EuropeNovelChapter 426
Haynes's dark eyes were unreadable. "Are you sure about this?"
"What, did you think I was joking?"
"There were steak knives at the party. You could've tried one."
Stella let out a laugh, but it was as cold as winter rain. "You want to provokeinto stabbing you in public, then
havethrown in jail?"
He met her gaze, resentment simmering in his eyes. "You're overthinking it. | just wanted to give you a chance to
get even."
She gave a bitter, mocking smile. "And what-one stab would make up for everything you cost me? Since when is
life that easy? Don't you think that's letting you off far too lightly?"
She hadn't slapped Haynes in front of Mr. Walden, not because she didn't want to, but because she refused to
give anyone ammunition against her. In that kind of crowd, it wouldn't matter who was right or wrong; if she
struck first, she'd be the one to blin the end.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt
Throwing away her reputation over someone like him-utterly pointless.
Haynes seemed to realize he was in the wrong. He stood in silence for a long tbefore finally saying, “I'll
make it up to you."
"Make it up?" Stella laughed, as if she'd just heard the punchline to a bad joke. "With what? That so-called
‘compensation'-your charitable little two million?"
Right now, even looking at him made her skin crawl.
She took a few steps back, turned, and walked away.
Haynes stayed rooted to the spot, watching her retreat until she disappeared from view, not moving an inch.
ork
A light knock sounded at the office door. Benson stepped inside.
"Mr. O'Brien, we've finally tracked down Star's location. Would you like to go there yourself?"
Benson had spent days investigating Star. After his last contact with Star's friend, the person immediately
deactivated their phone number. When Benson traced the number, it turned out to be registered under a
completely unrelated name.
He suspected the number was one Star used exclusively for outside communication. Once Star realized Benson
was closing in, they'd cut off all contact without hesitation.
That detour had wasted precious time. In the end, Benson hired a hacker and finally managed to pinpoint the
phone's location.
Haynes happened to be free at that moment. He nodded. "Takethere."
ork
In the studio, Stella and Abby Murphy were compiling a list of the equipment that had been smashed to pieces.
"The instruments in the rehearsal
room are basically all trashed-we'll need to replace everything. The floor's been covered in paint, so that have to
be redone. Curtains, windows, walls..." Abby trailed off.
Anyone who's ever renovated a stuknows how exhausting and complicated it can be. And thanks to Jasper's
rampage, everything was right back to square
one.
Blood-red paint scrawls still screamed from the walls. They hadn't even started cleaning them up.
A shadow passed over Stella's expression. "Abby, start looking for a new stuas soon as possible."
Abby glanced at her. "Are you really just going to hand this place over to Rachel?"
Stella replied, "Now that Haynes is involved, I'm not worried he'll cafter me. I'm worried he'll go after
Antoney. Right now, he holds the lease to this place."
Abby knew Haynes had turned down Mr. Walden for Stella's sake—and that he'd somehow managed to get
Rachel accepted as Mr. Walden's student.
"Rachel, that conniving old
snake-she's the queen of
backstabbing. She grabs everything she can get her hands on! And as for Mr. Walden, the older he gets, the
worse his judgment becomes. Taking Rachel on as a student? He's going to ruin his reputation for good!"
Visit our social media platform to read fascinating stories every day and connect with the community!
