Chapter 311 Purely disgusting
But now, not only were they being ignored, they were also being subjected to a constant stream of romantic moments.
How could they possibly be in a good mood?
After a while, the doctor came over for Grandma’s routine checkup.
Alana accompanied Grandma.
Stephan had a call to take and stepped outside for a moment.
Joan sensed her chance had come and quietly followed him out.
She saw him standing at the far end of the corridor by the window; his tall, slender silhouette was indescribably handsome.
As soon as he hung up the phone, Joan walked up to him and called out in a sweet, girlish voice, “Steph.”
Hearing that deliberately high-pitched, syrupy voice, Stephan felt goosebumps rising on his skin.
Purely disgusting.
He turned around and saw it was Joan. Staring at her round, disk-like face, he frowned deeply.
“Who are you calling ‘Steph’?”
Joan blinked, convinced her voice was sweet. “You, of course!”
Stephan glared at her. He really wanted to rip that mouth right off her face.
Joan deliberately stepped forward, closing the distance between them. “Steph, I was wrong about what happened last time. I shouldn’t have treated you that way. I went back and reflected on my mistakes. I decided to come apologize to you in person and ask for your forgiveness.”
“No need for an apology. Just get lost.”
Joan pretended not to understand. “Steph, are you really planning to marry my cousin, Alana?”
“I’ve watched Alana grow up since she was a child. I know what kind of person she is. She isn’t the innocent person you think she is.”
Stephan remained expressionless. “Oh? What kind of person is she?”
Joan said earnestly, “You know she was abandoned by her parents, right? But do you know why? Because she was a very bad child, full of lies, and she liked to do all sorts of underhanded, unsavory things. Her parents thought she was beyond saving, so they abandoned her.”
“And ever since she started living with my grandmother, she’s been coming to my house to steal things, taking my clothes and shoes back home. When I caught her, she wouldn’t even admit it!”
Stephan stared at Joan, a sudden icy chill emanating from his dark eyes.
For some reason, Joan felt a chill run through her entire body, and her limbs instantly went rigid.
What a terrifying look.
She felt a bit unsure of herself. “I... I’m telling the truth.”
“She doesn’t just steal from my house, she steals from other people’s homes too.”
“Plus, she hangs out with all sorts of men, she loves going to bars and nightclubs with them, and sometimes doesn’t come home for days on end.”
“I’m her cousin, so I know everything about her. Don’t let her innocent facade fool you.” Joan remembered that back in high school, she had had a crush on a boy and had pursued him relentlessly.
But that boy didn’t like her, he liked her desk partner instead.
What’s even more ridiculous is that the boy actually wanted her to deliver a love letter to her deskmate.
When she found out, she badmouthed her desk partner right in front of him, and eventually succeeded in making him dislike her.
And when they were children, she often used this same tactic to slander Alana. Because she was Alana cousin, someone close to Alana, everyone was willing to believe what she said.
As a result, Alana had hardly any friends growing up.
Many people thought Alana was a bad kid and disliked her.
So, she wanted to use the same tactic to slander Alana and make Stephan dislike her.
That way, Stephan wouldn’t marry Alana.
But the moment she finished speaking, the man who had remained motionless suddenly reached out and clamped his hand tightly around her neck.
Joan’s neck was suddenly gripped, and a suffocating sensation washed over her instantly, accompanied by the oppressive threat of impending death.
Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the man who had suddenly attacked her. His face was taut and stern, and a surge of violent rage erupted from his dark eyes, chilling her to the bone.
“What makes you think I’d believe you?”
Stephan gripped Joan’s neck, tightening his grip.
Veins bulged on his forehead, his pupils turned crimson, and his eyes blazed with savage fury.
To Joan, he looked like a terrifying demon crawling out of hell.
“Have you been slandering her like this all along?”
It was unimaginable that Alana had grown up enduring such slander.
Apart from her grandmother, who was closest to her, everyone around her had slandered and shunned her.
Just thinking about the rumors she’d endured since childhood made his chest ache so intensely it felt like it was about to explode.
Heartache and anger intertwined!
It was pitiful enough that she’d been abandoned by her parents as a child, why did she have to endure this as well? It was simply unforgivable!
At that moment, Stephan wanted nothing more than to crush the woman with the ugly face before him.
Joan felt as if the man were about to crush her bones; she couldn’t breathe and couldn’t utter a single word.
All she could do was stare wide-eyed.
The fear of death filled her eyes with tears, leaving her helpless and terrified.
Miranda had intended to sneak a peek at her daughter’s progress, but in the blink of an eye, she saw her daughter’s neck being choked.
Startled, she rushed over. “Oh my God, what are you doing?! Let go of my daughter right now!”
Joan’s face was flushed crimson from the chokehold, and she was on the verge of suffocating and passing out.
Miranda rushed over and slapped Stephan’s arm. “Let go of her right now! Or I’ll call the police right now!”
Stephan frowned for a moment, then released Josh neck without hesitation.
Mainly, he didn’t want to sully himself over this woman.
Besides, if he wanted to, he had plenty of ways to deal with her and make her suffer. She wasn’t worthy of him doing it himself.
“Cough, cough, cough...”
Joan could finally catch her breath; she collapsed weakly to the ground, coughing violently.
Miranda quickly crouched down, wrapped her arms around Joan, and patted her back repeatedly to help her catch her breath.
Once Joan had finally recovered, she clutched her throat and stared at Stephan, still shaken.
For the first time, she deeply regretted having crossed paths with him.
Miranda also felt a twinge of regret. She never imagined this man could be so terrifying. Stephan looked down at the mother and daughter from above, his gaze fierce and his tone icy. “Remember this: if I ever hear another word of slander against Alana coming from either of you, I’ll rip out your tongues and feed them to the dogs.”
He paused. “I mean what I say.”
He appeared calm, yet his words carried a chilling threat.
Joan and Miranda both shuddered uncontrollably in an instant, not daring to utter another word.
Joan had completely lost any desire to seduce him.
Her own life was more important than marrying a rich man.
Stephan paid no further attention to the two of them and walked back.
His tall, slender figure stood at the door of the hospital room.
The doctor had just finished examining her grandmother and left.
Alana was inside with her grandmother, never leaving her side.
He didn’t go inside. Standing at the doorway, he watched the girl’s slender, frail silhouette and thought of how she had been abandoned by her parents, subjected to all manner of ridicule and slander, and even bullied.
A wave of pain surged through his chest, as if something were crushing him, making it hard to breathe.
He had never imagined that this was the kind of life she had lived before. And she had never told him any of this.
The more he got to know her, the more his heart ached for her.
Apart from her grandmother, there was truly no one else who loved her. But it didn’t matter.
From now on, he would be by her side and love her dearly.
Alana had no idea what Stephan had just been through.
When she saw the doctor leave, she said to her grandmother, “Grandma, I want to talk to you about something.”
Her grandmother asked, “What is it?”
Alana said, “Grandma, Stephan and I have discussed it, and we’d like to take you to the city for further treatment.”