Too Late to Beg, Ex-Husband Chapter 08

Too Late to Beg, Ex-Husband Chapter 08 An Unwelcome Reunion

Stella and Cindy selected two warm sweaters, a winter coat, and a soft cashmere pajama set for Leon Sutton.

They carried their shopping bags to Cindy’s car.

On the way to Crown Point Manor, Stella suddenly said, “Cindy, it feels like forever since we went to The 1988

The 1988 was the small neighborhood bar Stella had visited most often during her college years.

She went there during stressful exam seasons. After Jason died, she spent a period drinking there every day, often sitting alone all night.

After she married Ethan, she stopped going there.

Then, sometime earlier that year, she had slowly begun returning to The 1988 again.

Cindy glanced at her but asked no questions. She turned the wheel and changed direction.

They booked their usual private room and ordered familiar drinks. The modest bar was inexpensive, so Seaview City’s wealthy heirs rarely appeared there, allowing Stella to relax.

Stella no longer worried about running into anyone and relaxed.

As they talked about Leon, Cindy said, “He looked much better last time. He sleeps less and understands more. I truly believe he’ll keep improving.”

Stella’s mouth tightened faintly. “The Hawthornes hired the finest doctors available. Of course the treatment is producing results,” she said.

But Cindy understood what Stella really meant. She studied her friend and asked, “You still think the Evans family had something to do with your father’s accident?”

Stella looked calm. “Victoria despises me, yet she found doctors and lawyers after Dad’s accident. She even went with me when the driver went to trial,” she replied.

After a short pause, Stella added, “Ethan insists the Evans family had nothing to do with it.”

Cindy understood.

Stella had chosen to trust Ethan. But she had never stopped searching for the truth.

Stella finished another drink. Her phone vibrated across the table, but she saw the caller’s name and ignored it.

Ethan kept calling. When the phone rang for the sixth time, Cindy finally lost patience and answered for her.

Cindy answered the phone. “Hello, Ethan. This is Cihdy.”

There was a pause on the line. “Where’s Stella?” Ethan asked.

Cindy glanced toward Stella, who sat beside her steadily finishing one drink after another.

“She’s had too much and didn’t hear the phone,” Cindy said after a slight hesitation.

After another pause, Ethan asked, “Where are you?”

The 1988, Cindy answered.

When Ethan remained silent, Cindy added, “I’ll drive her home. I haven’t been drinking. She only wants to stay with me a little longer.”

En said nothing else and hung up.

Cindy winked at Stella. “Relax and enjoy yourself tonight. I’m paying, and you can stay as long as you like.”

Stella’s expression barely changed. “Do you want to bet Ethan will appear here before long?”

“Surely not. Does he distrust me that much? I clearly promised to drive you home safely.”

Stella shook her head. “He trusts you. He simply ignores what I want. You said I wished to stay, but he’ll decide it’s late and take me home anyway.”

Cindy blinked, at a loss for words.

Exactly half an hour later, the private room door opened without warning.

Ethan stood in the doorway wearing a charcoal-gray coat, his unreadable gaze fixed silently on Stella.

He looked at her flushed face, smooth and pale as a peeled egg. Then he strode in and sat beside Stella.

Stella did not even look at him.

Cindy attempted to smooth things over. “Ethan, I already told you Stella wanted to spend more time with me.”

Without looking away from Stella, Ethan said, “It’s late. You need to come home now.”

Cindy was speechless.

It was exactly as Stella had predicted.

Cindy could not decide whether the couple shared remarkable understanding or simply knew how to provoke each other better than anyone else.

Stella let out a quiet laugh. “Late? It’s only ten.” Stella lifted his sleeve and pointed at his watch. “You return at two or three, yet I never order you home.”

“I was working.” Ethan said.

“So work is automatically more valuable than relaxation?” Stella said, and poured another drink. “Is that Victoria’s theory, that anything outside work is wasting your life?”

Ethan’s brow tightened. “Stella, she’s not Victoria to you. She’s our mother,” he said.

“She’s your mother,” Stella replied. Then she muttered, “She has never treated me like a daughter.”

She remembered the slap at the Hawthorne estate.

At the time, the cold wind had numbed her face, so it barely hurt

Now, perhaps because the drinks had weakened her defenses, the memory returned with a fresh wave of hurt.

Ethan wrapped an arm around Stella. “Come home with me. You smell like alcohol. I’ll give you a hot bath when we get home, all right?”

He coaxed her softly, as if he were soothing a kitten.

Unfortunately, she was not a kitten. She was Stella Sutton.

Tears filled Stella’s eyes. “I said I wanted to stay. Why must I leave? Go find Cynthia instead. Then neither of us will bother the other, she said.

Etan’s expression changed instantly. “Why would I go looking for Cynthia this late at night?”

“Haven’t you gone to her often enough in the middle of the night?” Stella shot back.

Realizing Cynthia was still the source of Stella’s anger, Ethan rubbed his brow and forced himself to explain patiently. “Weren’t they all emergencies?”

Cindy cut in. “What emergency? In high school, Cynthia sobbed from the field to the classroom over one blood draw. I ran across two buildings, only to find her showing me the tiny needle mark.”

Stella remembered that incident. Before Cindy and Cynthia fell out, Cindy had been training in another building and hurried over after seeing Cynthia sobbing from a distance.

Cynthia had always transformed minor problems into disasters, drawing everyone around her until enough attention and comfort finally restored her smile.

Jason and Sean used to indulge her.

After Jason died, Ethan took over that role.