Female Novel
Chapter 1649
Chapter 1649
Arthur grew fond of Stella because she had a knack for tending to people's emotions from a young age. His affection for her hadnothing to do with her being his family. That was why he did not care if she was Albert's daughter or not. However, Arthurrespected Keegan's decision to tell him about Stella's parentage.
Stella's eyes welled up with emotion. She remained quiet, her gaze fixed downward for an extended period. Keegan had nevershared any of this with her. She could not believe he had silently paved the way for her while she was worried about facingArthur.
After a while, Arthur looked up to the night sky above. He spoke in a low voice, "Everything will turn out fine."
Marshall leaned against the wall as he eavesdropped on their conversation. Upon hearing Arthur's words, he, too, glanced at thesky. It was enveloped in darkness, and no stars were visible.
Marshall and Stella woke up early the following day to prepare for departure. There was not much to pack, as both had traveledlight. Among the items they packed were local specialties Arthur had thoughtfully prepared for them. These included walnuts,dried persimmons, pears, homemade beef jerky, sun-dried wild mushrooms, and several dozen pounds of farm-fresh eggs. Heeven tied up two piglets for them to take home.
As Stella gazed at the mountain of gifts from Arthur, she felt a mixture of gratitude and helplessness. It was clear they could nottake the piglets with them. Stella chose a few items from the pile, as leaving everything behind would be a disservice to Arthur'sheartfelt gesture.
Stella did not speak much on the way back. Marshall offered her his coat, "Take a nap. I'll wake you when we arrive."Stella declined, stating, "I'm not tired."
"That's impossible. You stayed up late last night and woke up early this morning. There's still much to do when we get back. Youshould rest," Marshall suggested in a hushed tone.
Stella fell silent. She did not stay up late; she barely slept at all. She saw Keegan's face every time she closed her eyes. Even ifshe managed to drift off, she would wake up several times throughout the night. Their rooms were close enough that Marshallmust have heard her moving about.
Stella took the coat and thanked him. She wrapped it around herself but could not fall asleep. She glanced at Marshall andposed a question, "Mr. Moore, how did you manage to find us that night?"
Marshall explained, "When your location disappeared, | suspected someone might have found your phone. The police were at aloss for leads, so | reached out to Landon's ex-wife. | showed her the last location you were at and asked if there were anyplaces around there that Landon was familiar with. It was then that she recalled that place.
"She mentioned that Landon often went fishing in the vicinity. She knew about an abandoned factory building where they hadsought shelter from the rain before. So, | asked her to lead the way. | also contacted the police just to be cautious."Marshall paused and continued, "I'm sorry. If | had taken more time to carefully weigh my options back then before taking on the
case, perhaps things wouldn't have ended up this way."
Stella lowered her gaze and spoke softly, "Mr. Moore, before you arrived that night, | already knew the perpetrator had mistakenKeegan for you. If | had remembered your phone number, | would have called you in exchange for Keegan's life."
Stella was not saying this solely to discourage Marshall. She had genuinely considered it at the time. In that situation, Keegan'slife held more value to her than anyone else's. As a result, she could not bring herself to accept Marshall's apology.
Marshall was taken aback for a moment. He sighed and said, "Perhaps that would have been for the best. At least | could haveearned a place in your heart rather than just being Mr. Moore to you."
Stella remained silent and did not speak again.novelbin