Chapter 446: Chapter 446

Stella stared at Rayna, still visibly shocked.

She saw Rayna speak to a woman in the shop. Rayna then kissed the woman on the cheek and left the shop while saying, “Mom, you go back and make the sweet soup first. I’ll go over to your house a little later to have it.”

Stella watched as Rayna approached the elevator. She spun around and hid behind a nearby advertising column.

Very stealthily, Stella peeked out from behind.

She noticed Rayna was wearing a pair of light brown flats and walking in a very careful manner. When Rayna got into the elevator, she even placed her hand on the handrail.

Stella’s gaze soon turned serious as she began to suspect something.

It’s not a working day, and Rayna is dressed casually. She’s wearing flats, walking very carefully... She must be pregnant!

Is it Curtis’s child?

If the child truly belonged to Curtis, Stella wondered why Curtis seemed to be as calm as ever when he went about his day-to-

day affairs. She also learned from Gabriel that Curtis rarely interacted with Rayna.

Is there some kind of misunderstanding between them? Did Rayna not inform Curtis about her pregnancy?

A woman’s mind was naturally quite delicate.

After mulling over this for a while, she arrived at the conclusion that something did happen between Curtis and Rayna.

As such, Rayna did not tell Curtis she was pregnant.

“I’m glad that the misunderstanding occurred. Otherwise, I can’t act,” muttered Stella after letting out a sigh of relief.

If Curtis knew about the child, he would definitely try to patch things up with Rayna.

A while later, Stella raised her head and glanced at the shop.

Gabriel was quite busy today. When he found out that Stella had to drop off some documents, he asked her to help deliver something.

If not for the chance encounter today, Stella would not have known that the owner of the shop was Rayna’s mother.

As Stella lugged the item with her into the store, she saw a woman dressed in purple come into the shop and say something to Linda. They both seemed to be well acquainted.

This made Stella arch a brow.

She remembered that when Gabriel returned to Faymon Group, he had received a call and then ran to a parked car to speak to the person inside. It seemed to be the same woman from before.

When Stella tried to enquire about the woman’s identity, Gabriel merely told her she was a client of Faymon Group.

Would a client of Faymon Group be so well acquainted with Rayna’s mother?

Just as Stella thought about this, she had already reached the entrance to the shop.

Quickly, she flashed her most polite smile and approached Linda. “May I know if you are Mrs. Garland?”

Linda glanced at her curiously and replied, “Yes. Do you need something?”

“I’m Stella Zink, and I work at Faymon Group,” Stella introduced herself and handed over the parcel in her hands. “Mr. Tylinski is busy today. He asked me to deliver this to you.”

“I already told him that this was unnecessary, but he insisted on having this delivered. Thank you for your trouble,” said Linda with a sigh. “You must be tired. Wait here while I get you something to drink.”

Stella had not planned on leaving so soon. She smiled and replied, “I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all.”

Linda waved her hand at Stella and quickly brought her a cup of warm water.

Stella thanked her but did not drink any.

She looked around and then at the side dishes on the shelves. “I shop at Obelisk Mall quite often and have heard good things about your side dishes and house-brewed wine. I’ve been meaning to purchase some for myself, but the shop is always too crowded when I’m around.”

Linda replied, “I have set aside some for my daughter, but she won’t be joining me for dinner tonight. I’ll go get it for you.”

“No, no, no. I can’t possibly accept it!” said Stella hurriedly.

However, Linda had already packed up the side dishes and handed them over to Stella. “It’s no big deal. After all, you’ve worked hard to deliver the item to me.”

Upon realizing that she could not refuse, Stella accepted the gift after thanking Linda. She then said, “You’re amazing, Mrs.

Garland! The fact that you’re able to secure such a good location for your shop at Obelisk Mall and have such a brisk business is no small feat.”

“I’m nowhere near as capable. It was my daughter who arranged everything for me.”

Upon deliberation, Stella asked, “Mrs. Garland, is your daughter named Rayna by any chance? Did she work at Faymon Group as well?”

Linda looked at Stella with a surprised expression on her face. “Why yes, she is. You know my daughter?”

“What a coincidence!” replied Stella with a smile. “The previous manager for my position was none other than Ms. Garland. You see, Mr. Tylinski and I used to be classmates. He’s well-acquainted with Ms. Garland, and that’s how I got to know her as well.”

“That is a coincidence indeed. It’s such a shame that you’ve only just arrived. She had to rush off to the office,” Linda said.

Stella took a sip of water. In her gentlest voice, she said, “It’s okay. Ms. Garland’s current place of work is also in the financial district. I can always ask her out for a meal if she’s available since she’s not too far away. I heard that Ms. Garland’s company is releasing a new product. She must be busy with the launch right now.”

“That’s right. My daughter works so hard.” The very mention of this made Linda’s heart ache. “She went abroad for a few months for something, and she’s been running around like mad since she came home. She doesn’t even have the time to come home for dinner!”

“Is she really that busy?” Stella frowned. “Does Mr. Hamilton not care about his girlfriend?”

Despite her mumbling, Linda managed to catch the word “Mr. Hamilton.”

“You mean to say that my Belle is dating this Mr. Hamilton person?”

Stella pretended to look as if she had said something wrong and smiled apologetically at Linda. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Garland. This isn’t news to our circle. I figured that Ms. Garland would’ve told you by now.”

“Who is Mr. Hamilton?” asked Linda again.

“He’s the new CEO of the company Ms. Garland is working at right now. He’s of mixed ethnicity.” Stella glanced at Linda. “I think they got together when she was abroad, but she never made the news public.”

Linda’s expression changed drastically, and she could not help but look at Xandra.

Of course, Linda had no say in who Rayna chose to date.

However, given that Rayna’s future mother-in-law was present, Linda found the situation quite embarrassing.

Stella assumed that Linda was embarrassed by the outsiders hearing about her family’s personal affairs.

Her eyes flickered as she feigned a casual tone. “I also heard some gossip from others about how Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Faymon share a mother, but I’m not sure of what Ms. Garland makes of this.”

“Huh?” Linda’s eyes looked as though they were about to pop out from their sockets.

Rayna had said nothing about Jefferson and Curtis’ relationship. Coincidentally, Xandra also avoided discussing that part of her past and chose to remain silent.

Linda was completely blindsided by this information since she was not privy to it at all. She found this absolutely shocking to hear.

She wanted to fish out her phone and call Rayna to ask her for clarification.

A few seconds later, she remembered that Curtis’ mother was right there. There was no need for her to make the call.

Linda glanced at Xandra. “Xandra, do... you have another son?”

What?

When Stella noticed Linda asking Xandra this after taking her words into consideration, Stella smiled very gently.

“No,” said Xandra coldly.

This immediately shook Stella out of her stupor. “I’m sorry,” said Stella apologetically. “I didn’t know that—”

“There’s no need to be so cunning at such a young age,” replied Xandra curtly, interrupting her. “Don’t pretend to address Mrs.

Garland so respectfully and spit on her hospitality by saying such awful things.”

“I’ve never had such thoughts,” replied Stella humbly. “I’ve definitely said something I shouldn’t have.”