Chapter 122 Let’s Go Stargazing
Snuggling in his embrace, Stella lifted her head and asked, “What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean things about the future, like where to go for vacation? Where should the children attend school? In Solaria or overseas? All of these things about the future.”
When Miles said that, Stella could see the corner of his mouth curved up into a smile. It was such a rare sight.
Gaping at Miles, Stella was dumbfounded. Children? I’ve never thought about it.
“What are you looking at?” asked Miles as he put his arm around her shoulders.
“You look good when you smile,” Stella complimented sincerely.
Hearing that, Miles broadened his smile into a big curve.
In a playful manner, Stella took out her phone and snapped a picture of him smiling.
After knowing him for so long, Stella realized she didn’t have a single photo of him in her phone.
In this photo, his legs were crossed, and he was smiling lightly at Stella.
Once she was done taking the picture, she was dragged over by him.
The next day, Stella went to the boutique and requested her shop attendant to compile a list of guests to invite. After that, she would go through the list and add a couple more people in.
Picking up a pen, she started jotting down a few names. Mrs. Miller would surely attend, but as for President Miller, it would depend on Mrs. Miller. Hence, she wrote President Miller’s name in a bracket beside Mrs. Miller’s name. The next name was—Matthew Xenon.
On second thought, she had a bad feeling about it. Considering that it was a sensitive period between Miles and her, it would be better if she didn’t invite him.
Clenching her fists, Stella somehow felt it wouldn’t be nice to not invite him. After all, he was the one who had led her to where she was now. Then again, if he attended, it would be rather awkward too…
After writing down Matthew’s name, Stella spent a long while mulling about it, thus had subconsciously drawn a lot of dots beside his name, which indirectly represented her confused mind.
In the end, she crossed out the name.
Subsequently, she compiled all the remaining guest lists into one list and asked the shop attendant to make a copy with the computer so they could present it to Miles later.
There were a lot of names, but since Miles wasn’t too familiar with the people in the fashion line, he just scanned through the list.
How come his name is not on the list? Did Stella do it on purpose?
Upon thinking about it, Miles stated that there was no problem with the list.
Hence, Stella began to send out the invitation cards.
One day, when Stella was in the boutique, she held out the jade pendant which Matthew had gifted her the other day. Out of curiosity, she asked whether anyone knew about the story behind this pendant. Unfortunately, everyone shook their heads, as they had never heard about it.
Looking at the pendant which had a person working with a sewing machine, Stella didn’t know what to feel.
Just then, Miles dropped by her boutique and wanted to send her home.
Coincidentally, one of the shop attendants was tidying up the table as she threw the used draft papers into the bin. When Miles passed by, he caught a glimpse of the name that was crossed out—Matthew Xenon, with lots of scribbles beside his name.
Pretending that he didn’t see it, Miles walked over to hold Stella’s hand and walked off together with her.
Instinctively, Stella quickly hid the jade pendant. It wasn’t because she didn’t believe in him, but more like she was fearful that the same thing as last time would happen again.
During noon, both of them went out for a meal.
When Stella suggested ramen, Miles frowned. Of all things, why does she want to eat ramen?
“Must you eat that?” asked Miles as he turned toward Stella.
Stella nodded as she entwined her arms around Miles and walked into the quiet and clean ramen restaurant.
Frankly, Stella fancied restaurants like these. It was a cherry feeling having just the both of them in a restaurant.
“Do you want to hear a story about Matthew?” asked Miles.
Upon hearing that, Stella’s heart sank as she wondered whether he’d realized something.
Without glancing at her, Miles was checking on the menu.
“If you wish to tell me, go ahead,” said Stella.
After ordering two bowls of ramen, Miles ordered a couple of other appetizers, as the ramen restaurant only served a few varieties.
“What do you mean if I wish to tell you? You’re not interested to know?” Miles passed the menu back to the waiter.
Somehow, Stella felt his gaze was way too intense, as though he could see through her soul and knew exactly what she was doing or thinking. Feeling a little nervous, Stella felt she was in the palm of his hand.
“You’re too serious. Can’t you smile a little? Seriously, you rarely smile.” Disregarding the name Matthew, Stella tried to put on a relaxed expression on her face.
“I rarely smile?” said Miles in a confused manner.
“Of course! Didn’t you know?” Surprised, Stella thought, How can anyone not know whether they rarely smile or not?
“I didn’t know. Maybe it’s because no one tells me to my face, or more like, no one has the guts to tell me that,” explained Miles as he broke into a smile.
Seeing that, Stella realized that his smile really had the charms that would make anyone fall head over heels for him. Whenever he flashed a smile, there was no denying that he was truly a heartthrob.
The more she spent time with him, the more Stella realized that she couldn’t help but fall deeper in love.
Once the ramen were served, Miles began to tell her stories about Matthew. Matthew’s father was a tailor who came from a small town, and he led a carefree and contented life. In order to provide for his family, he tailored clothes every day with a sewing machine, and his only dream was to bring up his son to become a famous fashion designer.
The moment Stella heard the phrase sewing machine, she froze and thought, Can it be?
Noticing her awkward reaction, Miles remained collected and continued, “His father had a jade pendant, to which he specially carved a portrait of himself working on the sewing machine. Then, his father gave the pendant to Matthew to remind him of his dream and that Matthew will succeed as long as he works hard for it.”
When Stella heard that, her chopsticks fell onto the ground with a thud.
Sure enough, it’s his dad! No wonder no one in the boutique knew about him, Stella thought as her face turned pale.
“What’s wrong?” asked Miles.
Obviously, he could tell that something was odd, but he didn’t point it out.
After getting a new pair of chopsticks from the waiter, Stella acted as though nothing had happened. “So, what happened to that jade pendant?”
“Well, Matthew must have kept it safe all this while. His dad asked him to present it to someone he likes or to someone he thinks has a bright future. I’m guessing none of these two have appeared in his life yet, you reckon?” Miles had his eyes locked on Stella.
Her hands were trembling. Why on earth did Matthew give me this pendant? Was it because he liked me? Or did he see me as a person with a bright future? Stella was at a loss.
The reason why she didn’t tell Miles about the thing between Matthew and her was because she was afraid that Miles would overthink about it, but from the looks of it, it seemed like Miles already knew about it and was actually interrogating her now.
“Miles, I… Actually, I…” Stella intended to spill the truth about the jade pendant, but she failed to pluck up the courage to do so. All in all, she had no idea whether Matthew had given it to her because he liked her or because he saw her as someone with a bright future.
The less complications, the better! Hence, Stella decided to keep quiet about it.
“Are you okay?” Miles asked again.
“Yes… Yes, I’m fine.”
Lowering her head, Stella continued to eat her ramen and didn’t utter a word.
As soon as they reached home at night, Stella placed the jade pendant back into her luggage bag. When Miles was taking a shower, she carefully hid it underneath the pile of clothes. Feeling uneasy, she stole a few quick glances at it, and just then, Miles walked out of the bathroom. While he was toweling his hair dry, he saw Stella casting a glance at the luggage. Without a doubt, he knew what was in there.
“I’ll go take a shower now!” said Stella as she rushed into the bathroom.
After she went in, Miles opened up her luggage, and underneath the pile of clothes, he found the jade pendant which he had seen countless times.
As expected, he gave it to her!
Closing the luggage, Miles acted as though he didn’t see anything.
No doubt, Miles knew what Matthew was thinking—he had given it to the person he liked, and she accepted it.
A while later, Stella came out with a towel wrapped around her as she dried her hair.
“Are you done?”
Stella answered yes.
“Are you sleepy?”
“Just a little. What’s up?”
“I wish to go stargazing with you,” suggested Miles in a casual manner.
The moment she heard that, her hands which were drying her hair halted abruptly. Surprised, she had never expected someone as glacial as Miles to propose such a romantic suggestion.
“Shall we?” Miles asked again.
“Sure.”
Though feeling overjoyed, Stella actually felt nervous at the same time. Firstly, she was delighted because they finally got to enjoy a proper date instead of spending time in bed only. The nervous feeling, however, was because Miles had just brought up Matthew just now, and then he suggested bringing her for stargazing now. Confused, Stella didn’t know what he was thinking, but still, she quickly got dressed.
It was still summer when she came over to Hollowcrest City. Hence, she had only packed summer clothes and left all the winter clothing in the place she rented. Clearly, she didn’t expect the weather to turn this cold, especially during the night.
Bringing along two sweaters with him, Miles led Stella up to the rooftop. Once they reached there, Stella could already feel the freezing wind blowing her way.
With that, Miles helped her with the sweater and buckled up for her. Immediately, Stella was all warmed up, and she could even smell his scent from the sweater which was probably made of cashmere, as it wasn’t prickly.
Leaning against one another, they both sat down and gazed up at the stars.
After so long, this was the first time Stella felt that their hearts were this close—so close that she was about to be moved to tears.
In Murdough, there weren’t that many stars, but only the lonesome Polaris.
“Stella, have you ever done stargazing before this?” Sitting next to her, Miles asked.
He seldom called her directly by her name, so this was a rare occurrence.
Not knowing the reason, Stella really felt like crying tonight, so her voice was choked with emotions.
“When I was young, I did it quite often. After I grew up, I stopped. I didn’t find the mood to do so because life hasn’t been pleasant ever since my mom passed away. With you, this is the first time.” She had her head leaning against Miles’ shoulder, her voice dreamy as she spoke.
