Chapter 840

“Haven’t you?” Stella picked up her coffee cup and took a sip.“ How can I be sure of that when your
own wife is still oblivious to the fact that you cheated on her many years ago?”

“That was the only time it happened!” he insisted as calmly as he could through gritted teeth. He was
seething with anger, but he knew it would be best to control his emotions. “I’d completely cut my
contact with that woman ever since then…”

“Are you sure that was the only time? Judging by your conversation with her back then, it sounded
more like a repeated offense to me.”

“I was just starting up my company back then,” he argued. “I had to meet so many people and entertain
lots of clients, so it was impossible for me not to forget myself sometimes. But eventually, I managed to
firmly establish the company, and ever since then, I’ve never fooled around at all!”

“Oh,” Stella responded, her voice studded with biting scorn. “So you managed to establish your
company then, huh? I wonder: How exactly did you do it?”

After her parents had died, Michael had usurped all the money and properties that should have been
inherited by Stella and Roger, stolen all of her parents’ pension compensation money, and kicked the
siblings out of their house.

At the time, Roger was critically ill and desperately needed the money for his treatment.

If it hadn’t been for Michael, Stella wouldn't have had to go through all the harrowing experiences she’d
gone through these past few years. She wouldn’t have had to give up her studies and give up on her
dreams.



Michael was aware of all that. He knew that he’d wronged Stella and Roger. He quietly rested both of
his hands on the table and interlaced the fingers of one hand with the other.

“I’m really sorry about what I’ve done many years ago. I don’t care if you don’t believe me, but the truth
is, I was in an extremely desperate situation. My company was about to be sold, and if I let that
happen, I would never gain the trust from my wife’s family. I needed them to accept me…”

He paused and heaved a long sigh before continuing , “I know things were difficult for both of you too. I
know that Roger needed the money for his treatment. But I had no choice! I had to choose between
you two and my wife…”

“You didn’t have to choose between us and Aunt Diana,” Stella interjected bluntly. “You only had to
choose between us and your own comfort and wealth.”

“I know you must hate me.” Michael gritted his teeth. “But you can’t possibly believe that I gladly did all
that, can you? We’re family! I’ve known you since you were born! Are you just going to disregard the
close bond that we had in all those years when you were growing up?”

Stella’s face suddenly turned sullen.

“You’re right,” she said. “You were so close to us in all those years; that was why it hurt so much when
you betrayed us! Do you know how unbearable it was to find out that your own family backstabbed
you? It was simply unforgivable! What have we ever done to you? How could you do such a thing to us!
We were your family!”

Stella’s eyes reddened, and she was on the verge of tears. Seeing this, Weston instantly rose to his
feet and walked over to her.

There was nothing that Michael could do now but to suppress his emotions and stay in control.



“I’m truly sorry for what I’ve done… I had no choice.”

“You told me that you did it all for Aunt Diana’s sake,” Stella countered him with disdain. “But what
about the time you cheated on her with another woman? Did you do that for her sake too?”

“This world is not as simple as you imagine,” he replied.

“It’s completely normal for men to fool around sometimes. Take Weston, your own fiancé, for example!
Not only was he with Guinevere , he’d even been with other women at Lowe Garden! What’s the
difference between what he did and what I did? But none of this matters anyway!”

He paused to change into a more emphatic voice, “As long as you are the only woman in his heart, it
doesn’t matter how many women he fools around with out there, because they don’t mean anything to
him!”

“Why don’t you tell Aunt Diana what you just told me?” Stella stared blankly at him. “See if she’d forgive
you after that.”

Those words finally brought Michael over the edge. He sprang up to his feet and blurted, “She must
never find out about this! You know what she’s like! She’ll never be able to handle it!”

Michael tugged at his collar before adding, “If you could forgive Weston, then why can’t you forgive
your own uncle too? Trust me-all men with health and position would definitely make the same choice
that I did at least once in their lives. If you don’t believe me, you can just ask Weston how many kept
women he has. Yet you’re the only one he allows to be publicly acknowledged as the woman by his
side, and the woman he would marry. He even broke off his previous engagement to Guinevere just for
you! Isn’t that more than enough?”

“… It sounds like you’re talking about me.”



Weston appeared at their table. He swept a glance over Michael.

“I heard that you were discussing the nature of men, Mr. Sealey,” he said, his voice heavily tinged with
threat. “Would you mind if I join you and listen in?”

“I’ve said all that I wanted to say,” said Michael, making sure to keep his emotions in check.

“It seems that you’ve heard everything as well. So why should I waste your time by repeating myself?”

Weston sat down next to Stella and wrapped his arm around her waist. His movements were so
smooth and natural that it looked like he’d done it a million times before.

“You sounded desperate to drag other men down to your level, Mr. Sealey. Did you think that it would
make you look better and justify your past actions by doing this?”


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