Chapter 75 They Meet Again
Stella immediately recognized the familiar voice. Although she had been to Matthew’s company, she never paid attention to its name. In fact, he seemed to have a few of them under his name. “Pass the phone to the man who just spoke,” she quickly said, thinking that she was being opportunistic. Just now, instead of backing down, she took her opportunity.
“Do you mean President Matthew?” the man asked.
“Yeah.”
Later, she was able to speak with Matthew, during which she told him that she would like to become an agent for the brand he owned. She also told him about her opinions after surveying the brand, which she did with much haste, afraid that Matthew wouldn’t give her the opportunity.
Matthew had been listening to her intently before throwing her a question that seemed to have nothing to do with being an agent. “Stella, is it true that you’re now in Murdough?”
“Yeah.”
“As long as you have a suitable site, I don’t mind offering you the position as agent just like that.”
Knowing that Matthew was the president, she knew she had most likely secured the opportunity upon getting his confirmation. Although she had been to his company multiple times, she didn’t even know what business he was involved in.
However, finding herself a suitable site was proven to be difficult, especially when she had no money. After spending a long time surveying for sites and asking about their prices, she was about to give up.
In the meantime, Matthew paid Miles a visit at his company. No matter what went down between them, he figured that he should at least report Stella’s whereabouts to Miles. “Stella is currently at Murdough. She gave me a call a few days ago, telling me that she would like to become an agent for my company’s clothing brand.” Matthew kept his cool while saying so.
“Hm.” While writing, Miles didn’t even lift his head when he grunted indifferently. Kevin had informed him that Stella once confessed about a mistake she made by sleeping with another man that she shouldn’t have. Despite having slept with Miles, she also slept with another person whom she never thought she would sleep with.
While she knew it was a poor decision, she was just a pushover. She would sleep with whoever that courted her vigorously, as she was always going with the flow, lacking her own opinion about things. Aside from that, she also seemed to care less about sleeping with men now since she had gotten married once, and nor was she a virgin. She was in so much anguish that she wished for Kevin to offer her some guidance.
“I’m thinking of offering her the position,” Matthew said.
“Do whatever you want.” Standing up from his seat, Miles slid the folder into the shelf.
Although Stella intended to use the three hundred thousand she had as payment for rent, she quickly realized it was merely a drop in the bucket compared to the amount she needed. The rent of larger shops with strategic locations at high-end places could easily cost her hundreds of thousands every month, which annual payments would be required.
Incidentally, Zane came looking for her to borrow some money from her, as he was penniless. “Stella, if you’re willing to lend me the money, I won’t be requesting any payment for my project. Don’t you need a site for your shop? I have a budget of a million for the project, and my collaborator has a business venue that he rents out that suits your requirements. Therefore, I would like to use the money I have to rent an entire floor off him. With that, you won’t need to pay rent for an entire year, so why don’t you think about it?” They were talking about it in Stella’s office, during which Zane’s eyes lit up due to excitement.
Stella already told him she only had three hundred thousand left in her account. “Why would you take on such an unfair deal?” She scrutinized him with doubt.
Upon hearing that, Zane lowered his gaze. “First off, I need a certain amount of money to pay for overhead costs, but it’s not easy for someone like me to get a loan. Other than that, it took a lot from me just to obtain the contract for the project. If I can just kick start my business using this, I will at least have something that I can build my company profile on even though I might not earn any money, which will bring me subsequent clients that will secure my income.”
Stella thought he was on the right track. It was shrewd of him to try to gain a fortune with Stella’s help. Besides, his terms were enticing. After making a few trips, Stella managed to become an agent for Amon without a hitch, which felt like a dream come true.
Due to the need for a site survey, Matthew caught a flight to Murdough to meet Stella in order to sign the contract. Upon laying eyes on the ideal location of the shop, Matthew was astounded by how high-end it was. According to his knowledge of her, she wasn’t rich. Even though her father might be, he would never have lent her the money.
Surprised by the fact that she managed to secure the location, he couldn’t help but inquire how she did it. However, Stella didn’t feel like telling him about her deal with Zane, as she was worried that the fact that she didn’t have any capital left would cause him to lose trust in her as an agent. Therefore, she switched the topic. “I’m actually quite rich!”
“Does it have to do with Zane?” Matthew had caught wind of his release. With a grunt, she affirmed his question. With that, they signed the contract. Later on, Matthew dispatched some sales representatives from the headquarters. While she still had money to pay for their salary, money was tight, so she wished to profit from her business soon.
On the other hand, Matthew thought she had found an ideal location for her shop. After returning to Hollowcrest City, he relayed his confusions to Miles since they were friends. He couldn’t figure out how Stella managed to procure such a huge sum on such short notice. “Did you lend her money?” Matthew questioned.
“She had perhaps already spent all the money I lent her.” Miles was playing snooker. He could easily calculate how much she had left after paying for Lizbeth’s medical fees. Ever since Stella left, he had a lot of free time to spare. He had also kept track of her whereabouts, so he knew she was in Murdough and had started working as an agent.
“That’s odd, then…” Matthew was still confused.
However, Miles was convinced that she had gotten back together with Zane, or else she wouldn’t have been able to secure so much money. A woman could only rise up either with the support of their fathers or their husbands. However, whoever the man behind Stella is, it’s not me. With an indifferent grunt, Miles straightened his posture before continuing his game while putting up an aloof front to keep everyone at bay.
After getting off work, he unknowingly drove to the house where Stella used to rent and live in. He already bought the house over, so he had the keys to it. Stella had been nothing but nice to him, considering she was willing to take the hit for him while clearing his name. Although he didn’t mind that she lost her virginity before marrying, he couldn’t tolerate the fact that she slept with another man so casually when they were together. It was revolting. In the end, he drove off without even getting out of the car.
A month and a half later, Miles would have to attend a meeting at Murdough, which was customary for him as he was the president of a company. However, due to the fact that the meeting would touch on details in the design aspect, he would be attending it with Kevin. After all, his focus was on managing things on a macro level, so he would have to rely on an expert like Kevin to manage the details. The meeting would be held at Radisson Blu Hotel over a span of three days, so he had to remain focused on the task.
After spending a month learning and adjusting to her position, Stella’s specialty store had finally gotten on track. Matthew didn’t charge her for working as an agent, nor did she need to pay for rent, so she didn’t need to worry about the rate of return. Therefore, she couldn’t help but feel like she had somehow managed to wiggle her way into where she was.
Despite having earned a total of a hundred thousand during the first month, she was still working a full time job, as she couldn’t afford to lose the job that provided her with financial security. Because she had to burn the candle on two ends, she had lost a lot of weight, making her look quite frail.
One day, the wife of Miller Corp’s president made an appointment with Stella in order to discuss with her the details regarding custom-made suits that she would like to buy for her husband. The woman’s name was Nancy Turing.
Initially, she didn’t think much of the brand, so she would only drop by the shop occasionally. Coincidentally, Stella was at the shop when she dropped by, and they ended up spending a long while chatting with each other.
Stella revealed that neither did she initially know about the brand, but she ended up being attracted by its luxurious but understated design without compromising quality. In her opinion, that was just how men should be.
Although Stella didn’t think of herself as being eloquent, Nancy ended up being attracted to what the brand had to offer, perhaps due to the fact that she resonated with Stella’s experience. Besides, Nancy was a good judge of quality items, so she noticed that the clothes in her shop were almost as good as top foreign brands.
Having decided to order a few suits for her husband, Nancy came to pick out the design and fabric for the suits. After inquiring with Matthew, Stella came to know custom-made suits were also an option if the customers so wished to. Due to work, she had been in frequent contact with Matthew.
She had had quite a nice time talking to Nancy, so she drank quite a lot of water, thus excused herself to go to the washroom a while later. When she was stepping out of the washroom after washing her hands, she was focused on flinging her hands to dry them, so she didn’t notice the puddle on the floor, which she nearly slipped on.
Frightened, she caught onto the arm of someone beside her anxiously before thanking that person while still in a state of shock. Then, she turned around to face that person, only to find herself fixated on him.
She never purposely hid her whereabouts from Miles, as she assumed that they had an amicable break up, considering how calm and aloof he sounded when she suggested it. In fact, she thought they wouldn’t care about each other anymore. However, she was still feeling embarrassed upon seeing his indifferent expression. Her arm was pressing against his forearm all this while as she held his gaze.
“Aren’t you gonna let go?” Miles stared at her in disdain, which gave rise to a sense of dread within her. While she might understand if he was being distant, she didn’t know why he seemed to hold contempt. Thus, she removed her arm as if being electrocuted before watching him leave resolutely, overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy while rooted to the spot as she did.
Upon returning to her seat, she continued to speak to Nancy about her order. Nancy was immaculate about details, so she was telling Stella about her requirements in detail. Noticing that Stella seemed to be distracted, she asked, “Do you perhaps have something else in mind, Miss Johansson?”
“I-It’s nothing!” Knowing that it was disrespectful of her to space out while talking to a customer, Stella directed all her attention back to the task at hand. They were engaged in pleasant conversation when she sent Nancy off by the end of it.
On the other hand, Miles and Kevin were getting ready to leave the hotel.
