Chapter 56
Chapter 56
“I’m out for work,” Stella said calmly.
“Mom!” Irene blurted out, clearly anxious. “Can you come back and stay with me? Dad’s busy at work and isn’t home, it’s just me here. I’m really scared.”
Irene was curled up under the covers, clutching her phone tightly.
Stella bit her lip, but didn’t offer any comfort. “If you’re scared, let Betty keep you company.”
“But…” Irene started, but Stella cut her off.
“Alright, I need to rest now. You should get some sleep too,” Stella said, not giving Irene a chance to finish before ending the call.
Stella set the phone aside, exhausted after a long day. She needed to rest because she had to report to Lumière Group the next morning.
Stella was already asleep. Back at the Lloyd family house, Irene was still crying uncontrollably. Betty was at her wit’s end, trying everything to comfort the little girl, but nothing worked.
“Mr. Lloyd, Miss Irene’s crying really badly. Do you want to come home?” Betty pleaded, sounding desperate.
“Just keep an eye on her. She’ll cry herself to sleep soon enough,” Ernest replied, sounding busy. He hung up without saying
much more.
Betty considered calling Stella but hesitated, eventually deciding against it. Betty knew that Stella had already made up her mind to leave, and Betty didn’t want to disrupt her life any further with these matters.
She continued to try soothing Irene, in the end, just like Ernest said, Irene cried herself to sleep.
With no one to worry about, Stella slept soundly through the night. The next morning, Stella woke up feeling fully recharged, even before the sun had risen.
She got up, washed her face, got dressed, and left the house, ready to start her day.
**
“Stella!” A sudden shout pulled Stella back to reality.
She looked up just in time to see Jessica approaching, carrying a tote bag full of breakfast.
“You’re up so early—I bet you haven’t had anything to eat yet. I grabbed extra breakfast, want to help me out?” Jessica said with a friendly grin.
At first, Stella didn’t think much of it, but the more she mulled it over, the fishier it sounded.
Not to mention how Jessica knew Stella hadn’t had breakfast, but the fact that Stella had just started her work and Jessica showed up right after was highly suspicious.
Stella had arrived early that morning, and when she walked in, the whole design department was empty. But Jessica had also arrived early. That was just too much of a coincidence.
Stella was about to test the waters, but Jessica beat her to it. “Actually, I’m always here around this time-usually it’s just me in the office. Didn’t expect you’d be an early bird too. We might as well start coming in together.” ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ.net
“Of course,” Stella replied warmly, but made no move to take the breakfast Jessica was offering. “I’ve already had mine-you
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should enjoy it yourself.”
“Wait, you already ate?” Jessica’s grin froze for a second, surprise flickering in her eyes.
In order to get closer to Stella, Jessica had specifically visited Noreen after leaving yesterday. She endured quite a bit of humiliation before finally getting Stella’s current address out of her.
This morning, Jessica had gotten up before dawn to spy on Stella, and when she didn’t see her having breakfast, she assumed Stella hadn’t eaten at all.
“I ate at home,” Stella said casually.
Jessica’s eyes widened in disbelief. She never expected that Stella would actually make her own breakfast.
In Jessica’s world, someone like Stella-married into a wealthy family-would never make her own meals. It was always the staff’s job to handle those things, especially anything that could ruin her skin or hands.
“What’s wrong?” Stella asked, noticing Jessica looking totally stunned.
“Oh, nothing,” Jessica said quickly, forcing a smile. Even after hearing from Noreen how rough Stella’s life was, she still hadn’t pictured it being this bad-having to cook her own meals.
Stella didn’t pay much attention to her and returned to her work, immersed in her designs.
By 9 a.m., the design team started arriving, clocking in and heading to their desks. Stella noticed them sneaking glances at her, though they tried to act like they weren’t.
It was getting hard to ignore. She finally blurted out, “Why is everyone looking at me like that?”
Someone finally spoke up. “Ms. Spencer, everyone’s just waiting for you to tell us what to do.”
“Me?” Stella blinked, totally baffled. “What exactly am I supposed to be telling you?”
“Design work, of course,” one of them said. “Here at Lumière Group, aside from individual projects, the jewelry series is a big deal. Back when Mr. Nunn was in charge, he used to assign us tasks for different series. But now…”
Cameron had left yesterday. But it wasn’t clear whether the jewelry series he had started should continue. The team was waiting for Stella’s instructions.
Stella had no idea how to handle this, so she simply said, “Just go ahead and work on something else, see if you get any new ideas. I’ll check with someone and let you know what we should do next.”
“Alright,” they replied.
Stella followed the secretary into CEO’s office.
“What brings you here?” Jeremy asked, a bit surprised. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m all good, but the design team has run into a bit of trouble,” Stella explained. She sat down across from him. “Any idea when Cameron’s coming back?”
“I hadn’t even thought to contact him,” Jeremy said, pulling out his phone and dialing Cameron. Cameron’s voice came through. “Mr. Ford, is there anything left for me to handle?”
Jeremy could hear that Cameron was still set on leaving, and he frowned. “Cameron, it’s been a full day now. Haven’t you cooled off yet?” Jeremy asked.
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“I’m not being impulsive. I’m serious about this,” Cameron replied.
“So you’re just dropping everything and leaving-that’s what you call not being impulsive?” Jeremy challenged.
“Haven’t you already found someone to take my place?” Cameron fired back.
Stella, feeling pretty awkward just standing there, stepped forward and said, “I really don’t want to compete with you. If you decide to come back, things can go right back to the way they used to be.”
“Your pay and benefits won’t change,” Jeremy chimed in.
Cameron shut him down right away. “Mr. Ford, I appreciate it, but my mind’s made up. I’m done for good-I won’t be coming back.”
Jeremy was just about to say more, trying to convince him, when the tone on the other end suddenly changed.
“Who’s calling you, Cameron?” Sylvia’s voice came through loud and clear. Stella and Jeremy exchanged a look, immediately recognizing the voice.
Sure enough, Cameron’s next words made it obvious. “Hey Sylvia, it’s Lumière Group calling-I’m just sorting out the handover,” Cameron said.
“Oh, hope I’m not interrupting,” Not a hint of apology in Sylvia’s voice.
“No, not at all.” Cameron’s voice stayed gentle when talking to Sylvia, but once he addressed Jeremy, his tone turned unyielding-no room for negotiation.
“Mr. Ford, if there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. My decision’s final. If there are any losses from me leaving, just send over the bill and I’ll take care of it,” Cameron said, sounding resolute.
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