Chapter 38
Stella walked out of her room when Andrew smacked her hard, daring her. Her face still hurt from before, and the hit made it worke
She stood horen as Andrew grabbed her and dragged her downstairs. She couldn’t keep up. He dragged her down the stairs. Her ankles screamed in
After throwing her on the floor, Andrew yelled, “Someonel Get my belt?”
The servant didn’t know what was happening, but seeing how angry Andrew was, she ran to the bedroom and grabbed it,
As Stella struggled to get up, Andrew snatched the belt and started whipping het. “You snitching? Huh?” he shouted. “Your brother talked to you, gave you a few smacks–so what? He’s your brother. When you mess up, he should set you straight.
“You went crying to your grandma? You know she best him? She never laid a hand on him before! You even seen how messed up his back is now?!”
Stella tried to dodge the blows, but couldn’t escape Andrew. “I didn’t tell Grandma,” she said.
“Shut your mouth!” Andrew yelled, chasing her and whipping her so hard that blood stained her clothes.
“You’ve been gone three years–forget how this family works? If I knew you’d come back to shame us and wreck everything, I’d never have let you in. You should’ve just died out there!”
Stella’s body ached, but her heart hurt way worse. He finally said it–just blurted it out. He wished she were dead.
“What a joke. They actually acted like the
they cared, but they only let me come back for themselves, she thought, bitterness twisting inside her.
Fiona tried to step in at first, but Andrew snapped that anyone in his way was next. Scared stiff, Fiona just begged Stalla, “Stella, stop fighting your dad. Just say you’re sorry, and he’ll stop.”
Stella gave her a cold glare. Fiona stumbled back.
Then Anna grabbed Andrew’s arm. “Dad, stop! Keep hitting her like this, and she might die. And if Mr. Bass finds out what we did, he’ll lose it–what then!”
Andrew couldn’t just push Anna away. He got mad again, thinking about how Anna said Stella acted all uppity with Henry backing her up.
But he had to think about Henry. If Stella snitched, Henry could pull his money out of the company.
Andrew showed the belt at a servant and glared at Stella. “See that? Your sister is ten times better than you. You can’t stand her, like she’s your worst enemy, but all she does is care and help you. When are you gonna get your head straight?”
Stella hurt all over. She looked at Anna. Anna seemed worried, but up close, Stella could see the smug look underneath.
Stella pulled herself up. Blood dripped onto the floor. She tried to speak, but passed out cold.
Fiona scrambled to Stella’s side. Her voice was tight. “Stella Stellal
Andrew folded his arms behind his back, scowling. Leave her be. She’s faking it.”
Stella didn’t move, no matter how much Fiona begged Fiona freaked out. This couldn’t happen–Eleanor would flip when she found out. She might hit Andrew, or even pass out from anger. “Call an ambulance! Now!” she shouted.
A servant ran off to call. Andrew just laughed it off “Don’t let her fool you.”
Fiona shot Andrew a look. “You know she’s sick, Andrew. Why’d you hit her so hard?”
“Hard? I went easy on her,” Andrew snapped. “Lock what she did! You see Max’s back? All that blood?”
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Chapter 38
“Doesn’t mean you can hurt Stella, Fiona shot back.
“What’s wrong with you?” Andrew yelled. “Can’t you see what she’s done?”
Anna’s face went stone–cold
The ambulance pulled op, siren screaming loud enough to wake the dead. They rushed Steta inside,
In her room, Eleanor was grilling Max, trying to get him to admit he messed up. Just as he mumbled “Yeah,” a big ruckus started outside.
“Mary, what’s that noise? Go see,” Eleanor ordered.
Mary shot out the door just as they were loading Stella into the ambulance. She grabbed a servant real quick to find out what happened, then ran back to give Eleanor the lowdown.
“What? Stella got beat up?” Eleanor gasped, shocked.
Mary knew she shouldn’t freak Eleanor out, but with that ambulance siren wailing, there was no way to keep it quiet.
Eleanor tried to head downstairs, and Max jumped up to steady her. “Whoa there, Grandma,” he said,
Lately, Deanor had been stuck in her room pretty much 24/7, only busting out for the bathroom, even eating in there.
Seeing how scared Eleanor looked, Max got worried too, even with his back blazing from the beating. He went out with her.
“Andrew, why’d you hit Stella? Eleanor snapped.
When Andrew saw Eleanor, his knees almost gave out. “Mom, what’re you doing out here?”
“Leald, why’d you hit Stella?” Eleanor pressed, her voice sharp.
Andrew just stood there, speechless.
Mary got straight to the point. “You think Stella told Mrs. Hayes that Max roughed her up outside? No way, you’ve got it all wrong. I saw her bruised cheek, mentioned it to Mrs. Hayes, and she hauled Max in to find out what happened.
“Max copped to it pretty quick once Mrs. Hayes started questioning him. Mrs. Hayes adores Stella, so she really let Max have it. Stella didn’t do a thing–t
was all me,”
Finally, Eleanor got it. “Hear that? Stella didn’t do anything wrong! You’re all clueless, jumping to hit her for no reason! I’m going to the hospital too.”
Andrew panicked. “Mom, you ain’t in no shape for the hospital,” he said.
“What if something happens to Stella and I ain’t there?” she shot back, her voice tight with worry
Mary chimed in, “We should let Mrs. Hayes go. Gotta make sure Stella’s okay
So just like that, the whole bunch beaded for the hospital.
Meanwhile, Lionel was tending to Stella in the operating room.
Outside, Andrew and Fiona just looked at each other. Deep down, they felt kinda guilty, but neither would own up to being wrong.
“It was just disciplining, Andrew thought. ‘What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like Stella’d fight back or cut ties with us.
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