CHAPTER 101: CHAPTER 101: WE’RE FINISHED

Night.

The Sterling Family’s villa was ablaze with lights.

Aiden Fordham’s car roared through the gates like a raging beast, screeching to a halt outside the villa, its tires screaming against the concrete.

He all but kicked open the car door, radiating an intimidating fury, heading straight inside.

Stella Grant stood in the center of the living room, as if she’d expected his arrival all along—this time, she didn’t try to avoid him.

She followed Aiden Fordham outside to the garden, the night wind disheveling her hair and bringing with it a chill.

Aiden Fordham stared at her relentlessly, his imposing silhouette exuding a suffocating pressure.

Bloodshot eyes, his voice squeezed out through clenched teeth.

"Stella Grant, the Lockwood Group’s C’s data matches The Fordham Group’s exactly. Was it you who passed it to Andy Lockwood?"

Stella froze for a second, but then her lips curled in a mocking smile.

"Aiden Fordham, you really give me too much credit. If I say it wasn’t me, would you believe it?"

Her composure landed on the raging fire of Aiden’s anger like a bucket of oil, feeding the flames instead of quelling them.

"Heh." Aiden let out a furious, sardonic laugh, his chest heaving, "Do you like him that much? Enough to betray everything?"

Stella suddenly turned cold; given the situation, she had no intention of arguing with him at all!

"My love life is none of President Fordham’s business. You’d better focus on how you plan to handle the fallout at The Fordham Group."

Aiden, jaw clenched, snarled, "Do you hate me that much? That you’d destroy everything I have without mercy?"

His voice was nearly hysterical; rage shook him down to his bones, certain that she was the traitor.

"Do you even understand what D means to me?"

It was the road of hope he’d built for the sick with The Fordham Group’s billions, his father’s lifelong dream, his own reason for studying medicine...

Stella knew how devastating this was for The Fordham Group, but right now, she had no way to fix it.

Yet her words came out icier than ever, "Everything about The Fordham Group has nothing to do with me!"

"You—!"

Aiden’s self-control snapped completely! He lunged, grabbing her wrist in a painfully tight grip, as if he wanted to crush her bones.

"Hiss... let go! That hurts!"

Stella struggled, but couldn’t break free!

"Aiden Fordham, have I never been worthy of your trust? In your eyes, am I just... so worthless?" She raised her eyes to him, chilly and accusatory.

"Stella Grant, do you know how betrayal feels?" Aiden’s dark gaze burned with hatred and rage.

Stella was furious now, "Aiden Fordham, I was never the one who betrayed you!" But he’d never believed her.

"Aiden Fordham! You bastard! Let go of Stella!"

Vivi Sterling shrieked, racing down the stairs with a baseball bat in hand.

Claire charged after her, fierce as a mother beast protecting her cub.

"Bang!" Vivi swung the bat with all her might, smashing it against Aiden’s shoulder.

"Ah! Ah!" Claire didn’t hold back either, sinking her teeth into the arm that gripped Stella.

Pain made Aiden’s grip loosen instinctively.

He shoved Claire aside, then glanced at Stella Grant, her eyes shimmering red—a fleeting look of complicated regret, realizing he’d gone too far.

He hadn’t meant to really hurt her, it was just that the fury of betrayal had burned away his self-control.

He stepped back, shaking his bleeding arm, his gaze cold as ice as he looked at Stella, his words frostbitten.

"Stella Grant, we’re done!"

With that, he turned and left, every step brimming with anger and finality.

"God damn! Is that dog of a man on his period or something? So vicious!"

Vivi Sterling stomped with rage, tossing the bat aside, hurrying to support the nearly collapsed Stella.

"Stella, are you alright? You scared me to death!"

Pain burned on Stella’s wrist, Aiden’s fingerprints clear as day.

Why?

Why was he so sure I leaked the data? Couldn’t the mistake have been on his end?

She forced herself to breathe, trying to settle her pounding heart and tumultuous emotions.

No.

She’d clearly overlooked something.

Andy Lockwood... How could Andy Lockwood have gotten hold of that U-shield from Aiden Fordham?

Then, who is Aiden’s mole? Someone at his side?

Her pupils contracted sharply.

Could it be her!

Stella’s expression changed in an instant. She grabbed Vivi’s hand, her tone urgent.

"Vivi, do me a favor!"

...

The next morning.

Stella Grant’s apartment. Three women in The Crucible: the tension is suffocating, ready to explode at any moment.

"Corinne Kensington, are you made of lotus roots or something? How come you’re full of holes—for scheming?" Vivi Sterling crossed her arms, chin raised, unleashing full fire—every word a bullet shot at Corinne.

"Doesn’t Aiden Fordham satisfy you? How dare you covet Andy Lockwood! Do you not know whose man he is?"

Corinne looked immaculate in a new Chanel outfit, her makeup flawless. She offered a light laugh behind a delicate hand, venom in her eyes.

"Stella Grant, you finally admit it?" She shot Stella a provocative look. "Andy Lockwood is your side piece! You’re the one who betrayed Aiden!"

Stella leaned against the sofa arm, characteristically languid. At Corinne’s words, her lips twitched into a cold, dismissive smile.

"Don’t flatter yourself." Her voice was soft but heavy with authority. "Andy Lockwood isn’t someone you can touch."

She paused, her eyes flickering at Corinne with mocking amusement.

"As for Aiden Fordham—you want him? Take him. I don’t want him anymore. But..."

Stella drawled out the ending, unhurried.

"He doesn’t seem to want you either. What, where’s your big pink diamond? Didn’t Aiden put it on your finger?"

With her personality, if she’d gotten that billion-dollar pink diamond, she would’ve already flaunted it everywhere.

Mentioning the diamond, Corinne’s carefully crafted smile shattered—her expression twisted, livid.

"Stella Grant! Who are you to look down on Aiden?"

She shrieked.

"If it weren’t for him protecting you all along, you think you’d be alive now? You would’ve died a hundred times! Last time should have been..."

Corinne abruptly shut her mouth.

Stella’s eyes narrowed slightly, catching the slip in Corinne’s words. She pressed for more, her tone serenely flat.

"Oh? So you think sending a psycho kidnapper could really hurt me?"

"Too bad, that guy’s already been arrested. Tsk tsk, you didn’t even pay him much—he spilled everything, so keep an eye on tomorrow’s headlines."

Corinne’s face went deathly pale. She blurted out:

"Impossible! He’s dead! I made sure of it!"

The moment she spoke, she clapped her hands over her mouth, panic flickering in her eyes—she’d been baited by Stella.

"Well done, Corinne!"

Vivi Sterling seemed to just realize, leaping forward to point at Corinne’s nose.

"So it really was you! You’re the one who organized Stella’s kidnapping!"

Corinne steadied herself, and then laughed—a cold, hollow sound that didn’t reach her eyes.

"So what if it was me?" She snapped, reckless, "He’s dead—no way to prove it! You think your words alone are enough for the police to charge me?"

Stella suddenly smiled, standing up slowly.