Chapter 68 Wait For Me to Return
Then, Lisa replied, ‘Hey, the two of them were never together, so there’s nothing to speak of. What’s there to hide? There were no rumors at all, okay? But I’ve clocked President Grant’s careful protection of you. He’s afraid that you’ll suffer even the slightest hurt.’
Hmm? Is that really the case? A burst of delight flooded Stella, and she sent Miles a message later. ‘Thank you for the flowers.’
The reply from the other end read, ‘Do you like them?’
‘Very much so.’ After typing this, Stella added, ‘I love them.’ In actual fact, she probably loved Lisa’s remark more.
When she was basking in bliss, her cell phone rang. It turned out to be a call from the hospital; she was told that Lizbeth had an adverse reaction after a certain injection, so they were asking her to come over in case anything happened. Thus, she quickly took the day off from her superior and rushed over.
In truth, it actually made no difference whether she asked for leave considering her status now. After all, everyone in the corporate world was shrewd and knew that they couldn’t offend her when she now had such a venerable status. Of course, they gossiped behind her back, but no one dared say anything negative about her.
Stella went to the hospital, and unexpectedly, Zane was there as well with two people behind him, probably plainclothes police officers. He leaned close to Lizbeth’s bed, muttering that he was unfilial and the like, saying that he’d committed too many mistakes in his life and hoped that she’d forgive him. Standing behind him, Stella patted him on the shoulder.
Zane gazed at her with a complicated look in his eyes. “Thank you, Stella!” he murmured. He’d never spoken to her so amicably; in the past, every single word out of his mouth ripped her into shreds, so she found it rather unusual.
The doctor then said that Lizbeth’s adverse reaction had passed, and there wasn’t much of a problem, but the cost of chemotherapy for the next course of treatment was due again. At this, Stella said, “I’ll go and pay.” Then, she went downstairs to the payment counter and paid another 30,000.
When she returned upstairs, she saw Zane sitting in the corridor of the hospital with his hands in his hair, looking extremely tortured. Even if this is karma, I think he has paid enough, what with him going bankrupt, his mother suffering from a grave illness, and creditors chasing after him for payment… He’s quite pitiful. “I’ve already paid Lizbeth’s treatment cost, so don’t worry about money,” she said as she stood before him.
After a moment’s hesitation, Zane asked, “Is it from him?”
Stella nodded in response.
I’ve once worried that she’d give herself to Miles Grant because of money, but it’s now a reality. Nonetheless, I can’t do anything about it because we’re already divorced. All of a sudden, Zane dropped to his knees before her with a thud. “Stella, I’ve truly wronged you in the past, yet you took care of me and my mother wholeheartedly. Despite our mistreatment of you in the past, you didn’t take offense and took care of my mother as though she’s your own mother. If it were another woman, she would’ve taken to the hills long ago. Time reveals a person’s heart, and I’ve finally realized that you’re a remarkable woman, one who can never be replaced. Losing you is tantamount to losing the entire world. Stella… I regret it! Whoever marries you is truly blessed, yet I gave that blessing away… Stella…”
People said that real men never cried easily, but at this moment, tears shimmered in his eyes. They were all tears of remorse, for he regretted everything he’d done in the past, especially when he’d lost Stella. Kneeling before her, he clutched at both her hands, his expression mulish as though he wasn’t going to get up if she didn’t forgive him.
At a loss for what to say, Stella frantically urged, “Quick, get up. Get up!”
“Stella, I’m not getting up if you won’t forgive me.” Zane remained on his knees before her feet.
At the other end of the corridor, Miles had just gotten out of the elevator, only to be greeted by this scene. His footsteps abruptly stilled, and he stopped short.
Zane was still grasping Stella’s hand at this time. Feeling rather panicked but given no other recourse, Stella repeated, “Get up quickly. We’re in the hospital now, so this is truly embarrassing.”
Still, Zane refused to get up.
“Alright, I forgive you.” Stella relented out of desperation. Suddenly, she realized that he hadn’t really wronged her in anything. While we had an irreconcilable conflict regarding my lost virginity before marriage, every couple bickers. At the end of the day, the fundamental strife between us is the fact that he surreptitiously aborted Miles’ baby. I’m sure Miles is still holding a grudge against him now.
Upon hearing this, a child-like smile bloomed on Zane’s face, and he scrambled up. “Stella, I don’t have much time left to serve. Wait for me. Wait for me to return!” Then, he reluctantly left while twisting his head back constantly to look at her.
Only when Stella tilted her head did she notice Miles standing at the other end of the corridor. When Zane and the two plainclothes officers walked past Miles, Zane halted. Since he had his back to her, she couldn’t see his expression, but she saw Miles saying something to him, seemingly in reply. She had no inkling of their conversation, so she was rather curious.
When Miles walked over to her, she inquired, “What did you and Zane talk about earlier?”
“Nothing,” Miles answered.
However, Stella felt that it wasn’t quite possible. I think I saw his lips forming three words, seemingly ‘I’ll be waiting’. What will he be waiting for though? She couldn’t figure it out.
Of course, Miles hadn’t come to the hospital to visit Stella’s former mother-in-law since they had nothing to do with each other. He only came because he was worried about Stella. Since Lizbeth’s condition was fine, and Alaric was here, Stella then went back to the office with him.
She’d just sat down and was about to start her work when Kevin said, “The president is asking for you!” At this, she was startled. Why did he have Mr. Moore tell me that he wants to see me? She then blurted out this question since she saw him answering the phone earlier. It’s glaringly obvious that it was a phone call from Miles, and it was on the company’s internal line, but there’s also a phone on my desk.
“No idea. Just now, the president said that your line is busy,” Kevin replied.
Stella’s frowned. No one called me earlier, so how could my line be busy? Mystified, she went to Miles’ office.
When she went in, he was banging away on the keyboard with no time to bother with her. “President Grant, the phone on my desk is working just fine, so why did you claim that my line was busy earlier?” she asked as she’d been pondering this question all the way here.
“Isn’t it good to let the entire company know that we’re dating?” Miles placed his hand on his chin lightly as though contemplating what to write next.
So, that’s what he’s trying to do. Before his wedding with Yvonne North, he kept our relationship under close wraps, not allowing others to catch the slightest hint of it, but now that everything has been cleared up, he’s starting to publicize it. He’s truly unfathomable to me, what with him looking so far ahead.
“There are some supplements on the coffee table at the side, given by someone else. See what Zane Levitt’s mother needs and take some for her,” Miles ordered perfunctorily as he typed away.
Stella walked over to the coffee table at the side and sorted through the pile carefully. Since Lizbeth was suffering from liver cancer, food was a sensitive issue. For that reason, she must be very cautious, and she scrutinized the products one by one. As she did so, she saw a box that had a picture of a bull. She couldn’t quite figure out what it was, so she picked it up and studied it. On the box were the words ‘nourishing the kidney and boosting sex drive’. Inwardly, she thought, He definitely doesn’t need a boost considering his current drive. If he gets a boost, he’ll probably kill me.
“What are you looking at?” Lifting his head from his computer, Miles glanced at her.
Stella instantly threw away the box in her hand as though it had caught fire. “Nothing,” she blurted.
However, Miles had already shifted his gaze over. “Leave that for me,” he declared.
“This isn’t of use to Lizbeth, so I’ll naturally leave it for you,” Stella retorted with a serious expression. Subsequently, neither of them said anything further.
After she’d picked out a bunch of things and was about to leave, Miles called out from behind her. “Don’t you want to know what I’m doing?”
Only then did Stella ask belatedly, “What are you doing?”
“Writing a letter to Yvonne North.”
Staring at him blankly, Stella then grunted twice in acknowledgment.
With his eyes fixed on her, Miles leaned back against the chair with both arms crossed, seemingly scrutinizing her closely. “Do you have no jealousy? Don’t tell me you want me to come on to you instead? I’m the man here though.” At the end of it, his voice was tinged with a sliver of ire.
At long last, understanding dawned upon Stella. “But you’ve already told me that you’re writing her a letter, so why should I be jealous?” She was entirely baffled. I’ve never had that many girlish emotions even back when I was with Zane. And I was once jealous of Yvonne North, but that was because I didn’t understand the situation. Now that I’ve understood everything, what’s there to be jealous of?
Gritting his teeth hard, Miles stalked over from his table, his expression frustrated as hell. When he reached her, he slowly forced her back and boxed her into a corner.
“P-President Grant, we’re in the office here.” Stella looked up at him with her back against the wall.
“The office?” As though just realizing what she meant, Miles glanced around the spacious office. “We’ve even done it by the roadside, so it’s pretty safe here in the office.”
“You…” Stella was so pissed off that she simply couldn’t think of any suitable word to reproach the man in front of her. But in reality, their relationship was merely physical, so she didn’t really know much about him as a person. As she didn’t know how to rebuke him, she merely shot daggers at him.
Just when embarrassment pervaded her, the cell phone in her pocket dinged. To alleviate the awkwardness, she dug her cell phone out of her pocket, only to see that it was a message from Xavier. ‘Stella, I’ve been rather down recently. Do you mind coming out tonight and keeping me company?’
