Love at the Next Stop

Chapter 103 He Feared Her Rejection

“I’ll be prescribing a month’s worth of medicine for you, which you’ll have to take on time. Aside from that, you aren’t allowed to have sex within the month.” The doctor, an old lady who was around sixty years of age, told Stella while writing down the prescription.

Hearing that, Stella turned to look at Miles with a plain and simple look. Hear that? Doctor’s orders.

Miles glanced at her unhappily before landing his eyes on the prescription. After that, they went to the medical department to have her checked for the coughing. It wasn’t that serious, so she would be cured in a matter of days as long as she took care of herself. After that, the doctor also gave her prescriptions of multiple medicine. The heaps of medicinal herbs used in traditional medicine took up a lot more space compared to modern medicine, so Matthew’s house was filled up by all the herbs that Stella brought with her when she got back.

“Do you know how to prepare your own medicine? I can send someone to help if you don’t know how to do that,” Miles offered.

“I know how to do that. I used to prepare my mother’s medicine, so this is a piece of cake. Instead, you should resume working. I’ll be fine on my own.”

As soon as she said that, Miles’ phone rang, which elicited from him a frown.

“You should go. I’ll be fine,” Stella reassured him.

Miles hired an hourly worker to take care of Stella’s needs before rushing back to Murdough. She caught a glimpse of anxiety on his expression, but she didn’t know what happened. However, she didn’t pry, as she knew she wouldn’t be of much help.

When she was drinking her medicine, Adele sent her a text. ‘How do you expect Miles to support a sickly lass like you? Aren’t you just a liability to him?’ While reading the text, which didn’t seem at all befitting for Adele’s status as a family elder, she figured that Adele couldn’t have possibly brought Miles up into who he was.

The more she knew about Miles, the more she thought him incompatible with Adele. Like mother, like son, and it was a common assumption that the son would still resemble the mother in some aspects even though they might differ in others. Yet, Stella didn’t think that was the case at all when it came to Adele and Miles. She didn’t reply to Adele’s text. Nothing she said would improve the situation, for Adele was prejudiced. Therefore, she didn’t bother doing that.

On the other hand, Adele sent a text to Miles in frustration. ‘Stella’s not showing me any respect, which equates to being disrespectful toward you!’

Miles had just gotten off the plane. After he got into a car at the airport, he sent Stella a text. ‘Did she text you? What did she say?’

It took a while before she replied to his text. ‘She’s afraid that I might be a liability to you due to my sickly constitution.’

He texted back. ‘That’s not up to her to decide.’

While Stella wanted to ask him about his relationship with Adele, she decided against it, for she didn’t feel like they were at the stage where they could hold a deep conversation regarding their families.

26th of August was a memorable date for her. Kevin came to tell her that Jasmine would be transferred to another hospital, as her condition had aggravated. Murdough had far more advanced medical facilities compared to Hollowcrest City, so he would be transferring her to Murdough.

Meanwhile, Stella pretended that she just knew that Kevin had a daughter, omitting the fact that she had eavesdropped on him in the car. Besides, she wasn’t sure why Kevin would come to her regarding Jasmine’s transfer.

After that, Kevin told her about Jasmine’s feelings toward Miles, as well as the car accident that she was involved in. Stella was taken aback by the revelation. Jasmine is such a persistent lover. Miles is unfortunate to have encountered a suitor like her.

“President Grant isn’t around, but I need to transfer Jasmine to Murdough now, so I’d like to know if you have any acquaintances there that could help?” Kevin had a melancholic look to him.

However, it still didn’t explain why he needed to go through her in order to get in touch with an acquaintance to help transfer Jasmine to Murdough. He couldn’t possibly not have any connections after working as a designer for so many years, or he could’ve gone directly to Miles for help.

After some thought, Stella decided that she shouldn’t be making any moves since Kevin didn’t go to Miles, as she might fall into Kevin’s trap if she did. After all, that might be his plan. By having her reach out to Miles for help, he could blame everything on Stella if something went wrong in the future.

Miles was the president of a company, so she thought he shouldn’t be dragged into such nonsense. “I’ll go to President Xenon for help. He’s the most capable one among all the people I know,” she said with a smile. Due to her illness, she was a little weak, but Kevin didn’t seem to notice her frailness despite how apparent it was.

After Matthew was informed of the situation, he got in touch with a doctor who worked in a hospital affiliated to University of Jennome to book a slot for Jasmine. Sure enough, Kevin was a little disappointed by the turn of events.

Later on, Stella busied herself with work. However, she made slow progress due to her illness that constantly sent her into a coughing fit. Therefore, she was constantly working overtime. Matthew ended up being the one who told her to relax, for he already hired additional help. Hearing that, Stella smiled without a word, as she was determined to see things through.

Yulia was the one who ordered the outfit, so she was constantly visiting to try on the outfit and checking on the design. Everything from the needle work to the length of the outfit had to meet her standards. Perhaps because it was Stella’s first time making an outfit, so she took the job seriously, asking for Yulia’s opinion from time to time to make sure things went well.

On the other hand, Yulia seemed to have something else in mind despite her constant visits, for she always had the same question. “Are you planning on renewing your relationship with Miles now that you’re in Hollowcrest City?”

Stella had no answer to that, as she was the one who gave Yulia her consent to court Miles. But now that she had once again slept with Miles, she didn’t know how she should clarify the complex relationship between them.

“I don’t know. I came back to work on these outfits. After that, I’ll most probably return to Murdough. Besides, he’s currently in Murdough. We seem to be constantly passing each other by,” she said. Who knows, we might not be fated to meet after all. She recalled the words of the old man she met back in Murdough. Round and round we go in the merry-go-round of love, he said. Memories of it made her feel dejected.

In the meantime, back in Murdough.

Miles got his hands on a major project as soon as his company in Murdough was set up. The collaboration was suggested by Miller Corp. The president’s wife, Nancy, had once ordered a custom-made outfit at Stella’s shop, but Miles had no knowledge of it. Having gained a lot of clients, business was booming for Stella, so she had a hard time remembering all of them, say less of Miles, who was never involved in the shop’s management.

Miles Conglomerate was well-established, its name being known in places as far as Murdough. Thus, it made sense that Edward Miller, the president of Miller Corp, would initiate the collaboration. Another thing that Miles was unaware of was the fact that Zane had also tried to win Miller Corp’s vice president over before Edward himself had initiated contact, for he also wanted to work on the project. Therefore, Zane received news as soon as Edward reached out to Miles, which was irritating.

Why must Miles always be on top of me? First off, he cuckolded me, and then, my company almost got sued. After that, I was sentenced to jail. Now, he’s here to compete with me by Edward’s invitation! Memories of all that had transpired triggered Zane’s hatred. I will seek my revenge, and I will make sure he pays dearly!

He spent an entire night gathering as much evidence as he could, and then manipulated them to his advantage in an article that he posted on his own blog. After that, he paid a few famous bloggers to reblog his article, which resulted in his article that was titled ‘The Debauched Life of an Upstart in Murdough’ to be trending on social media.

The article was not unlike the one that Xavier published. Similarly, it wrote about Miles and Stella’s relationship. Although Miles was considered one of the filthy rich in Hollowcrest City, he just set up his company in Murdough, so Zane’s article was referencing that. However, he made sure to maintain Stella’s anonymity, only mentioning that Miles had a relationship with a married woman. After all, he didn’t want to tarnish Stella’s reputation.

In the article, he portrayed Miles as a man who went out of his way to seduce women. Xavier’s article didn’t get circulated as much last time, but this time, Zane’s article reached a far wider audience. Zane was aiming to lower the price of Miles Conglomerate’s stocks. However, he didn’t know much about how Miles Conglomerate operated, so he could only slander him by making use of his personal relationship.

Meanwhile, this wasn’t the first time that Miles was attacked, so he was unaffected by it. To him, it was hilarious that people would even try to topple him like that. Neither Miles Conglomerate nor Miller Corp were part of a government organization, as both were private listed companies. Therefore, while such slanders might affect the company’s image, it would have to depend on the situation and the people who were involved.

Apparently, Edward had read the article as well. With a smile, he tried to get confirmation from Miles. “Are the rumors true? I assumed that you are way above relationships!” With that, he burst into laughter.

Hearing that, Miles said half-jokingly, “Of course. The woman who I seduced is now my woman. Why, have you and your wife never been the target of such rumors?”

“We’ve been married for a long time now. Although I used to wish to do so, I’m just not as seductive as you are, President Grant! So who is she? When will I get to meet her?” The topic seemed to have piqued Edward’s interest.

While lowering his gaze, Miles explained, “She doesn’t like to socialize, so maybe some time in the future. Besides, she’s in poor health, so she’s recuperating in Hollowcrest City.”

However, Edward seemed intent on meeting the woman behind Miles Grant. “Won’t she show up if I sign a contract that’s worth ten million?”

Miles merely smiled in response while hanging his head low.

“Oh, how about I host a ball after we sign the contract so that she can attend the ball?” Edward tried another approach.

Nonetheless, Miles didn’t defer to him, as he was certain that Stella would never attend the function. Besides, she had to take her meds on time throughout the month, which would be interrupted by a trip to Murdough. Therefore, he wanted to avoid such disruptions that would affect her recovery.

Other than that, he also had an inkling that Stella would never attend the ball because she would never want to be associated with such scandals. Lastly, he had to admit to himself that he feared her rejection.

Never had he in his life feared anyone, but he was constantly walking on eggshells while with Stella. Thus, he was determined to not submit to Edward. Incidentally, a lot of the higher-ups of the company were also present when they touched on the topic. After that, both of them burst into laughter, quickly signing the contract to seal the deal. Soon, Zane would come to know that he had lost his opportunity to work on the project.