Chapter 145 My Woman’s Clothes
Stella went to open the door, and as she did so, Matthew fell before her, causing her to hurriedly grab him and help him to the sofa. Then, she made him a warm honey drink in order to relieve his hangover. After drinking two mouthfuls, Matthew then put down the cup. When Stella was about to move away, Matthew pulled her hand, pressed her down on the sofa, and attempted to kiss her neck.
At that, Stella almost jumped out of her skin in shock. The reason why she agreed to live here was that Matthew seemed to be someone with no lust, and he seemed that he did not need a woman to live happily.
Even the nude photo that was sent to Miles was also produced by Audrey herself. After she was done with it, she did not show Matthew, and Stella also did not see the final product. Audrey and Miles were the only ones who had the most intimate relationship with him, so there was no harm in them seeing it. Plus, Audrey was Matthew’s ex-wife, so she had seen everything there was to see, and the same went for Miles too.
However, Stella just didn’t expect that Matthew would do this to her today. She didn’t care that Matthew was drunk and simply pushed him away with force, then ran up the stairs. Then, Matthew shouted from downstairs, “Stella! Stella!”
With a bang, Stella closed the door and sat on the bed, all the while trembling with her hand over her face as she silently cried. In her eyes, Matthew was like a teacher and a friend, but she forgot that he was a regular man in good health who hadn’t experienced intimacy for a long time. Later, Stella thought about it and felt that she could not continue living in his house and had to move to the factory instead.
Then, she heard the sound of vomiting and flushing coming from the bathroom downstairs. Matthew is naturally calm and restrained, so how could he overshoot his limits? Regardless of the sound, Stella did not come out.
The next morning, she simply packed up her things, ready to move to the factory. Before leaving, she put the watch she had bought for Matthew on the table, thinking that he would be able to see it when he was leaving. So, in this way, she lived in the factory for a few days. During these days, Matthew did not contact her; perhaps he knew that Stella felt uncomfortable, and he was also filled with regret. Thus, he intended to let Stella calm down first.
One day, Stella was in the studio drawing with her head down when Matthew arrived. At a glance, Stella saw that he was wearing the watch on his wrist. The large dial was so conspicuous it was hard to miss. It was spring, and he was wearing only a thin cotton shirt with his sleeves rolled up, so the watch looked even more obvious. Stella thought that he was probably here to apologize to her.
“Stella, I’m sorry.” Matthew looked very chagrined. “I was drunk and I did what only a brute could do.”
Stella didn’t say anything and only lowered her head to continue drawing. Therefore, Matthew stood to the side like a child stake. Even though he had kept his mind clear that he would keep his distance from Stella, he would only not cross the line when he was conscious and in control of his actions. When he was drunk, he would be very, very irrational.
Just in time, Miles’ car pulled up to Stella’s factory. Today, he was here to take those fifty people. In fact, he only just needed to contact Matthew about this matter, but he had a different purpose in mind.
The door to Stella’s design room was made of glass, so he could see the interior at a glance from outside. Before entering, he saw Stella’s face tightly strained as she had her head down while drawing, and Matthew stood beside her with an apologetic face. Heh, this scene—
Inexplicably, jealousy rose in Miles’ heart. Then, he knocked on the door, while Stella didn’t even raise her head and just said, “Come in.” She thought it was a factory employee.
“The two of you have a falling out?” Miles sat down on the chair, speaking in a mocking tone. He knew what kind of person Matthew was, and the latter had never begged for a woman’s forgiveness with such a child-like attitude. Therefore, although this kind of relationship seemed off, it was actually the most intimate type.
When Stella heard Miles’ voice, she was so shocked that the chalk between her fingers broke. Then, she calmly took another piece of chalk from the side, and even though her heart was experiencing turbulence, she still spoke evenly. “President Grant, you’re here.”
President Grant, you’re here.
Just four plain words! There was no passion nor love at all. All the heart-stopping and heart-racing lovemaking, as well as the divorce and their relationship, was like a page that had long been flipped. Maybe she had forgotten, but at the very least, she would not mention it again! It was a stark contrast to the man in front of her with his face downcast in apology. Moreover, she spoke in such a light-hearted manner.
Miles casually took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a long drag. He knew that it was wrong to eavesdrop on a couple’s private conversation, but he stubbornly wanted to listen in on them. Then, he noticed the watch on Matthew’s wrist. He knew that the latter did not have a habit of wearing a watch. Filled with unhappiness, he took another deep drag from the cigarette and puffed out a huge cloud of smoke. This was what people did when they were frustrated, but Stella never smoked, so she did not know.
Additionally, no one smoked in her office, which was a no-smoking area. As she was quite sensitive to cigarette smoke, she could not help but sneeze. At that, Miles frowned tightly and smoked even harder instead. It was like he was fueled with a kind of revenge—now she seemed to have adapted to a non-smoking environment!
“You never wear a watch, but now you’re wearing an Omega watch?” Miles’ mild, yet slightly mocking voice came.
“President Grant, you know a lot about watches, don’t you? From such a distance, you’re able to see that it’s an Omega watch!” Matthew was still standing there. As Stella refused to talk to him, he was also feeling quite awkward.
“I am naturally aware of the characteristics of each and every brand.” Miles seemed to be answering Matthew, but somehow, Stella felt that he was targeting her. Did he notice that the clothes I designed for Jerelyn were from my brand? How did he deal with it?
Stella froze for a moment, then asked why Miles came here. Miles told her his purpose of coming over, then Stella said that this was a matter between the two of them, so she would leave first as she still had things to do. In the end, she left.
Walking to the workshop, she checked it out and then took a dress back to the design room. By then, Miles and Matthew had already finished discussing how to return all these people to Miles’ company. This matter had been on Miles’ mind because Stella mentioned a long time ago that she did not approve of him retiring so many people.
Stella turned around and compared the dress to the mannequin.
“Did you design my woman’s dress?” Behind her, Miles spoke leisurely.
His words put a burst of acute pain through Stella’s heart; she could really feel the agonizing pain at that moment. His woman? In the past, he had never spoken of Stella as his woman!
Fortunately, Stella’s back was turned to him, so all the expressions on her face were hidden from him. “Well, yes,” Stella replied simply, then walked to the mannequin and hurriedly reached out to take off the dress that was on it.
“In the future, don’t design clothes for her anymore!” Miles ordered. Stella didn’t know why Miles said this and just replied, “Okay. I didn’t want to design for her initially either.”
Right at this moment, Stella’s phone rang, and she picked it up. After hearing that Korbin had a brain hemorrhage and was hospitalized, she felt so much pain in her heart that the world spun around her. Although she was not extremely close to Korbin, they had lived together for over twenty years, and she had called him ‘Dad’ for more than twenty years.
After hanging up the phone, Stella was dazed as she said, “My father has been hospitalized due to a cerebral hemorrhage.”
“When did it happen?” Matthew also hurriedly asked. Stella’s legs were weak, and she couldn’t say a word. No matter what, Korbin was her only family member left.
Miles stubbed out the cigarette and said, “Let’s go. We’ll send you to the hospital.”
On the way, Matthew was comforting Stella in the back seat of the car while Miles coldly watched them through the rearview mirror. During the trip, Stella felt suffocated in her chest, but no tears fell from her eyes. She suddenly realized the impermanence of life and felt rather stunned by it. When they arrived at the hospital, Stella ran into Korbin’s ward just as Korbin was about to be pushed toward the operation theater. Upon seeing her, Korbin grabbed her hand and said, “You’re not—”
Before he could finish, the doctor had put the oxygen mask over Korbin’s mouth. Stella did not think too much about what her father was trying to say, so she went out and waited. Meanwhile, Matthew and Miles both waited outside the door as well. Matthew was worried when he saw Stella’s appearance, while Miles was expressionless. Then, Stella went to sit on a chair nearby, and when her hand rested on the arm of the chair, she suddenly let go of it as if she was electrocuted. Looking sideways, she saw Miles’ hand on that arm of the chair. The man had his eyes closed; Stella had just accidentally touched him.
Stella did not disturb him again.
“How do you sleep at night now?” Miles suddenly asked lazily. Stella looked up at Matthew, who was standing by the window, but he could definitely hear Stella and Miles’ conversation.
Stella felt as if Miles was taking revenge on her. She had always known how revengeful he was and of all his methods for revenge, such as having Zane fall to his death from a building and having Yulia raped. Stella had commented to Miles at that time about how fortunate she was to not be his enemy. At that time, she had thought that even if they couldn’t be lovers in this life, at least she would definitely not be his enemy. However, life was unpredictable. Now, she finally became his opponent that he wanted to take revenge on.
In the past, when Stella slept with Miles, she would often wake up in the middle of the night and ask Miles to hold her tightly in order to sleep well, as she seemed to be naturally insecure. Since Miles asked this, it was like he was completely ignoring Matthew as Stella’s ‘husband’, and as if he was deliberately provoking their conflict. Stella felt quite embarrassed and flatly replied, “I’m fine.”
Earlier, Stella’s gaze that was looking for Matthew somehow stung Miles.
Later, the doctor came out and said that Korbin’s illness was acute, but it was nothing serious, so Stella finally felt relieved.
Then, she apologized to Miles for troubling him and said that now that her father was fine, he could leave. After all, in Korbin’s eyes, Stella had always been a couple with Miles, and then she hastily married Matthew. Now that the two men appeared at the same time, she did not know what her father would say, so she let Miles go back first.
As for Miles, he did not have the intention to stay and simply went away.
