Chapter 94
The moment Jordan picked up, Max’s drunken slurring poured through the speaker,
“Stella… I–I’m so sorry.” His voice cracked. “When you hit me, I hated you. It you do that to me? I’m your brother.”
I wanted to string you up and whip you raw. How could
Max continued, “But then I lay in bed and thought about it. It wasn’t just because I said we should save Anna, was it? You wouldn’t have snapped over just that. You’d have ignored me, not looked at me like I was nothing.”
His breath hitched. “I get it now. We were monsters to you. We kept telling ourselves you were tough–that nothing got to you, that you always smiled—but we never stopped to think you were just hiding it all.”
“You were in more pain than any of us, and we ignored it. You gave Anna everything, and we still picked her over you. God-” Max’s voice broke.
Max cried, “It feels like a knife in my chest. I wish you wrong.”
were here right now so you could hit me again. I was wrong. I know I was
Stella said nothing. Some people only understood after being knocked on their asses.
Max swallowed hard before continuing. “At your birthday party… when you confronted Anna, I saw her face. She looked guilty. My whole life, I refused to believe the little sister I protected could be so twisted. But looking back now? It’s chilling.”
Jordan’s gaze flicked to Stella. “So you believe her? You think Anna set her up?”
“I don’t know,” Max groaned. “They’re both my sisters. And before I came here to drink? Anna slit her own throat to prove her
innocence.”
Jordan let out a cold laugh. “Sounds like you’re still not fully on Stella’s side. So what’s the point of this apology?”
Jordan scoffed, “Do you think getting drunk and crying about it changes anything? It doesn’t move her, and it sure doesn’t move me. Take a long look at what you’ve done.”
With that, he ended the call. His expression softened as he turned to Stella. “See? He’s already suffering. Good.”
Stella had been stewing in frustration, convinced Max’s remorse was just another act. But Jordan’s words cut through the bitterness, leaving her feeling… lighter.
“Eat more greens. They’re easier on your stomach,” Jordan said, nudging a plate toward her.
Stella poked at her food. “Grandma says I’ve been putting on weight.”
Jordan pinched her arm playfully. “A little, but not enough. You should at least hit a hundred pounds.”
“A beauty can’t afford to get too heavy,” she muttered.
“I’m not complaining,” Jordan said casually–then froze when he caught Stella’s wide–eyed stare. He cleared his throat and piled more food onto her plate, feigning nonchalance. “Don’t let Grandma accuse me of neglecting you next time we visit.”
Stella’s mind raced. ‘Am I imagining things… or is Jordan acting differently around me?‘
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Chapter 94
Meanwhile, at the Bar, after his disastrous call with Jordan, Max had dialed Lionel next. By the time his friend arrived. Max was slumped over the counter, glassy–eyed and slurring.
“Enough. You’re done.” Lionel snatched the whiskey glass from his grip.
Max lunged for it. “The hell I am. I’m drinking until I can’t feel my face.”
“Look at yourself!” Lionel snapped. “You’re a mess.”
“Don’t care.” Max’s laugh was ragged. “Only when I’m this gone do things finally make sense. I need to think about what I’ve done.”
When Lionel tried to intervene again, Max shoved him off. “Sit down, man. Ever stop to think? Back then… we were all accomplices.”
“You’re drunk,” Lionel said flatly.
“I’m clearer than ever!” Max slammed his fist on the bar. “I’ve been turning this over for days. Why does she hate us so much? Shouldn’t she understand? We wanted to save her–we just couldn’t. Except… could we have?” His voice cracked.
Max continued, “I was ‘busy with the company.‘ You were ‘busy with work. Meanwhile, Kevin actually went looking for her. Yeah, he failed, but he tried.
“And now? She trusts him completely. But us? She looks at us like we’re strangers. You think it’s just about the kidnapping? Bullshit.”
He dragged a hand down his face. “We treated her like garbage. Ignored her. Meanwhile, she killed herself trying to please us. Learned Dad’s favorite tea. Brought me water when I worked late. Gave me massages when my back ached.
“She studied like hell because she didn’t want to be a burden. And what did we do? Stella might as well have been invisible. We coddled Anna because she was ‘fragile‘ while treating Stella like she was indestructible. But everyone breaks eventually.”
His next words came out hollow. “And Lionel… I think Anna might have orchestrated the whole kidnapping.”
“You’re delusional,” Lionel snapped, recoiling like Max had struck him. “How could Anna possibly do something like that?”
“Think about it. When Stella asked her that day, Anna didn’t deny it right away. And today, when I got home, I saw Anna, and she seemed more and more like Stella. Don’t you get that feeling?” Max pressed.
Lionel frowned, signaling for him to snap out of it. “No way! You must’ve hit your head or something.”
“No! I’ve never been clearer–headed. I think Anna really did it. And today? When I pressed her? She slit her own throat rather than deny it. Does that seem normal to you?”
Lionel made a sharp cutting motion with his hand. “Enough. Next, you’ll be accusing me of being in on it.”
A laugh escaped Max. “Lionel, you think you did nothing wrong? You used to be close to Stella. Why did you stop? Why did you say those hurtful things? Didn’t you love Stella?
“She was away for three years, and you couldn’t wait? Why did you choose Anna? And I’m asking you, why take Stella’s blood when she was barely clinging to life? That was a goddamn execution.
“When my family got into trouble, your family didn’t help. I won’t say anything about that. I’ll just assume you had your reasons.
“But don’t you see that every time Stella was in danger, whether her kidnapping or when her life was hanging by a thread, you
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Chapter 94
would hurt her? She trusted you the most out of all these people. Why did you deliver the final blow?”
The color drained from Lionel’s face as memories surfaced,
At the time, he thought the kidnapping was just Stella running away. That was the only time he’d scolded her, telling her not to be so reckless and to stop causing trouble.
He had waited for Stella for those three years. He believed she was still out there, alive. But Anna had slowly worn down his defenses with her gentle tactics.
