My Amnesic Ex Married My Sister, So I Married His Uncle-Chapter 39: It Was You Who Wronged Stella Sterling First
The distinguished, aloof man leaned casually against his desk, gazing out at the city lights that twinkled like a field of stars.
Ethan Rhodes’s gaze kept drifting unconsciously to Owen Rhodes’s hand.
Owen’s long, slender fingers were gently turning the wedding ring on his left ring finger, a gentle smile gracing his lips.
Ethan stared at the ring and blurted out, "Does Grandfather know? Who is she? When did this happen?"
Too many questions flooded his mind, and they tumbled out in a confused jumble.
He was utterly astonished.
For a man like Owen, his marriage hadn’t been his to decide from the moment he returned to the Rhodes Family.
Owen was thirty-two this year. Ethan had heard from his parents that ever since Owen joined the Kyros Group, Old Master Rhodes had been trying to find him a suitable bride from other prominent families. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
Owen was the old master’s illegitimate son. For someone like him with no inherent backing, marrying into a powerful family to secure his place in the Rhodes Family was the best possible move.
Unfortunately, though the old master had presented many candidates, for some reason Owen, in his aloofness, hadn’t taken a liking to a single one.
He had hardly even agreed to a proper meeting with any of them.
In contrast, plenty of young ladies from those prominent families flocked to him.
’Heh! Being handsome really is a superpower, isn’t it?’
Yet Owen paid them no mind.
For a while, the old master had even started to question Owen’s sexual orientation.
Coincidentally, Owen was always hanging out with Silas Jacobs around that time.
If Silas hadn’t been a notorious womanizer, the old master might have suspected the two had secretly pledged their lives to each other.
Later, as Owen led Kyros to soar to new heights, the old master stopped pressuring him as intensely as he had in previous years.
After all, with Kyros having reached its current status, the families the old master had once approved of were not necessarily on their level anymore.
Who would have thought that overnight, Owen would quietly become a "married" man!
And behind the entire Rhodes Family’s back!
Owen gazed softly at the ring on his hand, clearly having no intention of answering the questions.
When he finally spoke, his voice was as cold as ever. "Is the Veridian project settled?"
’Great,’ Ethan thought. ’Here comes the interrogation.’
Owen didn’t invite him to sit, but Ethan didn’t treat himself as a guest and sat down on the sofa anyway.
His tone was casual. "Isn’t Quinn Lawson keeping an eye on things over there? Besides, Uncle, my engagement party is tomorrow. Coming back now isn’t a capital offense, is it?"
He didn’t know why, but even though people constantly reminded him that Owen was ruthless, stern, and humorless, and that he should be extremely careful with his words and actions around him...
...he just couldn’t bring himself to be "afraid" of him.
This casual tone was more of an instinct.
’Maybe it’s because Owen and I had a good relationship before my amnesia,’ Ethan thought, ’so my instincts make me feel like I have nothing to fear.’
"You made your choice," Owen said, his face impassive.
"..." That was true.
Ethan gave an embarrassed smile, acting a little shameless. "Uncle, I’ll head back to Veridia first thing the day after tomorrow. I promise I won’t delay my work!"
Owen shot him a look and offered a cold, six-word assessment: "You want it all, don’t you?"
Ethan intuitively felt a sting in his uncle’s words, but before he could figure it out, Owen asked, "Have you and Stella Sterling broken things off completely?"
Ethan nodded emphatically. "I deleted her number and got rid of all her things. If I didn’t make a clean break, Kiana would never let me hear the end of it. Her health is delicate; I can’t bear to upset her."
At this, Ethan suddenly grinned. "Speaking of which, Uncle, I’m pretty charming, aren’t I? It seems Stella still can’t get over me."
The smugness in his voice was unmistakable.
After his moment of pride, he grew anxious again. "Uncle, you don’t think Stella will come and cause a scene at the engagement party tomorrow, do you? If she dares to make trouble this time, I won’t go easy on her."
Ethan gnashed his teeth in frustration, completely failing to notice that Owen’s eyes had turned icy cold, as sharp as winter frost.
"And how will you ’not go easy on her’?" Owen’s voice was cold enough to shatter glass. "Ethan Rhodes, do I need to remind you? You were the one who wronged Stella first."
Ethan finally detected the anger in Owen’s voice, and his back, which had been slumped against the sofa, involuntarily straightened.
"Acting without a plan, utterly irresponsible... is this how your father raised you?"
For a moment, Ethan couldn’t tell if his uncle was talking about the situation with Stella or the Veridian project.
"Don’t forget, the marriage agreement between the Rhodes and Sterling families is still missing. If it were to be exposed one day, do you think you have what it takes to handle the fallout yourself without it affecting Kyros?"
’No, he didn’t...’
"Since you’ve chosen Kiana Sterling, you will bear all the consequences and risks you two face as a couple from now on. When you’re in public, don’t let anyone hear Stella’s name from either of your mouths—not if you don’t want to become a laughingstock."
Ethan’s restless heart grew still in the face of Owen’s ice-cold voice.
After he woke up from the car accident, Kiana Sterling had visited him in the hospital a few times.
There was something very familiar about her, and with the deliberate guidance of their families’ elders, he soon fell for her.
Only later did he find out that Kiana had a sister.
And that her sister was, shockingly, his girlfriend at the time.
’He admitted his actions hadn’t been very gentlemanly, but so what? He didn’t remember any of it anyway.’
’Besides, the one he liked was Kiana.’
’Kiana was gentle and sweet, completely different from the hysterical Stella.’
’Although he had occasionally seen Stella in the hospital garden, staring into space and crying.’
’Her tears were pitiable, but that was all.’
’Stella was beautiful—when she was quiet.’
’But whenever she was around him, she was either crying or causing a scene.’
’He was already suffering from headaches, and her outbursts only made them worse.’
’Gradually, his pity turned to indifference, and eventually, to disgust.’
Initially, he had been troubled by the situation with Kiana and Stella. At the time, he didn’t know what he was thinking, but he had actually asked for Owen’s opinion.
He asked Owen what he should do, who he should choose.
Owen had said, "Do what you want to do."
So he made his choice. He chose Kiana.
Fortunately, he later learned that his parents had never liked Stella, so not many people knew about their past relationship.
So he made a series of high-profile romantic gestures: projections on skyscrapers, digital displays in malls, subway billboards, public confessions in plazas, drone shows—he tried them all.
And the result was exactly what he wanted.
Everyone now believed that Kiana was his one true love.
He understood the meaning behind Owen’s words now.
Right now, the only people who truly understood the relationship between the three of them were the individuals involved.
If he and Kiana couldn’t keep their composure and exposed the secret, the three of them—as well as the entire Rhodes and Sterling families—would become a laughingstock.
He nodded seriously. "Uncle, I know what to do."
"I’ll give you three years," Owen said finally. "If, in these three years, you, your wife, and Stella can coexist peacefully, then 3% of Kyros’s shares will be your wedding gift. But if the story between you and Stella gets out, those shares will go to Stella as compensation. Furthermore, your branch of the family will be responsible for all losses the Group incurs as a result. Do you understand?"
Ethan was stunned for a moment, then inwardly ecstatic.
’What did 3% of the Group’s shares even mean?’
’It meant that for three years, he didn’t have to do anything but live a quiet life with his wife, and he would get 1% of the shares each year.’
’And those shares would be enough for him to crush all his peers in the Rhodes Family.’
He couldn’t suppress his smile. "Uncle, you can just get the share transfer agreement ready. There is absolutely no chance of anything happening between Stella and me."
Owen shot him a glance and said in a low voice, "Remember what you just said."
