Now They Want My Forgiveness - Chapter 129: Chapter 129

There had been a plan. Emily, Kevin, and Stella had promised that for Stella's next birthday, the other two would throw her a big party and invite everybody.
Emily was working hard to patch things up with Stella. But Stella caught every bit of disgust hiding in Emily's eyes.
Stella didn't even bother to reach for the invitation. She stared at Emily and said, "You're throwing me a party, but you're giving me an invitation? What do you really want?"
"Stella, why would you think I want something? I have always been your friend. Even if you don't think of me that way anymore, I haven't given up on us. But just as she opened her mouth to speak, Stella tore the invitation to shreds.
"This invitation is specially made for you. I was hoping that one day, you'd look at it and remember that your best friend threw you a birthday party... like proof of our bond."
Stella finally took the invitation and studied it. A triumphant smile spread across Emily's face.
She pressed the shreds into Emily's palm. "Kevin and I are still friends—always will be. You and me? We're not. If I weren't worried about making extra work for the street cleaners, I'd toss this garbage right in your face."
"You hold on to this and find a trash can. From today on, we're not friends anymore."
Stella turned to leave, but Emily scrambled after her. "Stella, wait. It's because I'm friends with Anna now, isn't it? Is that why you can't forgive me?
"You're my friend, my best friend. I didn't have a choice back then. She helped me out. What was I supposed to do? Being an ungrateful bitch?"
Stella stopped and turned back slowly. "You're right," she said. "You made your choice. I respect it. I'm not saying you were wrong. But since you picked her, you need to stay away from me."
Emily pleaded, "But why? Anna is your sister, Stella. I so wish you two could get along again."
Stella scoffed. "Get along? Again?" She thought this was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard.
"Anna and I," she said, "are enemies till the day we die." And with that, she was gone.
Emily stood frozen, freaking out, tears streaming down her face.
Back home, Stella collapsed onto the sofa, spending a long time just trying to get her breathing under control.
For a while now, she'd been digging into the kidnapping on her own, but she'd hit a wall. The truth wasn't buried on the internet anymore.
Every digital footprint, every lead, had been erased. That just convinced her even more that Anna had set up the whole kidnapping herself.
Stella's mind raced. She thought, 'But the real horror show is this... What if my parents and Max were all part of it? Then...'
The thought sent an icy shockwave through her, a violent shiver racking her body.
Jordan happened to walk in right at that moment. "You cold?" he asked, seeing her shiver.
Stella met his eyes. "No." Somehow, he didn't look away.
She thought, 'No one knows a thing about him. No parents, no history. It's like he just materialized out of thin air.
'Yet he has this... quiet authority, this old-money vibe that one can't fake. It makes everyone wonder if he's from some crazy rich family that stays off the radar.'
Taking a deep breath, Stella decided. "Jordan, could you help me look into what happened back then?"
Jordan crossed over and dropped onto the couch near her.
"I was gonna hire a private investigator," Stella explained. "But the Hayes family would sniff out anyone I contacted and shut it down.
"I have cash, but I don't have the right kind of power or connections. I figured you probably know people. People who can get things done quietly."
"Simple enough. What exactly are you after?" Jordan asked.
Stella hesitated, then finally confessed, "Jordan, I suspect... it was Anna who hired the kidnapper back then."