Chapter 110 Green With Jealousy
Miles already expected Yulia’s visit. “What do you want? A car, a house, or money? Take your pick.”
His nonchalant attitude irked Yulia. Is material compensation all he can offer when I have lost my virginity for him? She navigated around him to get behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder. With a gentle yet vicious tone, she told him, “I want you.”
Failing to stifle a laugh, Miles spat, “In your dreams!” There was a sense of derision in his laughter, as if Yulia was being delusional.
“Why can’t I have you when Stella can?” She got even closer to his ear.
“Because you’re not her,” he answered.
His reply irked Yulia even more, so she retorted begrudgingly, “We’ll see who’ll win in this competition!”
Smiling, Miles thought she was making a clown out of herself.
Meanwhile, Zane returned to Hollowcrest City the same time when Yulia went to Miles. Due to the fact that they had broken off their alliance, she didn’t know he was back. He came to meet Stella, for he couldn’t take on any projects because he was now operating as a sole proprietorship instead of a corporation. Besides, his reputation in Murdough was already tarnished due to Yulia’s interference.
Right now, there was an open call to a project that required applicants to bid as a corporation. That prerequisite alone crossed him off the list of eligible applicants. Hence, the only way he could think of navigating through this was by taking over Korbin’s factory, but it was already handed over to Stella.
Therefore, the aim of his trip was to find Stella. She was already irritated at Zane, so she was even more annoyed when he came to find her. However, she couldn’t turn him down just like that in fear of falling into yet another trap of his. This time, she had to be more prudent in making her decision to either turn him down or help him out.
“Stella, I will be staying in Hollowcrest City for a few days. You can take your time while considering this. Come back to me when you’re ready.” He left after that.
Even after spending a long time pondering about the situation, she couldn’t figure out what his motivations were. Hence, she wanted to ask for Miles’ opinion, considering the fact that he was far more proficient with business dealings than she was. Moreover, he was smarter than Zane, so she was certain he could see through any schemes that Zane might be up to. Besides, the reason that her father handed the factory over to her was because Miles would be there to back her up. Although she wanted to go to Miles’ company, she was taking her sweet time. After all, their previous meeting at the hospital didn’t end well, so she had to tread properly.
Meanwhile, Miles’ secretary came to knock on the door of his office. “Mr. Grant, Miss Johansson is at the company. She’s at the door,” she told Miles.
The information puzzled Miles, as he didn’t expect her to come to him, considering her personality and all. “Where is she?” he questioned.
“She’s downstairs. I saw her when I was in the corridor.”
Standing up from his seat, Miles went to the corridor above the company entrance that was facing the road. The structure of the building consisted of a glass curtain wall that shone a blue hue in the sunlight. Therefore, Stella wasn’t able to see him behind it even if she tried to. In the meantime, Miles squinted at her tiny figure below with his hands in his pockets. She was pacing around slowly, seemingly hesitant to reach out while she was pondering about something.
Just when she was about to step into the building, she stopped abruptly and wheeled around again, which made his heart skip a beat for some reason. Judging from her behavior, she must have come for him, or else she wouldn’t be so hesitant.
Once again, when she was about to walk up the stairs, her phone rang with a call from Matthew to ask her where she was. There was an urgent task that he needed her to handle back in the company, so he requested that she return immediately if possible. After some thought, she decided that the matter with Zane could wait, so she whipped around abruptly to hail a cab, leaving just like that. Witnessing the whole process, Miles wore a tight frown.
When she returned to the company, Matthew told her another client would like to purchase the outfits that Meridian Trading turned down. They would gladly buy them off Amon if they didn’t mind making a second sale.
“No!” Stella regarded Matthew sternly.
“Stella, Meridian didn’t want these outfits. It would be a waste of your design, and it would be unfair to you if we just leave them here.” Matthew assumed that Stella was upset that the order fell through, which was why he tried to sell them off despite his hesitancy.
“That’s not okay! We’ve already signed an agreement with Meridian Trading! As long as the agreement is still effective, we can’t do something that will ruin our brand! What if Meridian Trading suddenly decided that they wanted the outfits back? You can’t sell them just like this! Even if Meridian Trading had totally forgotten about it, someone else might make use of it as material for slander,” Stella added.
After some thought, Matthew agreed that she had a point. However, he was quite certain that Meridian would never want the batch of outfits. He couldn’t help but wonder who was behind it. In fact, he was certain that it had something to do with Yulia. “But your design—”
“I’d prefer my design never getting the exposure rather than ruining the brand!” Stella was adamant about it.
Matthew chuckled before commenting, “Great to see that you would think like that. Who taught you about that?” There was a teasing look in Matthew’s eyes. Stella knew he was specifically referring to Miles.
Speaking of the devil, Yulia arrived just when Matthew was wondering how she was doing. Upon seeing Yulia, Matthew left after saying, “I’ll give you some space.”
Now that Stella had her own office, they were having their conversation there. Other than that, Matthew also helped register all her social insurance and housing fund under Hollowcrest City. After all, Stella was considered as a sole proprietorship in Murdough, so nobody was able to help her handle those procedures. Seeing Yulia gave Stella a bad mood. After all, Yulia’s rape drove a wedge between Miles and her.
“Stella, I went to Miles today to tell him that I want him,” Yulia told her.
Stella was gaping at Yulia. Is this her taunting me? She never spoke to me like that before, so what emboldened her? How dare she? Despite her thoughts, Stella didn’t notice that her own hand was trembling. “What did he say?” Although she sounded as cool as she could be, her trembling hands betrayed her emotions toward Miles.
“You know that he’s feeling guilty toward me, as he is responsible for what happened to me. What else could he say?” Yulia noticed Stella’s hands were shaking.
On the other hand, Stella kept her silence to hide her tumultuous emotions. In spite of the fact that she was trembling, it wasn’t out of anger. Instead, it was an odd feeling that she couldn’t put a finger on.
After that, Yulia left, as her sole aim in dropping by was to challenge Stella. Ever since she was raped, she had been having a chip on her shoulder, feeling that she had somehow gotten the right to do as she pleased. However, Stella also acknowledged that Miles had had a slip up.
With her head hanging low, she held her phone in her hands, her mind abuzz with messy thoughts. It took a lot of reflection for her to uncover the roots of her emotions. It was because Miles was starting to look at other women. Although it had yet to develop into anything further, it was still a trigger. Yulia had explicitly confessed her feelings to Miles, so he must’ve responded somehow.
Stella was green with jealousy over Yulia and Miles’ conversation; she wanted to know what Miles had said in response. The more she pondered on it, the more riled up she was, so she blocked him on social media for a moment. However, she instantly realized that she still needed his help on the matter regarding Zane, so she unblocked him again.
Despite how quickly she unblocked him, he came to know that she had blocked him, because he sent her a message at the same time to inquire what she was doing in front of his company earlier in the day. When he noticed the exclamation mark that indicated that the message didn’t go through, he wondered if she had blocked him because of what happened to Yulia.
But soon enough, she sent him a text. ‘Zane wants to use my father’s company to bid for a project in Murdough. I don’t know what he’s up to, so I’d like to get your opinion.’
Miles texted back, ‘Let’s speak over the phone.’ After all, the matter was related to important decisions for her business, so they would need a more effective communication method.
As soon as the call connected, Stella eagerly told him everything that happened when her father and Zane seeked her out respectively. She didn’t hide anything from him, including telling him about her confusion on the matter of allowing Zane to make use of her factory like that. Obviously, she was at a loss of what to do, for she spoke rather hurriedly.
On the other hand, Miles listened closely before offering his advice. “I think you should agree to it. Tell him that you’ll have sixty percent of the earnings, but he’ll have to bear full responsibility over any losses so that it doesn’t implicate your factory. Also, remember to draft a contract.”
Hearing that, Stella was stunned, for she didn’t think Zane would agree with such terms. After all, nobody would just hand their money over to other people like that. Therefore, she asked cautiously, “I don’t know how to draft a contract. I don’t have a background in law, so I don’t know much about it. I don’t know—”
“I’ll have my company’s legal department draft it in your stead. He can make his own decision afterward. On the factory’s end, I’ll make sure that it won’t go bankrupt,” Miles said casually, as if he would be there for Stella no matter what she did with the teensy factory that she owned.
After a brief pause, Stella remarked, “My father sure got it right.”
“What did he say?” Miles was both curious and interested in hearing it.
“It’s nothing. He said you’ll always back me up, so the factory will never go bankrupt.” Never someone to lie, she could only tell him the truth. She was beginning to suspect that her father only handed the factory to her because he knew Miles would back her up.
Hearing that lifted his mood, so he gave his instructions smilingly. “Come to my company tomorrow to draft the contract with my legal consultant.”
Stella agreed to that. The next day, she went to the company, but she went to Miles’ office first because she wanted to check on him before doing anything else. The secretary already informed Miles of her arrival beforehand. Meanwhile, Janice was giving him a massage in the lounge. She was in a white coat, and an assortment of tools were laid out beside her, giving her an air of professionalism and austerity.
