Chapter 17
Stella nodded and turned to leave.
Jasper stood there, gritting his teeth, watching her walk away with a face as sour as if he’d bitten into a bad lemon.
His friends exchanged awkward glances.
One of them chuckled nervously and said, “Those two women must be out of their minds, calling Jasper a simp? No way!
Jasper’s…”
His words faded into an awkward silence. The truth was, while those women might have been harsh, they had a point, didn’t
they? Jasper did come off as a bit of a simp.
Another friend quickly jumped in to save face, “Jasper is Rachel’s knight in shining armor. That’s more like it!”
Everyone else hastily agreed, “Yeah, yeah, a knight in shining armor!”
Just then, a gentle voice broke the awkward silence. “Jasper, why aren’t you guys in the private room? What’s going on here?”
Jasper turned to see a man and a woman approaching. The man was tall and handsome, exuding a refined aura. The woman
was petite and lovely, delicate in her demeanor.
Upon seeing them, Jasper’s eyes lit up. He hurried over, ready to spill the beans, embellishing the story as he went, accusing
Stella of all sorts of mischief.
“Haynie, Rachel, guess who I saw? Stella! She’s here and shamelessly said she was looking for some fun!”
“I mean, she must have too much time on her hands to be fooling around. She used to cook only one meal for Rachel, but she
should be doing all three!”
“Haynie, you shouldn’t tolerate such reckless behavior from a woman like that!” Rachel frowned slightly at his words.
“Looking for fun?” She turned to Haynes, furrowing her brow. “Haynie, it’s pretty late. Ms. Cameron wouldn’t have left Keen alone
at home, right?”
Haynes’ brow furrowed at the mention of Stella’s name.
Rachel studied Haynes’ expression, speaking softly, “Haynie, with Keen’s health, is it okay for him to be home alone?”
Haynes pressed his lips tightly, his face clouded with a hint of frustration. “Keen is staying at the O’Brien Mansion today.”
He had hoped to use Keen to show Stella the error of her ways. But she hadn’t even bothered to come home.
Rachel paused, understanding dawning on her. “Haynie, Ms. Cameron has been at home taking care of everything. She hardly
steps out. Maybe she just needed a break.”
She lowered her head, feeling guilty, “It’s my fault for not considering her feelings, having her make those meals for so long.
She’s exhausted, and it’s fair she wants to stop.”
Before she could finish, Jasper burst out angrily. “What? Stella’s stopped making your meals? If she hadn’t pushed you into the
water, your health wouldn’t have worsened!”
“And now she just doesn’t care? How dare she!”
Rachel quickly grabbed Jasper’s arm, trying to calm him. “Jasper, I’ve told you it wasn’t Ms. Cameron’s fault. I fell in by
accident…”
“Rachel, you’re too nice. That woman is the cause of all this, and you’re still standing up for her?” Jasper said, turning to Haynes
in frustration. “Haynie, seriously, are you really going to let her get away with this and hurt Rachel?”