Chapter 1024

It was past eight in the morning. Liz had assumed Stella would have been up ages ago, ready to stir up trouble.

Remington threw a glance at the door, his eyes as cold as a sharpened blade.

But when he looked back down at Liz, the warmth returned instantly.

He took her hand, gently massaging her fingers which were a bit flushed, and asked softly,

"Are your hands tired?"

Liz's ears instantly burned bright red. She kicked his shin in flustered

embarrassment and hissed,

"Focus on the matter at hand!"

She had a strong suspicion something happened last night. Why would Remington lock Stella in that room?

Was he purely worried the woman would cause trouble in the house, or had he done something else?

Remington squeezed her fingers a couple more times before saying, "Let her out. You can see for yourself."

He made a quick phone call. Soon, a bodyguard came upstairs and used a key to unlock the door across the hall.

The moment the door clicked open, a figure practically fell out of the room.

Her hair was a tangled rat's nest, her face and clothes were filthy, and her skin was ghastly pale. Blood was still oozing from a cut on her forehead and the corner of her mouth.

Who else could this trembling, stumbling woman be but Stella West?

Liz stared in utter shock at Stella, who looked like a literal ghost leaning heavily against the wall for support. She couldn't fathom what on earth had transpired overnight to reduce the woman to this state.

"Oh my, Ms. West. Are you quite alright?"

Liz's blatantly insincere tone made Stella snap her head up. When she saw Liz and Remington standing together, her glazed, vacant eyes slowly regained focus.

She lunged forward, reaching out to grab Liz wildly.

"Liz! Tell your baby to stop haunting me! I... I didn't hurt him! It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"

Before Stella's hands could even brush Liz's clothes, the bodyguard swiftly yanked her back.

Stella stumbled backward, her back slamming hard against the wall. She looked up and met Remington's gaze over Liz's shoulder. He was staring at her with terrifying coldness.

His eyes were piercing, seeing right through her. Fresh cold sweat broke out on Stella's forehead. Her eyes darted around in pure panic as tears began to stream down her face.

Hearing Stella's hysterical babbling, Liz easily pieced together what had happened.

She knew the room across from the master suite was the nursery they had originally prepared for little Joy. She had deliberately arranged for Stella to stay there last night.

She wanted Stella to take a good, hard look at everything they had lovingly prepared for Joy, to see if the woman had even a shred of conscience or felt any

remorse.

But based on Stella's current unhinged state, Remington had obviously added a few... touches of his own.

Liz stepped forward and firmly seized Stella's wrist.

"Stella, just how guilty is your conscience that spending one single night in Joy's room has driven you half mad?"

Meeting Liz's eyes, which were blazing with undisguised hatred, Stella shrank back. She forcefully bit down on her own tongue.

The sharp pain brought a modicum of clarity. She had passed out twice last night and woken up twice.

Every single time she regained consciousness, she was greeted by the sound of a child's eerie crying and laughing.

She vividly remembered her slippers being soaked in thick, crimson blood, yet when she woke up in the morning, the floor by the door was spotlessly clean.

Even the slippers she had kicked off in panic were pristine. The impossibility of it all had terrified her even more, leading to her frantic pounding on the door and deranged appearance.

"Liz, I'm not guilty of anything. I just hit my head yesterday. Between that and being so upset over the

situation with Ron didn't get any rest. Was

I delirious and had a

nightmare. You're overthinking things."

Stella would obviously never admit to anything, and her excuse was, annoyingly, somewhat plausible.

Liz let out a cold laugh. "Can you

even convince yourself with that tie? Stella West, curse you. I curse you to be haunted by nightmares every single night for the rest of your life!"