My Amnesic Ex Married My Sister, So I Married His Uncle-Chapter 106: Stella Is the One I’ve Loved for All These Years
Silas Jacobs: "..."
’What is this damn "pure love" speech?’
’See? I told you Owen Rhodes was the most innocent one of the four of them.’
Silas Jacobs said, exasperated, "So what are you trying to say? You want her to like you for who you are, and nothing else? Rhodes, I never took you for the ’pure love’ type."
Owen Rhodes closed his eyes, trying to hold it in. But in the end, he couldn’t resist kicking out at Silas Jacobs.
The man who had brazenly kicked Owen Rhodes twice tonight finally got his comeuppance.
Silas Jacobs instantly grimaced, clutching his shin and doubling over. Then, as luck would have it, he smacked his forehead on the edge of the card table as he bent down.
Now both his forehead and his shin were throbbing with pain.
For a moment, he wasn’t sure which spot to clutch.
While Silas Jacobs was nursing his injuries with tears in his eyes, Wyatt Keating glanced over and said, "You’re contradicting yourself. You don’t want to burden Stella Sterling, but you also want her to fall for you and stay. If you don’t say anything, though, if you don’t give her any kind of response, what reason does she have to stay for you?"
Julian Chandler, who had been watching from the sidelines, couldn’t help but silently applaud.
’That’s Barrister Keating for you,’ he thought. ’Always hits the nail on the head.’
Wyatt Keating leaned back and said casually, "I don’t know why you’re being so cautious, but if you don’t actually pursue her, you have no right to ask her to stay. A relationship involves two people. You might think you’re giving her freedom, but you’re really just handing her over to someone else. Your job is to make your feelings known. Her choice is whether or not to accept them."
Owen Rhodes fell silent, lost in thought.
His eyes full of admiration, Julian Chandler raised his glass to toast Wyatt Keating. "To listen to you for a moment is more enlightening than ten years of study!"
After toasting Wyatt, he turned to toast Silas Jacobs, who was just recovering.
"And listening to you... is as good as listening to you."
"Hey, you little bastard! If I don’t drink you under the table tonight, my name isn’t Silas Jacobs!"
...
「Meanwhile.」
「The Patrine Gardens.」
Ethan Rhodes had been kept in the hospital overnight for observation and was supposed to be discharged today.
However, because of Stella Sterling’s outburst in the hospital room last night—during which she’d slammed Kiana Sterling’s head against a cabinet, cutting it open—Kiana had been feeling unwell. After another round of check-ups, the two didn’t leave the hospital until evening.
Kiana Sterling had intended to return to the Sterling family estate, but just as she was about to leave, Ethan Rhodes said he had something to tell her and brought her to The Patrine Gardens, the residence of Jonathan Rhodes and his wife.
And so, they arrived for a family dinner, both of them injured.
During dinner, Jonathan Rhodes looked at their listless state, seemed about to say something, but just sighed instead.
Yolanda Thorne nudged him, displeased. "Why are you sighing? Our son just got home. Can’t you be a little happier?"
Jonathan Rhodes was frustrated himself.
"He’d have to do something worth being happy about for me to feel happy! Ugh!"
’If it weren’t for that car accident a year ago, things wouldn’t have come to this!’
Jonathan Rhodes grew furious just thinking about Simon Rhodes’s secretly smug expression.
’If Ethan weren’t such a disappointment, the corporation’s affairs would never have fallen to that little brat, Evan!’
’He goes to a family banquet and still manages to cause such a scandal.’
There had been too many people present yesterday, so he’d held his tongue. But now, back in his own home, the more Jonathan Rhodes thought about it, the angrier he became. With a sharp CLACK, he slammed his chopsticks down on the table.
"What was that attitude of yours last night? Ethan Rhodes, do I need to remind you? You’re an engaged man! Stella Sterling is Owen Rhodes’s wife! Can’t you get that through your head?!"
Jonathan Rhodes’s blunt words made both Yolanda Thorne and Kiana Sterling flinch.
Ethan’s attitude in the hospital room yesterday had been obvious, but during the day, no one had dared to address it openly.
Kiana Sterling silently put down her chopsticks and lowered her head, her hands under the table unconsciously tightening their grip on the hem of her dress.
Ethan Rhodes raised his head, looking at Jonathan Rhodes and Yolanda Thorne with a frank gaze. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
"Dad, Mom, I remember everything. The memories I lost in the car accident... they’ve all come back. Stella is the one I’ve loved for all these years. I can’t let her go."
The dining room fell into a dead silence.
By the time the others processed his words, Jonathan Rhodes had already slapped Ethan Rhodes hard across the face.
"You bastard! Do you think you can just pick and choose people like you’re at a market? Not to mention that Stella Sterling is already Owen Rhodes’s wife, Kiana is sitting right next to you! Where does this leave her? I think you really did smash your brains in!"
Yolanda Thorne shot to her feet, rushing over to examine Ethan’s face, which was turned to the side from the force of the blow.
She couldn’t help but rebuke her husband. "What are you doing! Our son was just seriously injured yesterday! Can’t you talk things through without resorting to violence?"
"Hah, not get physical? I’m afraid if I don’t, I won’t be able to knock the water out of his brain! Just listen to the nonsense he’s spouting! If you ask me, the only reason Ethan is so damn reckless is because you spoiled him!"
Although Yolanda Thorne’s heart ached for her son, she knew this matter wasn’t something he could decide on a whim.
Stroking her son’s cheek, she said, "Ethan, you can’t do this. Have you forgotten how much you liked Kiana? The engagement party is over. Everyone knows you two are engaged. What is Kiana supposed to do now?"
Ethan turned to look at Kiana Sterling, who sat beside him with her head lowered. After a long silence, he said, "We can call off the engagement."
"You dare say that nonsense again!"
Jonathan Rhodes felt the blood rush to his head. He shot up from his chair, ready to charge over and beat his son.
Yolanda Thorne desperately held him back, stopping him from landing another slap on Ethan.
Finally, Jonathan Rhodes laid down the law. "Let me tell you something. You were the one who insisted on breaking up with Stella Sterling, and you were the one who swore you’d marry no one but Kiana Sterling! If you dare to call off this engagement, then I, Jonathan Rhodes, will no longer have a son!"
With that, Jonathan Rhodes shook off Yolanda Thorne’s restraining arms and stormed out of the dining room.
The atmosphere in the dining room was incredibly awkward. For a moment, Yolanda Thorne didn’t know what to say.
It was Kiana Sterling who broke the silence. "Auntie, could I speak with Ethan alone?"
The situation certainly required the two of them to talk, so Yolanda Thorne gave them their space.
After Yolanda Thorne left, the dining room was silent for a long time.
With tears in her eyes, Kiana asked in a choked voice, "Ethan, do you really not want me anymore? What is it about me that’s not as good as Stella?"
