Forgotten Love: Mr. President, Mrs. Fordham Has Rejected You!-Chapter 174: Happy Birthday, Aiden

"Knock, knock, knock."

The car window was suddenly knocked on.

A loud shout came from outside: "DUI check!"

Stella’s mind went blank with a buzz. She hurriedly struggled off him and fumbled to open the car door.

She stuck her head out, saw who it was, and froze.

"Dad."

Aiden also called out, "Uncle Sterling."

Charles Sterling’s face was stern as he spoke to his daughter: "Stella, come home with me. It’s late and dangerous, don’t go out again after dark."

She nodded and ran off at once, never looking back.

Aiden’s irritation suddenly surged to his head, making him feel like he couldn’t breathe.

Just a little bit more—so... what was her answer?

He frantically typed message after message to her on WeChat.

But she never replied again.

Only after a while did the car slowly start up, leaving Sterling Manor behind.

Stella was in her room, standing for a long while, when she suddenly heard faint sobbing.

Without thinking, she rushed to Vivi Sterling’s room.

She pushed the door open. Vivi was curled up alone by the wall, her head buried in her knees, body trembling, and she was crying uncontrollably.

She was thinking about Zane Zimmerman again.

Stella hurried over and gently hugged her. "Vivi, get up—don’t sit on the floor, it’s cold."

Vivi looked up, her tearful eyes filled with unshakable pain. "I miss him."

"I should’ve... trusted him."

"But now there’s no chance anymore."

Stella helped her onto the bed and carefully covered her legs with a blanket.

"Vivi, are you planning to keep the baby?" she asked seriously.

Vivi froze, recalling what Alvin Fletcher had said before she left: Zane nearly chopped off the doctor’s hand to save the baby, and he watched over the child all night and day.

So he really treasured this child.

She nodded forcefully, tone resolute. "I’m keeping it, I want to give birth."

Stella patted her hand. "Do you know that if the mother is too heartbroken, it could cause birth defects, miscarriage, or the baby might suffer from hypoxia?"

Vivi’s eyes went wide in shock. Even her sobbing stopped.

"For the baby’s health, from now on, no getting upset. After the baby is born, we can catch up on all the sadness, okay?"

You can... save up sadness for later?

Vivi was suddenly amused and started to laugh.

"If you want to keep this baby, the premise is that it has to be healthy, right?" Stella gently stroked her hair.

"Actually, you’re not left with nothing. He’s left you the most precious thing. You have to rely on yourself to get through this."

"Stella." Vivi sniffed, leaning into her embrace.

"Seventeen didn’t leave. He’s still here—in your heart, and watching over you and the baby from above." Stella gently patted her back.

It took a lot to finally coax her to sleep.

Returning to her own room, Stella felt even more weighed down.

She couldn’t imagine what would’ve happened to her if she’d lost Aiden back then.

Her phone kept vibrating. When she looked, he had sent her over a dozen messages.

She stared at them for a while but didn’t reply to any.

"Give yourself to me!" That flirtatious line.

It left her heart a little... rattled.

The next day, noon.

Mrs. Sterling wore oversized sunglasses, clutching Stella’s hand in her left, Vivi in her right, and cute little Claire followed beside them. Four stunning women strolled down the street, turning every head they passed.

She was in an excellent mood, chin high, exuding the aura of "my daughters are the best."

Just as they were about to enter the most luxurious Aeria Mall in Meritopia, the guard at the door stretched out his arm, blocking Vivi and Stella’s way.

"Sorry, ladies."

The guard’s face was expressionless, his voice robotic.

"You are on the Fordham Group’s blacklist. You cannot currently enter Aeria Mall. Please consider shopping elsewhere."

Mrs. Sterling whipped off her sunglasses with a snap. Under her perfect makeup, anger instantly flared up.

"What did you say?"

"Who’s on the blacklist?"

The guard glanced down at his device, where red lights glowed from the facial recognition system.

"Miss Vivi Sterling and Miss Stella Grant."

Stella quickly grabbed her mother, who was about to explode. "Mom, let’s just go somewhere else."

She’d been thinking of picking out a birthday gift for him.

Now, she couldn’t even get through the door.

Mrs. Sterling’s anger spiked in an instant. She started cursing.

"That little bastard Aiden Fordham dared to blacklist you?"

"Call him! Call him now!"

Vivi also hurriedly grabbed her other arm, lowering her voice to persuade her:

"Mom, forget it, it’s fine, we can go somewhere else. We’re not broke—we can get good things anywhere we want! If the Fordham Family loses customers like us, it’s their loss!"

The commotion at the entrance wasn’t too loud, but the four of them stood out so much, a crowd quickly gathered outside.

In the crowd, a young girl squealed in surprise.

"Isn’t that God N? Oh my god, she’s even more beautiful in person, and just so elegant!"

Someone promptly agreed: "Yeah! Why did the Fordham Group blacklist her? Didn’t she just support D during their last event? President Fordham is just ruthless—using her and then tossing her aside!"

The gossip swelled louder and louder. Worried this might cause unnecessary trouble, Stella dragged Mrs. Sterling away at once.

Soon after, #GodNBlacklistedByFordhamGroup trended hard online, along with all sorts of speculation, setting the internet abuzz.

"President Fordham, bad news, look!"

Keegan Lindsey rushed into the CEO’s office with his phone.

Aiden Fordham looked up from his files and took his phone.

The screen showed a photo of Aeria Mall’s entrance, alongside an explosion of nasty online chatter.

His face instantly darkened.

How did she end up on the Fordham Group’s blacklist?

No wonder.

No wonder, in Mardale, she hadn’t stayed at the Fordham Group’s hotels and ended up in that crappy motel, almost getting kidnapped that night!

At the thought of that dangerous night, the air around him turned ice-cold, his handsome face tightening with anger.

"Find out!"

"When did this happen?"

Keegan’s fingers flew over the keyboard, and he quickly reported a date.

Aiden narrowed his eyes. That date... he remembered now. That was when Corinne Kensington called him in tears, saying some woman fought her for a dress in the shop, making her "suffer terribly."

Her again.

She used him again!

He clenched his sharp-boned hand into a hard fist, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

"Bzzzzz——"

His office phone vibrated—on the screen flashed a very familiar number.

He slid to answer. On the other end, a coy voice chirped:

"Aiden, happy birthday. I’m back, I’m at The Lyrewood Restaurant—will you have dinner with me?"

He curled his lips into a cold smile, his voice emotionless.

"Wait there."

He hung up and strode out the door, but paused at the threshold to toss out a frosty command:

"Release a statement."

Soon, The Fordham Group’s official website dropped a bombshell statement.

[Regarding Miss Stella Grant’s inclusion on the Fordham Group’s blacklist—this was due to a technical glitch and is entirely unfounded. To express our apology, the Fordham Group will transfer ownership of all 433 global Aeria Malls, with no strings attached, to Miss Stella Grant. We appreciate her and D for their partnership and tireless journey together.]

The announcement set off a tidal wave.

Aeria Malls, worth hundreds of billions—President Fordham just gave them away?

He’s spoiling his ex-wife... absolutely outrageously!

Corinne Kensington stared at her phone, fixated on that statement. Because of a single dress, she’d gotten Aiden to blacklist that woman—now she regretted it to her core.

Her eyes stung, and tears spilled out.

Aiden would spoil her like this?

What on earth... is going on between them now?

At this moment, the top private restaurant in Meritopia—The Lyrewood Restaurant.

Mrs. Sterling brought her three daughters at last to a private room.

Seated, Claire immediately grabbed the menu, flipping through it excitedly, practically drooling over the pictures.

The Lyrewood’s owner was said to be the same as the one behind The Gilded Banyan, which was previously shut down—now he’d built another top restaurant. True gold always shines.

Mrs. Sterling turned her anger into appetite, letting Claire order a full table of dishes.

The food wasn’t even all out yet when Vivi came across a headline on her phone. Excited, she handed it to Stella.

"Stella, look! You’re the major shareholder of Aeria Mall now!"

Stella looked at the statement, surprised too.

This maneuver—isn’t he going a little overboard? People give houses or cars, but this?

Next to her, Vivi tutted with admiration. "President Fordham is really generous! With blacklisting like this, get kicked out a few more times and next time he’ll just gift you the whole Fordham Group!"

Just as she finished, the server brought in a pot of clear fish soup.

The moment Vivi caught a whiff of that fishy smell, her stomach churned violently. She slapped a hand over her mouth and rushed outside.

"I’ll go check." Not at ease, Stella followed her out.

Mrs. Sterling watched her back in confusion. Wasn’t this fish soup her favorite? What’s going on...

Something’s off.

She set her chopsticks down with a snap, alarm bells ringing in her mind.

In the hallway, Vivi was doubled over the trashcan, vomiting her guts out.

Stella gently patted her back and, once she recovered, helped her back toward the room.

As they passed a neighboring private room, a server happened to open the door to serve food.

Through the crack, Stella caught sight of a familiar tall figure.

Aiden Fordham!

And... Corinne Kensington!

Corinne had her arms wrapping tightly around his waist, her face pressed against his chest. He stood sideways to the door, his expression unclear.

Stella froze in her tracks.

Corinne is back?

They...

Suddenly, an intense wave of nausea surged up from her gut. She shoved Vivi aside and ran for the restroom.

Inside the private room.

Corinne’s eyes were red. The moment she saw Aiden, she couldn’t help but throw herself at him.

"Aiden, can I please come back to Meritopia? I don’t want to stay overseas anymore. I’m all alone there, with no one to rely on."

Aiden reached over, impassively prying her arms from his waist, his gaze icy.

"I heard the Whitman Family has acknowledged you. As their eldest daughter, how are you alone?"

Corinne’s body tensed, her face falling with disappointment. Her voice grew weak.

"But I just want to stay by your side."

"You and I are finished." Aiden’s words cut like a dagger, straight to her heart.

Corinne’s tears welled up. "I know, you don’t love me anymore... I just wanted to come back and celebrate your birthday."

He looked at her, his voice utterly cold.

"As for before, I’ll let it go." He meant blacklisting Stella Grant on her account.

"Leave Meritopia tomorrow."

He turned and left without a trace of hesitation.

As he walked away, no one noticed that in his palm, he held a strand of hair he’d just deliberately plucked from Corinne’s head.

He wanted to see—who the real daughter of the Whitman Family was.