My Amnesic Ex Married My Sister, So I Married His Uncle-Chapter 66: Even Before You Knew Me

Stella Sterling was surprised by the gravity of Owen Rhodes’s apology.

She blinked and, mimicking Owen, took a sip of beer from the can.

The cold liquid carried the aroma of wheat, but despite the rich fragrance, it couldn’t mask the bitter aftertaste that followed.

Stella frowned slightly before saying, "But you only said that because you want to help me get President Sterling’s shares. Isn’t that also being considerate of my feelings?"

’That was true, but it wasn’t the whole story.’

Stella wanted Gavin Sterling’s shares in the Tyford Group. He could have accomplished this in many ways, but his years of prioritizing efficiency led him to choose divorce, which seemed like a shortcut.

But setting the issue of the shares aside, what he most wanted was to always give Stella the freedom to choose—and to have multiple options, not a forced, take-it-or-leave-it proposition.

With marriage, you were either in it or you were getting a divorce. He shouldn’t have exploited that.

Besides, Stella had said she never wanted to experience a divorce.

And yet, he had turned the one thing she never wanted to experience into one of her options.

Seeing Owen still looking so serious, his lips pressed into a thin line, Stella mimicked him again, raising her can to tap against his.

"It’s okay, I won’t take it to heart. You don’t have to apologize anymore. Speaking of which, I haven’t even thanked you yet."

Stella suddenly stood up, extending the hand holding the beer can toward Owen.

"Owen Rhodes, thank you for being on my side today, thank you for defending me. I’ll drink first!"

Before Owen could even try to stop her, Stella had already tilted her head back and was chugging it down.

He could only remind her not to rush and to drink slowly.

It was beer, after all. The carbonation that rushed back up interrupted her grand plan to down it in one go.

Stella had no choice but to sit back down, her face flushed.

She drank slowly, sip by sip, and before she knew it, she was hugging her knees.

"Owen, have you ever heard anyone say that it’s my fault Kiana’s health is the way it is now?"

Owen had heard it, back in Lumina.

At the time, he was with Stella, preparing to take a private plane back to the country. When Joel Joyce couldn’t find her, Ethan Rhodes had called to ask for her location.

He had overheard Ethan yelling on the phone that it was all her fault Kiana’s health was in its current state.

As Owen was lost in thought, he didn’t answer right away, and Stella took his silence as confirmation.

She continued, "Everyone in the Sterling Family says so. Ethan Rhodes started saying it too. If I told you it wasn’t my fault, would you believe me?"

She gave a self-deprecating laugh. "It would be normal if you didn’t. I don’t have any proof, after all."

With that, she tilted her head back and chugged again, forcing down the rest of the can.

It was hard to tell if it was the alcohol going to her head or the fizz from the beer, but Stella’s eyes were a little red.

Owen looked at her, his tone as serious as when he had apologized. "I would. I believe you."

Stella hadn’t expected him to answer so quickly, or so seriously.

She turned her head to look at him and heard him say, "Mrs. Rhodes, have you forgotten what I said? That I unconditionally trust and support my wife. Those weren’t just words."

Perhaps it was the seriousness in Owen’s voice, or perhaps the matter had been weighing on her for too long, or perhaps she just couldn’t hold her liquor. But she suddenly wanted to tell him about it.

Stella opened another can of beer for herself. After taking a sip, she rested her chin on her knees and gazed at the starry sky outside.

"When I was little, I was very close to my grandmother. After my grandfather passed away, she moved to the countryside. I’d go stay at her house for a while every summer vacation. Kiana hated country life, so I always used to go alone. The year I turned ten, Kiana suddenly went with me to Grandma’s house. I was already very familiar with the village where she lived. President Sterling and Ms. Jennings saw that Kiana was just cooped up inside and insisted that I take her out to play."

The village where Grandma Sterling lived was built up the side of a mountain, and her house was the one at the very top.

There was a downhill road right outside her grandmother’s gate. Back then, Stella had just learned to ride a bicycle with her friends. She was at that age where everything was exciting and she felt invincible. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Stella figured Kiana, disliking the countryside, probably wouldn’t want to go to the creek to catch little fish and shrimp, so she took her bicycling instead.

Stella was a playful kid, and since it was summer, the wind felt amazing as she rode downhill. She loved pushing her bike to the top of the slope and then racing all the way down.

After watching her for a bit, Kiana suddenly asked, "Stella, want to play a game? Let’s race down with our eyes closed and see who doesn’t fall. How about it?"

The hill wasn’t actually that steep, and it was bordered by soft fields.

Although Stella was adventurous, she didn’t think Kiana’s suggestion was a good one.

She refused. "I don’t think so. It’s dangerous with your eyes closed. What if we fall?"

Kiana said confidently, "Don’t be scared. If there’s any danger, the person whose eyes are open can just yell ’Open your eyes!’"

Seeing Stella hesitate, Kiana added, "This is the only thing I want to do. If you don’t play with me, then I’m just going back inside."

Kiana was clearly displeased.

Stella was under orders to take her out to play, and she didn’t want to make her older sister unhappy.

She was still little back then. She figured she could just shout "Open your eyes!" the instant the bicycle started moving. That way, there wouldn’t be any danger, and her sister would get to play the game she wanted. It seemed like a perfect solution.

So she agreed.

But even though she had agreed, when Kiana was about to race downhill on her bike with her eyes closed, Stella got really nervous.

So, the very second the bicycle’s wheels started to roll, she shouted, "Open your eyes!"

But Kiana didn’t stop.

Not only did she not stop, but she also crashed into the adjacent field.

Kiana was unlucky. When she fell into the field, her head hit a rock.

"Later, Kiana was rushed to the hospital. She had a cranial hemorrhage and underwent a craniotomy. But then she got an unexpected post-operative infection. Her condition kept getting worse and worse, until it finally triggered aplastic anemia."

Stella finished her story in fits and starts. By then, three or four empty cans—all hers—were piled on the table.

"But I never expected that after Kiana woke up, she would say I was the one who insisted on playing that game, and that I didn’t keep my promise to tell her to open her eyes before she got hurt."

She sat up straight, turned to look at Owen, and said, slurring her words, "There’s no proof, you know. Do you still believe me?"

"But you have to believe me! You promised! You have to be on my side unconditionally, even if you don’t believe me."

Owen looked at her and sighed.

He got up, walked over to sit beside her, and wrapped an arm around her thin shoulders.

"I believe you. Even if no one else in the world believes you, I believe you. I told you that a long time ago."

Stella reached out and poked his cheek. "When did you say that?"

"A long, long time ago. Long before you even knew who I was."