It was almost midnight by the time Stella arrived home and the baby was already asleep.
"Are you doing fine? You worked till late on the first day," Madison asked as she yawned.
"Something was up, I won't be this late tomorrow," Stella replied.
"Yeah I know, my husband called and told me about what happened at your office, I'm not
complaining." Madison picked up her stuff, "I shall leave now, see you tomorrow."
Stella went into the bedroom to have a look at the baby soon as Madison left. All worries and stresses
vanished at that moment.
Sherry came from next door at this moment, "You are back, Stella."
"You are still awake?" Stella asked as she nodded.
"I went back for a shower," she sat on the sofa, "Madison is such a nagger but she is good at taking
care of the baby. The baby kept crying after you left in the morning while Madison had been trying to
calm him down the whole day, patiently. She wasn't annoyed at all."
Stella was stunned when hearing that and automatically looked at the baby in the bedroom, "He cried?"
Realizing she said something wrong, Sherry let out a laugh, "It's nothing really, maybe he wasn't used
to not having you around at first, but he was fine right after that, not crying."
Stella remained silent for a while before she asked, "Daniel is not home yet?"
Sherry leaned on the sofa, "He called thirty minutes ago saying he'll be here tomorrow morning. It's
good that he is not coming, I could have some leisure time alone."
"Do you really mean it?" Stella smiled lightly.
"Of course… I mean it. You don't know how stressful I feel having him monitoring me like a criminal
every day."
Stella sat next to her, "What is happening between you two now?"
A lot had happened in these few days and she didn't even have time to ask.
Sherry sighed, "He asked me to keep the baby and promised to take good care of me. This is it and we
will talk about the rest in the future. It's no big deal. I can give birth and raise the child on my own like
you. It makes no difference with or without him."
She had given it a thorough thought at the hospital last time and decided she couldn't abort the baby.
Especially when she saw Stella's son these days, crawling and playing around, she began looking
forward to the arrival of her own kid.
She knew Daniel didn't want to get married, and she had no intention of asking him for anything, but he
had allowed her to settle down.
"Have you decided?" Stella asked.
Sherry nodded, "Yes. A single mother raising a kid is very common nowadays. Instead of forcing two
individuals to be together because of a baby, it is better to have separate lives. He can spend time or
lives with the baby anytime he wants to, I think this is a good idea."
"Alright, it's late, I'm going to hit the sack now, rest early," she said as she rose.
"Alright, good night."
Stella sat resting on the sofa for a few moments after Sherry left. Her doorbell rang as she was heading
for the shower. She thought Sherry left something behind but saw Clarence instead when she opened
the door.
Stella blocked him from entering the house, "The baby is asleep, come tomorrow if you want to see
him."
Clarence stood with his hand in his pocket, "I know, I'm not here to see him, I'm here to…"
Stella wanted to close the door before letting him finished.
Clarence quickly blocked the door with his hand, "I'm not finished," he said as he frowned.
Stella stood behind the door, 'There is no good thing whenever he visits,' she thought.
Clarence stroked his wet black hair and said slowly, "Can I borrow your hairdryer?"
"I don't have one."
"Liar, let me go in and check," Clarence insisted.
Stella didn't move an inch, "You have two houses and no hairdryer?"
Clarence, "It's all broken coincidentally."
"You are such a misfortune guy."
Clarence was speechless for a second and said, "Aren't neighbor should help each other? Can't you
lend me a hairdryer?"
"I'm stingy and petty, if you borrow and refuse to return it, I'll be uncomfortable asking it back, so I can
only choose not to lend it to you now."
Clarence's pulse on his temples was racing, "I will return it."
Stella was determined, "That's hard to tell, you are not trustworthy to me."
Clarence lost his energy, "How am I going to sleep then?"
"It's pretty windy today, go sit for half an hour downstairs to dry your hair." She closed the door after
that.
Clarence had the door closed on his nose and went back next door with pouting lips.
He went into the washroom, took out the dryer, turned it on, and an idea crossed his mind. He brought
the toolbox and broke some wires in the dryer before he went for a cold shower again.
…
The next afternoon, Stella received a call from Nathan.
"Ms. Radomil, Mr. Conrad hasn't shown up at work and he couldn't be reached via phone, do you know
where he is?"
"How would I know?"
"Mr. Conrad had never been missing in action like this, I'm worried if anything happens to him."
"You can visit his home if you are worried," Stella replied casually.
"I can't. There is a meeting ten minutes later and I have to attend on behalf of Mr. Conrad since he is
not here."
Stella, "I see."
Nathan coughed and began worrying again, "Mr. Conrad was discharged from the hospital before fully
recovered, and a lot had happened these days, I wonder if his body could handle it. If he faints
somewhere without anyone knowing…"
Stella interrupted, "Don't you have a meeting to attend ten minutes later, do you not need to prepare?"
"Oh yes, goodbye Ms. Radomil."
Stella set her mobile aside after hanging up. She stared at the design draft in front of her but couldn't
start drawing.
She let out a breath after a few minutes, picked up her stuff, and stood up.
"Do you need to go somewhere?" Her assistant asked with files in hands.
Stella nodded, "I will have a look later when I come back, call me if anything happens."
"Okay."
Stella headed back to her rented house right after she left Steward Group.
She stood at Clarence's door and rang the bell several times but no one answered.
Stella looked at the lock, hesitated for a moment, and pressed the same passcode of the previous
apartment.
The door was opened two seconds later.
The passcode was the date of their wedding anniversary.
Stella went in and found that all curtains were closed and the house was quiet.
"Clarence?" She called out softly.
There was no reply.
Stella opened the curtains for some air ventilation and then headed to the bedroom. She heard some
noise in the bedroom, opened the door, and saw Clarence lying on the bed with his head soaked in
sweats, frowning.
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