My Amnesic Ex Married My Sister, So I Married His Uncle-Chapter 53: I Don’t Want You to Think I’m Still Hung Up
Stella felt a little guilty as she confessed to Owen, her eyes downcast, not daring to look at him.
She had once cherished these letters. They were her only source of emotional support back when she was in a foreign country, a stranger in a strange land, with no one to talk to.
At the engagement party, she had said she thought of Ethan Rhodes as a familiar older-brother type from next door, and that wasn’t entirely an empty claim.
In the ten years they corresponded, the Ethan Rhodes who emerged from between the lines of his letters felt just like that—a gentle, older-brother figure.
He was steady and magnanimous, knowledgeable and well-read.
This "he" would generously praise her "grand feats" that her family refused to accept, and he would gently soothe her inner fears and anxieties.
In short, he was completely different from the Ethan Rhodes of today.
That’s why she felt a sense of disconnect, a sense of unfamiliarity.
She sometimes even found herself thinking, ’So this is how much a person can change after losing their memory—so much that they seem like a completely different person.’
But regardless, this was not a problem she should be considering now.
Ethan Rhodes was Kiana Sterling’s fiancé, and she was Owen Rhodes’s wife.
Worried that Owen would misunderstand, she quickly added, "I know you said our marriage wouldn’t cause you any trouble, but I also know things aren’t that simple. Once my identity becomes public, people with ulterior motives could easily spin a story, and you would be implicated. That would just be idle gossip, which doesn’t really matter. But if the marriage agreement between me and Ethan Rhodes were to be exposed, the nature of the situation would change completely. I don’t want you to be put in a difficult position because of all this."
Owen looked at her fingers, which she was unconsciously twisting together, and reached out to ruffle the top of her head.
"Why are you suddenly telling me all this?"
Stella had never mentioned these letters to him before.
If Stella had intended to hide it, she could have quietly gone through the letters herself and then disposed of them on her own.
If she hadn’t confessed today, she could have hidden it for a lifetime, and Owen would never have known.
But she had laid it all out in the open.
Stella thought for a moment before saying, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "I don’t want you to misunderstand."
Upon hearing this, Owen raised an eyebrow, coaxing her gently, "Misunderstand what?"
Stella was being very serious and didn’t notice the slight upward lilt in Owen’s tone or the deepening color in his dark eyes.
"Misunderstand that I’m still hung up on Ethan Rhodes."
A hint of a smile touched Owen’s eyes. Then he heard Stella say, "You’ve helped me so much. The least I can do is not stab you in the back."
’Oh. So it’s just about repaying a debt of gratitude, that’s all.’
The smile in Owen’s eyes faded. He was silent for two seconds before replying, "Okay. We’ll look at them together then."
Just as he finished speaking, Owen’s phone rang.
He glanced at the caller ID, his expression displeased.
When the call connected, Owen said a single word, devoid of emotion, "Father."
Bernard Rhodes was getting on in years, but for now, his health was still reasonably robust.
It was late, and the old man’s voice sounded noticeably tired, but he had still forced himself to make this call to Owen.
"Was it true what you said in that interview about being married? I heard you even wore a wedding ring to Ethan’s engagement party today?"
Owen didn’t answer right away, and Bernard Rhodes didn’t speak either, insistent that he give an answer.
Owen turned to look gently at Stella, then replied softly, "Yes."
"Nonsense!" Bernard Rhodes roared. "What’s this girl’s family background? Is she reliable? Have her parents and elders met with our family? And you dare to parade this around town? Acting like this, no decent girl would even look at you!"
Bernard Rhodes had never even considered that Owen was actually married.
Owen had no desire to elaborate and retorted with a single sentence, "My marriage is my own decision. That was written into the contract years ago."
The story behind this was actually rather amusing. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
Signing a high-stakes bet on a business deal was not unheard of, but signing one with your own family was a rarity.
Not long after Owen had joined the Kyros Group headquarters, Bernard Rhodes started getting ideas about a strategic marriage alliance.
Unfortunately, Owen was completely uncooperative. If he wasn’t absolutely forced into it by Bernard Rhodes, he ignored all matchmaking arrangements.
Later, tired of being hounded by the old man, Owen proposed a wager.
If he won, the Rhodes Family was not to interfere in his marriage. If he lost, he would do whatever Bernard Rhodes wanted.
This clause was explicitly written into their agreement.
The result, naturally, was Owen’s complete victory.
Not only did Owen win the bet, but he also single-handedly brought Kyros to its peak.
Since Bernard Rhodes had signed it with his own hand back then, the old man on the other end of the line was momentarily at a loss for a rebuttal.
After a long pause, Bernard Rhodes finally said, "Bring her home to meet us some day."
Owen replied, "That’s up to her."
’What? So if the little missy doesn’t want to come, she just won’t show up?’
On the other end of the line, Bernard Rhodes slammed his hand on a table. "Owen, don’t push your luck!"
Owen’s tone was placid. "You should get some rest."
Then he hung up.
Stella heard the angry roar leaking from the earpiece and asked Owen, "Is Grandpa Rhodes angry?"
Owen didn’t answer, just stared at her for a moment.
When Stella made a curious "Hm?" sound, Owen finally said, "You should be calling him ’Father’ now, like I do."
Stella was speechless.
’Right, I’m Owen’s wife now. Theoretically, I really should call Bernard Rhodes ’Dad.’’
She hadn’t really felt the reality of the situation until now.
She had become Owen’s wife, which made her Ethan’s younger aunt.
More importantly, she was now of the same generation as President Sterling and Ms. Jennings!
’How bizarre.’
Stella silently calculated this in her head, completely dazed.
She felt it once again: she had really gotten a lot of benefits from marrying Owen.
Stella tried to imagine herself calling the white-haired Rhodes "Dad"...
The mental image was too much to handle.
Stella wrinkled her nose in distress. "I don’t think I can bring myself to say it."
Owen was very accommodating. "Then don’t."
"But if we meet him in the future, I can’t just pretend to be mute."
Owen said casually, "Then we won’t meet him."
Stella’s heart skipped a beat.
’Calling Owen "overly indulgent" might even be an understatement,’ she thought. ’The man has no bottom line...’
But they were family, after all. She didn’t want Owen’s relationship with his family to sour because of her.
After all, she knew firsthand how awful it felt to be on bad terms with your family.
The moment a frown touched her brow, Owen said, "Don’t overthink it. Just like you, I don’t have a very good relationship with my family either."
Owen turned to look at her. "So if you don’t want to see them, we won’t. Because I don’t want to either."
’Right, right, right, he knows everything again!’
As Stella’s shock gradually subsided into a state of calm, the Ghost drove into Lanthos Bay.
The barrier gate at the entrance to Lanthos Bay came down, blocking a black Mercedes that was following them.
A security guard walked over and asked politely, "Hello, sir. Do you have an appointment with a resident?"
The man in the driver’s seat, wearing black-rimmed glasses, said in a low voice, "No."
"I’m sorry, sir. Without a prior appointment with a resident, outside personnel and vehicles are not permitted. Please understand."
The car window rolled up, and the Mercedes turned around and left.
It was nearly nine o’clock when Joel Joyce returned to the Sterling residence. Gavin Sterling was waiting in the living room, his face dark.
Seeing Joel Joyce walk in alone, Gavin Sterling asked, "Where is Stella? Didn’t I tell you to bring her back?"
Joel Joyce lowered his head. "I lost her."
"Useless!"
Gavin Sterling snatched the porcelain cup in front of him and hurled it. The cup shattered all over the floor, and a trickle of blood immediately appeared on Joel Joyce’s forehead.
He lowered his gaze and, after a few seconds of internal struggle, said, "I’ve already figured out which residential community the Second Miss is staying in."
