Her words immediately drew the attention of the other players.
“Don’t be ridiculous! Trey’s always been… proper,” Stella retorted. Her hand trembled, sending the cards slapping across the table.
She rose, snatched the photos, and froze. The woman in the pictures wasn’t just anyone. It was Angela??he girl who had disappeared five years ago.
Angela appeared at the Fox residence for the first time at just twenty-two. Fresh out of a prestigious university, she had been hired as Trey’s tutor.
Initially, the Fox family had a favorable impression of Angela. But within months, Trey’s grandfather discovered a troubling closeness between her and Trey.
Their relationship, under the guise of tutoring, had been a secret courtship right under the family’s noses. The old man had erupted in fury, nearly making it impossible for Angela to remain in Goldmont City.
Everyone assumed that was the end of it. But when Trey started university and Angela conveniently secured a faculty position at the same institution, they rekindled their hidden romance.
The Fox family was forced to oscillate between disciplining Trey and threatening Angela, using a mix of carrots and sticks to force them apart.
It wasn’t until Trey became involved with Khloe that the family began to let the old scandal fade. Despite Khloe’s modest background, the shadow of the Angela debacle meant they had little choice but to turn a blind eye to his new choice.
The moment Stella’s words landed, there was a noise at the door-Trey had returned. He’d taken a call in the garage and come up late; he hadn’t expected his mother to show up.
Trey disliked family interruptions. The Fox household didn’t drop by unannounced; if they were to meet, they called first. That was why he’d been bold enough to bring Angela home in the first place.
Seeing his mother now, his mind went blank for a beat.
“Mom… why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” he blurted.
“How long were you planning to hide this from me? No wonder Khloe’s been acting strange-so you’ve been hoarding a mistress!”
Stella’s anger overflowed; she didn’t even bother directing it at Khloe anymore. She struck Trey with her handbag.
She had always doted on her son; she would never have laid a hand on Trey if she hadn’t been driven absolutely mad.
Trey winced. “Mom, calm down. It’s not what you think. Angela is just staying here temporarily; Khloe knows, she agreed-“
“I don’t care if Khloe agreed! Have you forgotten your grandfather’s will? And the hell our family went through because of you two? That woman is a home-wrecking slut! If you insist on seeing her, you might as well put me in my grave!”
Stella’s face flushed; her voice rose until it cracked.
Angela, pressed behind him, began to cry. She kept silent. She assumed Trey would stand by her. They had a child together now after all; she was not the young, helpless girl she’d once been.
But Trey did something she didn’t expect. He guided his mother to a chair and sat beside her.
“Mom, I remember. Please, don’t be angry. Angela is here to help-she’s been looking after Pete and helping manage things while Khloe’s on leave.”
“What help? You let her into the house and the company? Have you lost your mind?” Stella snapped, rising. “Get her out of my sight. I’ll call your father and your grandmother. I’ll have them come and force her out myself.”
Trey’s voice dropped. He did not want a scene, but he made a choice, “All right. I’ll send her away now.”
At that, Angela’s body trembled. Tears pooled and quit falling, frozen at the edges of her lashes. “Trey…”
“Angela, pack your things,” he said without turning all the way around. His tone was final.
Watching Stella perched in her lofty arrogance, Trey’s repeated surrender, and the servants lurking in corners to feast on the drama, Angela felt her dignity crushed to dust.
Her jaw set, she stormed upstairs to pack. She owned little, and it took only moments to gather her things.
As she passed Pete’s room, she fixed the servant with a viper’s glare. “Remember who he is. He is a Fox heir. If any harm comes to Pete, the Foxes will make you regret it.”
Angela’s words landed like a pebble in still water.
Stella heard it and scoffed. She thought for a moment, eyes narrowing. After a few days under Trey’s roof, Angela already treated Pete like her own son? Had she already sized up the house as hers?
Angela slammed the door and left. Trey moved to follow, but Stella caught his sleeve like an anchor.
“Let her go,” she hissed. “Have you lost your mind? Do you not care about the estate, the company, our reputation?”
Blood rushed hot and loud in Trey’s ears. For a second, anger flared so fierce he almost tore after Angela, but Stella’s words pulled him back to the edge of a precipice. If he chased her now, everything he’d worked for-every fragile balance-might crumble.
He breathed deeply, forcing himself into a steady, measured voice. “Mom, it’s not what you think. Since this misunderstanding has caused such a huge mess, it’s good that she left.”
He tried to explain the “truth”, but Stella listened with that thin, suspicious patience.
“I’ll be watching you from now on,” she said finally, sharp as a verdict. “Anyone can come through the Fox family doors-except her.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.