Now They Want My Forgiveness - Chapter 142: Chapter 142

Fiona smiled, "Yes, we were actually planning to throw a joint birthday party for you two, just like before. But we didn't expect Jordan to host one for you on his own."
She turned to Jordan, "Jordan, this is really on you. Why didn't you let us know about any of this?"
Stella's expression darkened immediately. "Are you blaming Jordan? Don't forget. Every single birthday party we had growing up was always centered around Anna.
"Jordan knows all about that. He felt bad for me and wanted to throw a party just for me. What's wrong with that?"
Most of the guests were people who had known the Hayes family for years, and they all remembered how Stella was overlooked back then.
So, no matter how good Fiona was at spinning a story, her excuses just didn't hold up.
"Still, we're family, aren't we? What Jordan did just isn't right," Fiona said, her tone full of blame as she looked at Stella and Jordan.
Stella slipped her arm through Jordan's and looked straight at her family. "Why did Jordan do this? Maybe outsiders don't know, but you all do, don't you?
"You tried to force me to marry Troy, and my brother even handed me over to him himself. After all that, how could my husband possibly see you as family?"
Everyone froze in shock. 'What?' they all thought. 'No way, Max actually went that far?'
Fiona was especially worried about Max's reputation. He was good-looking and capable, and she was still hoping he could marry a nice girl someday.
If people found out about what he'd done, no one would want to marry him, and the Hayes family would have no one to carry on the family name.
"Stella, I know it's your birthday, but don't you know there are things you should and shouldn't say?" Fiona said, putting on the tone of a mother lecturing her daughter.
Stella didn't care about it at all. "Then let me ask you, Fiona. Have you really always known what you should and shouldn't say?"
Fiona's expression turned downright gloomy, especially when she noticed quite a few people pointing fingers and whispering about her.
Seeing the situation was getting awkward, Anna quickly stepped up and slipped her arm through Stella's.
Anna smiled, "Stella, I know you've got a lot of hard feelings about the family, but we're really not here to argue with you.
"We haven't celebrated your birthday even once in the past three years, and this time, we genuinely want to make it up to you. Max, you got the birthday present ready, right? Come on, hand it over."
Anna kept shooting Max meaningful looks. Before coming here, Max had told himself that, yeah, they'd messed up sometimes, and all they needed to do was just apologize to Stella and give her a gift or something.
But the way Stella acted just made Max furious. Still, seeing Anna trying to smooth things over, he swallowed his anger and followed her lead.
Max grabbed the bag and handed it over to Anna.
Anna took the box and handed it to Stella. "Stella, this is a present from all of us. Happy birthday, I really hope things start looking up for you soon."
Anna's face was all smiles, like she was really trying to make things right with Stella.
Stella had to hand it to Anna. Her acting skills were top-notch. She really deserved the title of Best Actress.
But Stella didn't take the gift. She just gave the bag a casual glance and repeated in a flat voice, "A present for me?"
Anna nodded, motioning for her to take it.
But Stella just said, "Your whole family?"
Fiona and Andrew seemed to realize what she was getting at, but Max was furious. "Stella, don't twist my words."
Anna quickly jumped in to apologize. "Stella, I didn't mean it like that. You misunderstood me. I was just trying to say—"
"No need to explain. I already know. The day Jordan asked me to get my passport, I realized I'd been erased from the Hayes family. That was when everything became crystal clear to me," Stella said.