she is. You don’t know anything about Stella. Do you know what she’s done? Don’t just get blinded by love and believe everything Stella says.”
“You’re the one who’s blinded by love,” Kevin shot back. “Whether it’s Eleanor or Emily, Anna’s tied to both their deaths. But since you saved Stella, let me be real with you–if you keep sticking with Anna, she’s only going to drag you down.”
“No way. Anna had nothing to do with their deaths. She was heartbroken when they died. I saw how much she suffered. Don’t go blaming
Anna for something she didn’t do.”
“That was all just a show for you, and I can’t believe you bought it.”
Seeing the two of them about to start a fight, Stella had to interject, “Alright, that’s enough. Monroe, I saved you once before, and now you’ve saved me. We’re even.
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Chapter 176
“Kevin, they’re probably still waiting for us at the restaurant. I need to get back. I’m so embarrassed about all this. She started to get up.
Kevin didn’t want to keep arguing with Monroe either, so he helped Stella up and walked out with her.
Monroe felt something was off about what Stella just said. He immediately stepped in front of her, frowning. “Hold on, what did you just say? What do you mean you saved me before? When did you ever save me?”
Stella ignored him and didn’t answer. Monroe refused to give up, trying to get something out of her, but Stella kept silent. Just as Monroe was
about to follow, Kevin shot him a fierce glare, making him stop in his tracks.
Monroe stood there, stunned, for a long time. ‘Why would Stella say she saved me? When did that happen? Was it that time?‘ he wondered.
Just then, his phone rang–it was Anna calling. Monroe answered.
“Monroe, how’s everything going over there?” Anna asked.
“It’s fine. Why?” He slowly looked away, mouthing a quick goodbye to the doctor before heading out.
“We just parted ways, and I already miss you.”
Monroe felt a warm rush in his chest. “I miss you too.”
“Don’t worry, I promise I won’t cause any trouble while you’re away. I’ll be good and stay home, just waiting for you to come back.”
Monroe pressed his lips together. “Anna, can I ask you something?”
Anna’s heart gave a sudden jolt, but she kept her tone casual. “Sure, ask away.”
“Back then, it was you who saved me, right?”
Anna was surprised that he was bringing this up, and her heart started pounding, but she forced herself to answer calmly. “You know I’ve never tried to use that to get anything from you, Monroe. Saving you was just something I did without thinking.”
“All right, I get it.”
Anna let out a quiet sigh of relief, thinking to herself, ‘Looks like he bought it.‘
“Oh, by the way, I met Stella,” Monroe added. But Anna froze at his words.
“It seemed like she was in some kind of trouble. Anyway, I gotta go. I’ve got some clients to meet,” Monroe said before hanging up.
As Anna heard the call end, she glanced at the time on her phone. By now, her people should have succeeded, but there was still no news. Yet Monroe said he ran into Stella, ‘Did he get caught up in what I arranged?‘ she thought.
Just then, Anna’s phone rang–it was one of her contacts calling. “Anna, we didn’t get it done.
“Damn it, à guy just popped up and stuck his nose in. We couldn’t take him, so we had no choice but to let him walk off with Stella.”
“Describe him to me,” Anna said sharply.
On the other end, the person gave a quick description. To Anna, it sounded exactly like Monroe. She thought, ‘Why would Monroe save Stella?
‘I even made up a story to turn him against Stella, but he still went out of his way to help her. And why would he ask me that question? Is he starting to suspect me?‘
“All right, I get it,” Anna replied.
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Chapter 176
Andrew glanced at his daughter. “What’s going on?”
“Dad, Monroe messed up our plan.”
Andrew looked puzzled. “How did that happen?”
Anna laid out everything she’d figured out so far, making sure to fill Andrew in on all
the details about Stella.
She knew Jordan and Stella were no fools—if they ever got to the bottom of this, she’d need Andrew to take the blame for her. Under no circumstances could she let this get traced back to her.
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Chapter 177
