My Amnesic Ex Married My Sister, So I Married His Uncle-Chapter 103: Born to Go Crazy

Ken had the look of a sleazy merchant out for a quick buck.

Taking a closer look, he saw that Stella had only injured her left hand, so he dropped the act entirely.

He plopped down beside Stella with practiced ease. "Stella, since your hand’s fine, when are we getting back to work?"

Making himself right at home, Ken grabbed the fruit platter Tate had prepared for Stella from the coffee table and started stuffing his face with a fruit fork.

"Look, we’ve submitted the manuscript to our old client, you’ve won a major international award, and you’re about to collaborate with a top-tier singer. We should ride this momentum, push forward, and make a fortune! Stella, if you ask me, you’re just too laid-back, blah blah blah..."

’Ugh, so annoying.’

Stella frowned for no particular reason as she listened.

The next second, she speared a Kyoho grape with a fork and stuffed it into Ken’s already-crammed mouth.

"Even food can’t shut you up."

"&%￥@*&##&@&&..."

Though his words were muffled, Stella’s past experience allowed her to decipher what Ken was saying: "This is the very mouth that once had you completely captivated."

When she first met Ken, Stella was going through the most silent period of her life.

Because no one listened to her, she gradually lost the desire to speak.

This was accompanied by a silence that grew more unbearable by the day.

An overly quiet environment can drive a person mad.

So, when she met Ken, an art student who could talk a blue streak for three days and three nights all by himself, Stella felt it must be fate.

But time is a boomerang.

The same chattiness she had once found so endearing in Ken was exactly what she found so annoying about him now.

Ken’s cheeks bulged as he chewed rapidly, quickly swallowing the sweet and sour fruit. His eyes, however, were fixed on Stella, sparkling brightly.

The person who had just been eating as if he planned to bankrupt the household was now cradling the fruit platter, carefully observing the woman beside him.

Stella was scrolling through her phone. Noticing him from the corner of her eye, she didn’t look up.

"Done eating?"

Ken nodded. "Mhm." His eyes darted around. "Stella, you said you were setting up your studio. Is it finished? Can I see it?"

Stella turned to him. "Of course, you can."

’With his handsome and refined looks,’ Stella thought to herself, ’he must have been really popular with the girls back in school.’

’Especially those big, dewy eyes. When he looks at you, he’s just like a friendly Golden Retriever wagging its tail into a blur at your feet.’

’When his mouth is shut, anyway.’

Stella averted her gaze and stood up to lead the way. "Come on, I’ll show you."

As an art student from a well-off family, Ken wasn’t the type to sit still. He loved to wander and explore. Having traveled extensively as Stella’s assistant over the past few years, he had seen countless art studios.

But when he saw Stella’s studio on the third floor, he couldn’t help but let out a soft "Wow."

The entire third floor, aside from two rooms, had been opened up into one large space.

The eastern side featured a traditional Chinese-style alcove with a screen. A wide tea table sat before a gauze curtain painted with a landscape, flanked by exquisite potted plants. A long desk was placed by the window, fully equipped with the Four Treasures of the Study.

A brass pendant lamp hung from the raw wood beams of the slanted ceiling. Its lampshade, made of hand-blown amber glass, cast honey-colored spots of light on the pine floor.

The western side, set against a gradient wallpaper, resembled a last-century art salon. A crystal chandelier hung from the high, vaulted ceiling. The velvet curtains by the window were half-drawn, allowing sunlight to filter through the lace trim and cast diamond-shaped patterns on the Persian rug.

An old-fashioned phonograph rested beneath the window, its vinyl sleeve displaying Monet’s *Water Lilies*.

It was clear that Stella had put a lot of thought into the decor.

But Stella’s favorite part was a small space within that room.

Ken wasn’t one for formalities. After Stella gave him a brief introduction, she let him explore on his own.

After looking around, Ken finally found Stella in the sunroom.

It was too hot in the summer, so a sunshade had been installed on the roof. Despite this, Stella’s precious little succulents were still bathing in the harsh sunlight.

When Ken found her, she was moving her succulents to a new spot. After she finished, she took a spray bottle and gave them a little spritz of water.

Her slender, pale fingers grazed the succulents’ plump leaves. "Chubby is cuter~"

Hearing her coo as if to a child, Ken couldn’t help but smile.

He leaned against the doorway between the room and the glass atrium, watching Stella. "Stella," he said, "I think you’re in a much better place now than before."

Stella turned back at his words. "Really?"

"Yeah," Ken nodded. "You’re like a Barbie doll that has emotions now."

Stella: ?

’What a weird metaphor.’

"You know, when I first met you, I was totally fooled by your looks. I thought you were this untouchable ice queen. But then I realized you weren’t an ice queen—you were just completely devoid of all emotion and desire. Back then, I even wondered if you were cultivating the path of heartlessness or something, because your eyes were so dull, like a dead fish’s."

Stella: "...?"

’What kind of eyes?’

’Great speech. Never say it again.’

Ken’s eyes sparkled, completely oblivious to Stella’s suffering.

He babbled on, "See? Loving the right person makes all the difference. When you were with your ex, even your smiles looked fake. Not like now. Now you seem like a real, living person."

’I was a living person before, you know!’

Stella: "...Where did you learn all these ridiculous metaphors?"

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him.

’The chubby succulents are still cuter.’

Ken opened his mouth to say more, but Stella raised her hand and mimed zipping his lips shut. "Little mouth..."

Ken played along, pressing his lips together tightly, only to hear Stella say, "Keep spouting nonsense and I’ll dock your pay. All of it!"

Ken choked, blinking his big, dewy eyes at Stella. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

As he blinked, a genuine smile spread across his face. "What I mean is, Stella, you seem so much more alive now. I’m happy for you."

Then he added silently to himself: ’A siren has to drain a man’s life force to replenish her own, after all.’

Still, Stella understood what Ken meant.

She was the one who knew her own state of mind best.

After getting together with Owen Rhodes, even though it had only been a short while, her overall well-being had indeed improved immensely.

’Turns out, people are meant to go a little crazy.’

’Otherwise, you’ll bottle it all up and get sick.’

As they were about to leave the studio, Ken’s merchant-like gaze once again fell on the kaleidoscopically blue painting.

His dewy eyes darted over. "Stella, would you consider—"

"Not considering it."

"I’m not finished."

"I don’t want to hear it. Is what you have to say more pleasant to listen to than Zion Shawcross’s singing?"

"...?"

Ken: ’Stella, you’re *too* alive now. I think I prefer the old Stella who would just listen to me talk quietly and never found me annoying.’