Chapter 1241 Jealousy and Tantrums
Bringing up this incident, Hannah couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"You have no idea—Stella became a legend at school because of this. She earned herself the reputation as our campus's infamous 'fiery beauty.' We all thought everyone would be terrified of her, but surprisingly, even more guys started chasing after her."
"And then?" Randy prompted.
Charles chuckled. "Then? There was no 'then'! The truth came out, and that was that. Sure, the whole thing caused quite a stir, and Stella's methods were questionable. But who could touch her? She's Nexus Holdings Corporation royalty, and she has me as her cousin backing her up. The administration gave her a slap on the wrist, expelled the girl who spread the rumors, and called it a day."
Randy was stunned.
Hannah practically bounced with excitement as she continued, "I'm telling you, you couldn't imagine the scene! The arts festival was held in our main auditorium—it seats over a thousand people with entrances at both ends. Security locked all the doors from the outside, four guards stationed at each entrance. No one could leave, no one could enter. Ninety more security personnel surrounded the entire hall, armed and standing at attention like soldiers.
"Students barely dared to breathe as they watched Stella drag that girl by her hair all the way up to the stage. The poor girl was screaming bloody murder! Then, right in front of every student and faculty member present, Stella beat the living daylights out of her. Not a single soul dared intervene. That's when the girl finally realized who Stella really was—that she'd messed with the wrong person.
"Anyone else would have investigated, gathered evidence, and let the administration clear their name. But not Stella—she doesn't do conventional. No investigation, just pure violence to force a confession. Simple, brutal, effective. You should have seen how magnificent she looked up there on that stage. Half the girls in school developed crushes on her!"
Randy was bewildered.
Charles looked at Randy with genuine sympathy and sighed. "So you see, you can cross anyone except Stella. Once you've provoked her, the consequences are severe. All I can do is offer my silent prayers for you. You're on your own with this one."
Randy's heart sank into despair. He couldn't reconcile the sweet, coquettish girl who had playfully teased him last night with Charles's description of this vengeful force of nature. There had to be some misunderstanding. Yes, definitely a misunderstanding that he needed to clear up immediately. Otherwise, the consequences would be dire.
With this thought, he grabbed his car keys and rushed out in a whirlwind of panic.
Watching his frantic retreat, Hannah and Charles couldn't suppress their laughter, sharing an amused glance.
Meanwhile, Stella reached the door of her presidential suite and glanced back down the corridor. No sign of Randy anywhere. Her fury blazed higher. Randy clearly didn't truly care about her. He knew he'd upset her, yet he hadn't even tried to make amends. She'd only wanted him to comfort her earlier when she felt a little hurt, but now she was genuinely furious—the kind of anger that wouldn't be easily soothed.
Stella stormed into her room and slammed the door with a resounding bang.
Since it was still early, she flopped onto the living room sofa and grabbed the remote, channel-surfing aggressively. Though her eyes appeared glued to the screen, her mind wandered elsewhere entirely. God, she was bored out of her skull. She couldn't even go out, and someone had the audacity to upset her. If she'd known coming early would be this aggravating, she would have stayed in Country D until Hannah's wedding.
Finding nothing worthwhile on television, Stella pulled out her phone and scrolled to Emeric's contact, considering whether to chat with him to kill time. She'd just opened his Facebook when her phone suddenly rang, startling her so badly she nearly dropped it.
After steadying herself, she saw Randy's name on the caller ID. Without hesitation, she declined the call and tossed the phone onto the sofa cushions. He hadn't bothered to comfort her earlier—now it was too late. She had no intention of dealing with him.
The ringing stopped, only to be replaced by knocking at her door, followed by Randy's familiar, gentle voice.
"Stella, please open up. I know you're in there. I came specifically to apologize and brought your favorite chocolates as a peace offering. Won't you let me in?"
Hearing that he'd personally bought chocolates to make amends, Stella felt the corners of her mouth twitch upward involuntarily. But then she remembered his near-marriage and how he'd been depressed over that woman for weeks. The pleasant feeling soured, and her smile vanished.
When she remained silent, Randy's voice came again.
"Stella, this is a hotel—if I keep making noise, other guests will complain. Please let me in so we can talk inside. Whatever I did to upset you, I'm sorry. Just open the door and let me in."
Stella considered his words and realized he had a point. If he continued knocking, her parents might hear and come investigate. They'd undoubtedly lecture her about being unreasonable and throwing tantrums. To avoid attracting her family's attention, Stella reluctantly dragged herself off the sofa and opened the door.
Randy immediately thrust the chocolate box toward her.
"I don't know what I did wrong, but since you're upset, it must be my fault. I'm sorry—will you forgive me?"
Stella glanced at the chocolates in his hands. They were indeed her favorite brand. The fact that Randy remembered warmed her heart slightly and dampened her anger. But then thoughts of his almost-bride crept back in, making her uncomfortable again. She turned away petulantly and returned to the sofa.
Randy followed her inside, closing the door behind him. He sat beside her and gently ruffled her hair with infinite patience. "First, tell me what I did wrong. Even if you're going to stay mad at me, at least let me know why. How else can I make it up to you?"
Stella knew she was being unreasonable, but she couldn't help herself. She curled up on the sofa, knees drawn to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs, looking at Randy with wounded eyes like she'd suffered some terrible injustice.
Randy was puzzled. Seeing her expression, he was overwhelmed by guilt, as if he'd committed some unforgivable sin.
"What's wrong? Tell me, and I'll fix it."
Stella's lips moved several times before she finally managed to speak hesitantly, "Hannah told me that you... you almost got married before?"
Randy saw no reason to hide the truth—it was simply fact.
"Yes, I almost got married. Everything was arranged, invitations sent, preparations complete. Then the night before the wedding, the bride ran away."
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
