Chapter 945
'Her?'
"Who are you talking about?" Stella asked while frowning.
Keegan did not speak for a long time. Just when Stella thought he had fallen asleep, he softly said, "My mother."
Stella was stunned for a moment. Keegan never spoke ill of Dahlia in front of her when he was sober. He held onto traditional
concepts whereby elders were to be respected no matter how evil they could be. He would never say anything like that in front of
others.
Stella could see Dahlia's eccentricity, even as an outsider. Hence, it was very likely that Keegan noticed it too. For example,
Dahlia was swiping Keegan's cards non-stop when she went to Europe with her friends for a month last year.
Keegan was a VIP in the bank, so they arranged for someone to deliver his monthly private account statements to him every
month. Stella often signed for them because she habitually kept tabs on their financials. She would jot down their expenses,
including food, luxuries, daily necessities, gifts for weddings, funerals, etc. That way, they could track how much they were
spending and balance everything out.
Keegan's bank account was sucked dry when Dahlia went on her trip. She had spent more than 10 million dollars in that month
alone. The statement from the bank clearly showed all of the expenses. Dahlia spent more than half of the money in duty-free
stores and a few luxury places. She even stocked up on a few things, such as skin care products worth ten thousand dollars.
Stella understood if Dahlia had bought two to three bottles of skincare. However, she purchased 20 to 30 bottles in one go.
Stella found her behavior strange, but she knew it would not be easy to tell Keegan about it. It would also seem highly
inappropriate since Dahlia was her mother-in-law. So, she did not say anything and sent the bill to Keegan after jotting down the
monthly expenses.
When Stella woke up the following day, she heard Keegan talking to Dahlia on the phone. It was unclear whether he asked her
about the money. After a while, Keegan asked Stella what she wanted from Europe since Dahlia was returning to the country
soon and wanted to bring them gifts. Stella told him that she was fine with anything.
Then, Dahlia returned with presents from Europe for both her and Keegan. She gifted Keegan a branded belt worth more than
ten thousand dollars and a Swarovski Black Swan necklace for Stella.
Keegan was sitting next to Dahlia when she presented them with the gifts. He and Stella both fell silent when they saw the
necklace. In an attempt to save his mother's face, Keegan said it looked nice.
Soon afterward, the family went to Cordelia's place for a small gathering. It was the end of September, and the weather was
chilly. However, Aurora wore a halter dress that day, which was very unlike her. She also wore an eye-catching bracelet and
necklace that day. Cyrene complimented her accessories.
"Mom bought it for me while she was traveling abroad," Aurora said proudly.
Hearing that, Stella thought about Keegan's belt and her necklace, which was two to three hundred dollars. She immediately felt
sick. Keegan's face did not look too good either at that time, but he did not say anything because Dahlia was his mother.
Later, Stella realized that the dozens of expensive face creams Dahlia had bought were party favors since her birthday was
coming up. Dahlia had spent her son's money to buy expensive gifts for her friends, yet the necklace she bought for Stella was
nowhere near as costly.
People often took advantage of their parents, yet Dahlia took advantage of her son. Stella always felt that Dahlia treated Keegan
as her ATM.