chapter1884

Any woman could give him a child, but the stain on Aurora's reputation would be nearly impossible to wash away.

However, no matter how fiercely they ed, McCoy was dead set on taking responsibility for the baby she was carrying.

At the end of the day, it was an innocent life. The Chapman family wasn't completely ruthless or driven purely by profit, so they eventually backed down.

But a grand, lavish wedding like they might have planned in the past was completely off the table. Not only was it impossible, but they also insisted on keeping the marriage entirely out of the public eye.

Seeing that the Chapman family was still willing to take Aurora in, Skyler agreed to nearly all of these relatively minor conditions.

At the family dinner, the Williams and Chapman families exchanged empty, polite pleasantries.

By unspoken agreement, everyone completely avoided the subject of the engagement party scandal.

Throughout the meal, McCoy was incredibly attentive to Aurora. He didn't just pour her water; he even went out of his way to serve her food and make sure her plate was full.

Aurora thanked him softly, and the two looked like a picture-perfect, deeply in love couple.

Once dinner was winding down, Skyler brought up the topic of a deeper business partnership with the Chapman family.

Skyler hadn't stepped down yet and was still the head of the Williams family. Major decisions and significant collaborations like this still required his final say.

Stella listened for a bit but quickly lost interest. She shot Lauretta a look.

Catching the hint, Lauretta made an excuse and slipped away from the table.

A few moments later, Stella met her out in the back garden.

"Lauretta."

Lauretta turned around, a bit surprised to see Stella completely alone.

"Did Mr. Gardner not come out with you?"

Back when Joshua was just Stella's bodyguard, Lauretta had felt perfectly fine

calling him by his first name. But now that she knew he was the head of the Gardner family, she didn't dare speak so casually.

"He had some business to take care of," Stella explained. "He stepped away to make a call."

Lauretta smiled. "Star, when you get married, I'm officially reserving a spot as one of your bridesmaids."

Stella laughed. "Of course. I've already got a spot saved for you."

Speaking of weddings, something crossed Stella's mind. "Lauretta, is the Chapman family still pressuring you into a strategic marriage?"

At the mention of this, the smile slowly faded from Lauretta's face.

She let out a soft sigh. "Naturally. If Sellers hadn't mysteriously disappeared, my next arranged match probably would have been with him."

Stella murmured, almost to herself, "If you look at it that way, Sellers vanishing is actually a blessing..."

Compared to Jonathan Williams, Sellers was an even bigger nightmare.

After all, Jonathan was just greedy.

Sellers wasn't just greedy; his heart was completely obsessed with someone else.

Stella and Lauretta had been classmates. Now that Lauretta was getting older, she wouldn't be able to escape her family's matchmaking forever.

Suddenly, a thought struck Stella. "Lauretta, your family has lo every elite bachelor in the city they ever considered the Watsons?"

Lauretta immediately understood what she was getting at. "You mean... Antoney Watson?"

Stella nodded, "He called me

yesterday complaining that Mr.

Watson was setting him up on blind dates and driving him crazy. He's on vacation right now and wants to mide out at my place for a few days. to escape it all. You guys went to the same university, you both studied music, and you already know each other's backgrounds. Would you ever consider him?"

Lauretta didn't reject the idea outright. Instead, she looked thoughtful.

Being born into a wealthy, powerful family meant living like a princess, but it also came with a heavy price tag of responsibility.

You couldn't have everything. She had wealth and privilege, but she had lost the right to choose her own husband.

Compared to the Burton family or the Williams family, Antoney really was her best option.

Whether it was his character, how well they knew each other, or even their shared interests, it was a good match.

"Would Antoney even go for it?" Lauretta asked hesitantly.

"His flight gets in tomorrow," Stella said. "Come with me to pick him up. Even if there's no spark, yo guys

could cover for each other. It beats

being hounded about marriage every

single day."

Lauretta thought it over and gave a gentle nod.

Moved by the gesture, she reached out and squeezed Stella's hand. "Thank you,

Star."