By the ti Stella Sterling woke up, Owen Rhodes was naturally long gone from the house.
In the end, Owen Rhodes hadn’t been a complete beast. Before leaving, he turned the air conditioning up a few degrees.
After all, once he was gone, Stella Sterling would lose her personal heater. What if she caught a cold?
So, Owen Rhodes hatched a plan. From now on, he would just have to turn the temperature down before they went to sleep.
That way, his little fish, Stella Sterling, would automatically take the bait and swim right into his arms.
...
Perhaps because this was the first ti she had taken on such a formal project with such a tight deadline, Stella Sterling had to give it her all.
As previously ntioned, Vantage had set up a special art studio for her to use for the project.
She planned to take advantage of her empty schedule today and go check out the studio.
Faye Rhodes had told her that since they knew she was interested in the collaboration, they had already stocked the studio with a set of art supplies.
She planned to go get a feel for the place first, then add anything else she needed based on her personal habits.
The studio was a forty-minute drive from Lanthos Bay, and for the next month, Ken would be Stella Sterling’s full-ti assistant and driver.
Stella Sterling shook off the last vestiges of sleep and sent Ken a text. After letting him know she was awake and could get ready for the studio, she went to change and wash up.
She didn’t like wearing an apron when she painted; she found it cumberso. Besides, she loved the feeling of paint splattering freely onto her clothes, which was why she owned so many identical white dresses.
White one-piece dresses from a certain minimalist brand—she bought them by the dozen to use as work attire.
Once a dress was sufficiently covered in paint, she would swap it for a new one.
Of course, she never threw the old ones out. Each one had its own unique character.
She had Tate grab a few dresses from the walk-in closet and pack them up. Only then did she see Ken’s reply: he was already waiting for her outside Lanthos Bay.
Holding an umbrella, Stella Sterling walked out the door and imdiately spotted a flashy, lemon-green BMW M8 sports car parked at the gate.
Stella Sterling didn’t know much about cars, but she recognized this one.
It was Ken’s absolute favorite model—one he could never afford.
For years, Ken’s favorite refrain had been, "Hey, sis, when you make it big, how about you buy one of these? I’ll work like a dog for you in my next life."
’Great,’ she thought. ’Looks like Ken’s next life has arrived.’
The mont he saw Stella Sterling erge, Ken hopped out of the car and hurried over.
He stopped in front of Stella Sterling and bowed with exaggerated reverence. "Madam, for the coming month, I shall be serving as your exclusive driver. I will now escort you to the studio prepared by Vantage. This way, please."
Stella Sterling didn’t move, just eyed him with suspicion.
"Did you steal one of my paintings and sell it?"
Ken looked wounded.
"Sis, how could you think that of ! We’ve been partners for so many years. Have you lost all faith in ?"
Stella deadpanned, "’Sis, if you get kidnapped, just blink. Can the money from selling your paintings at the gallery be my retirent fund?’"
Those were Ken’s own words from a while back.
"...Sis, you know, sotis a person’s mory really doesn’t need to be *that* good..."
Stella couldn’t be bothered to bicker with him. "Where did the car co from?"
She paid Ken a good salary, but not *that* good.
And that was only possible in the last two years thanks to the blessing of a dream client.
When she had first returned to the country, she could only afford to pay him a modest salary.
She knew his financial situation.
There was no way he could have dropped over two million on a car like this.
Ken imdiately held up three fingers beside his head, swearing an oath.
"I swear it’s from legitimate work! What did I tell you? Our sis is living the high life now! See, you have to go to work, and President Rhodes even arranged a ride for you. He said that as long as I ensure you complete this project safely and smoothly, this car is mine! BWAHAHAHA! Heh heh heh..."
He was grinning from ear to ear.
Seeing the goofy grin plastered on Ken’s face, Stella Sterling closed her eyes.
’Whatever. He’s the assistant I chose. I just have to live with it.’
’Once I earn so money, I’ll pay Owen Rhodes back for this.’
Stella shot Ken a look that conveyed her profound financial pain. Imitating a villainous consort from a palace intrigue drama, she commanded, "Do you have any sense at all? Get over here and hold this umbrella for Her Highness!"
Ken dropped to one knee, touching the ground with a clenched fist. "Yes, my lady."
And so, the master and servant departed.
The studio was located in a villa within a new real estate developnt. Apparently, the developer was also one of the investors and wanted to use this opportunity to get so product placent for the property in the music video.
The villa was situated on the shore of Belsar Lake, and its overall design was European in style.
So much so that when Stella Sterling sat by the window looking out at Belsar Lake, she was inexplicably reminded of the apartnt she had rented back in Lumina.
Having worked together for so many years, the two had a natural rapport. Ken knew Stella Sterling’s painting habits inside and out.
So upon arriving at the studio, Stella simply took in the environnt while Ken was the one inspecting all the painting tools and pignts.
Ken knew which supplies Stella was used to, so he made a rough list of what they needed to buy. After getting her confirmation, he went to place the orders.
For any painter, the most frequently used items are brushes and paints.
Paint gets used up quickly, and so pignts can be exceptionally expensive.
Back when Stella Sterling was young and still learning to paint, things were different.
Unlike Kiana Sterling, who had Madeline Jennings and Chase Sterling to buy her everything she needed, Stella had to fend for herself.
She had to save her allowance for ages just to afford certain expensive pignts.
With the arrival of her dream client, finances weren’t as tight, but she still couldn’t be reckless with her spending.
The constant, significant expense of paint was sothing Ken had always managed for her.
He had his own sources.
Besides, Stella found managing money to be a headache, so she was happy to let Ken take care of it.
Once everything was settled, Stella Sterling’s work routine began.
「Three days into Stella Sterling’s work routine.」
That evening when she got ho, Owen Rhodes suddenly told her he had a business trip to Veridia the next day.
It was only then that she recalled he had also gone to Veridia on business right after they first registered their marriage.
Except he had co back early because he was worried about her.
That was sothing Owen Rhodes had told her later.
At the ti, she had actually believed him, thinking he had simply finished his work early.
’He’s probably going to Veridia to wrap things up this ti,’ she mused.
It made sense. He seed to place great importance on that Veridia project, but with first Ethan Rhodes and then Evan Rhodes getting involved, the whole thing seed cursed.
Stella was surprised the project hadn’t fallen through yet.
When she ca out after washing up, she didn’t see Owen Rhodes in the bedroom.
After a quick search, she found him in the study, dealing with work.
Just then, she bumped into Tate. A thought occurred to her, and she asked, "Tate, has Owen’s luggage for his trip tomorrow been packed yet?"
Tate smiled. "I was just on my way to prepare it for him, ma’am. Is sothing the matter?"
Stella recalled what he had said before his last business trip, and her cheeks flushed faintly.
"Tate, I can pack it."
Owen had said that now that he was a married man, it wasn’t appropriate for Tate to pack his personal things anymore...
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