A secretary escorted Stella to her boss's room, then knocked on the door.
"Come in." A man said from inside the room. A secretary finally opened the door and entered after getting approval. As Stella entered, she saw a man sitting on a chair with his back turned to her. "Sir? Miss Stella-" "You may come out." "Yes, sir." A secretary smiled at Stella and then left the room. The man turned his chair around and looked at Stella. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw who was sitting there. Yesterday at an inopportune time, they were brought together. "You... I-i mean, Mr... who helped me yesterday, right?" she asked. "You have a good memory," said the man who was none other than Marvin. Stella swallowed her saliva. "For yesterday, I-i apologize, sir. I swear to God, I didn't mean to say anything to you," said Stella as she pointed her index and middle fingers until they looked like the letter V, "That remark yesterday was directed at someone else and not you. Also, I'd like to apologize if getting out of your car was too rude." "No problem. I've forgiven you. Now sit down." She walked over and sat on the chair opposite him. "This is my CV, sir," she said as handed his a folder of personal data to apply for the job. He took the brown folder, opened it and pulled out the sheets of paper inside. He read through the papers one by one and then put them on the table. She bit her lower lip when saw it and looked at him very seriously. "Please accept my employment, sir. I don't mind being anything else." "The vacancies are for staff and marketing. From the data on your CV, none of them qualify," he said. She let out a resigned breath. "I don't mind if I have to be an office girl, sir." "That position is already filled," he replied briefly. She looked down weakly. "But I have another offer," he said. She immediately looked at the man in front of her again very seriously. "What, sir?" "To be my wife." "Wh-what?" Her eyes widened in shock. "Yes... to be my wife. How about it? Will you accept my offer?" he asked with a smile. She immediately made a displeased face. "Don't mess with me, sir! I came here to apply for a job, not to be your bedmate's slave! Although, I do need a lot of money to live on. I won't do anything to get it. I still have my pride!" "H-huh? What?" He stared at her with a shocked look. "B-bedmate?" "Yes! You married me to make me your bedmate, right? You're a man with no sense!" "Huh?" She immediately got up from her seat and stood up straight. She picked up her CV again on the table tidying it up. "Just find another woman to have sex with you! I'm not willing to do it with you!" She turned around and walked towards the door to exit. "Damian Alvaro," he said who was still sitting on his chair. Stella, who had been holding the door handle, did not go out and stood in front of the door when he mentioned a man's name. She turned back to look at him again. "I didn't marry you because I was attracted to your body. Your body doesn't even tempt my faith at all." She swallowed her saliva. "T-then?” "You want to get all your treasures back from Damian, don't you? And again, you want revenge on that man, don't you? I'll help you. I'll help you get everything you own taken away from Damian. Even if you want to make him homeless, I can do that too." She paused for a moment and then said, "Why, why would you want to help me? There must be some benefit for you too, right?" He smirked. "There's no way I'm helping you for free. There must be some benefit for me." "What? And, why does it have to be a wife? Can't we just work together without marriage?" "You don't need to know what the reason is. I have a purpose, not just to make you a wife." She returned to silence again and just stared at him. "You can rest assured, this marriage is not real. It's just for status. The point is the marriage will be very beneficial for both of us. You help me fight Damian and you help me fight someone too." "Who?" "I'll tell you and I'll explain if you agree." She turned her gaze in another direction thinking. "I will also pay back everything you owe William," he said. She looked back at him again. "Give me some time. I need to talk to my sister first." He nodded. "Alright, then excuse me." She grabbed the door handle again and exited his room, walking towards the elevator to the ground floor. Once on the ground floor, she exited the company premises. She stood by the roadside waiting for public transportation. "THAT'S HER!" shouted the man who had been chasing her. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the two men across the street. She went back into the company area to avoid the two men, because they would definitely not be allowed into the company. She would be safe if she hid inside the company. "Damn it! How am I going to get out," she muttered as she stood in the company lobby. "They'll definitely be waiting for me out there. I'll end up getting caught." She bit her lower lip, immediately remembered Marvin's offer a few minutes ago. "Should I accept his offer right now? But what if Mia doesn't agree and she gets mad at me?" She walked towards the company's main door and peeked slightly. She saw the two men still standing there. Ting! There was the sound of the elevator doors opening. She looked towards the elevator and saw Marvin who had just come out of it. "Ugh! I have no choice!" she muttered, immediately walked over to him and held the man's arm. "Help me, sir." "You? Still here?" "You're really going to pay my debt to Mr. William, aren't you?" She ignored his question. "If you agree to what we talked about earlier. Of course, I will pay all your debts." She grabbed his hand and shook it. "Then, I accept your offer!" "Are you serious?" "Yes, I am serious! Now, pay my father's debts. They're all outside." "They are? Outside?" "Yes! They're waiting for me outside." His forehead furrowed, then he walked out of his company with her trailing behind. "You! Don't run away! We're tired of chasing you. Come and meet the big boss." One of the men said sarcastically to Stella. Stella stood behind Marvin, she held Marvin's arm and muttured, "Hurry, pay up." "How much do you owe?" he asked. "Fifty million!" "Huh?" "Why? Can't you pay it, sir?" she asked. He didn't care about what she said. He was still staring at the two men standing in front of him. "Only fifty million and you keep chasing this girl? Is that William so broke that he's chasing fifty million?" "Don't talk so much! You can't afford it, huh?" Marvin exhaled very roughly, then he reached into his suit-covered shirt pocket and took out a cell phone. "What's your boss's account number? I'll transfer it now." The man fiddled with his cell phone and then pointed the screen at Marvin. A few minutes later. Now, it was Marvin who showed his phone screen to the two men. "I have successfully transferred." "Wait a minute. I'm waiting for confirmation from my boss." "Don't take too long. I don't have much time to deal with useless things like this." The man didn't answer, then shortly returned to say, "It worked. Thank you for your cooperation!" "Okay." Marvin replied. The two men turned to walk away. "Wait!" said Marvin. The two men turned to look at Marvin. "Tell William that I'm canceling the inter-company cooperation with Desmond Company. If he gets angry, tell him it's all because of Damian." He grabbed Stella's palm holding it. "Let's go on, sweetie." He turned and walked away. "You should have told me if you had a debt, instead of keeping quiet. It makes me so embarrassed!" The two men clearly heard Marvin speak to the girl they had been chasing."Wait, so one of the Jaffin daughters is Mr. Marvin's lover?" William said, the 35-year-old man who had been hiring people to go after Stella and Mia."Yes, Boss. It appears that way. We overheard the man addressing the woman with affection. He also mentioned that Stella should have disclosed her debt, so he could settle it without causing embarrassment.""Why don't you find out first! You should have—""Our job is to collect debts, not look for information!" The man interjected. "Now, hurry up and pay for our work, so we can leave this place!""Damn it!" William exclaimed, his fists clenched tightly. He walk over to the desk, opened the drawer, and retrieved a brown envelope to give to the men."Mr. Marvin also mentioned, if you want to take the blame, just blame Damian.""Damian?"Without hesitation, William grabbed the cell phone lying on the table and dialed Damian's number.***"What is the meaning of this? Why did you unilaterally cancel our partnership?" Damian demanded angrily
"You're home already? How strange, you're usually home late at night." Stella remarked upon entering the rental house and seeing Mia sitting on the carpet playing with her cell phone."I have something to talk to you about." Mia said, putting down the phone and looking at Stella seriously."Same here, I want to talk to you too." Stella replied, settling down on the carpet."Well, you go ahead and talk.""No, Mia. What I have to say will take some time, so please, you go ahead." Stella suggested."What I have to say will also be lengthy.""Instead of debating about it, why don't you go first? I promise to listen no matter how long it takes. We have plenty of time anyway. So, what's on your mind?""Okay." Mia replied, her eyes briefly closing as she caught her breath. Then, she fixed her gaze on Stella. "Damian came to see me earlier.""Huh? What?" Stella exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock. "What did he want?""He proposed a deal." Mia explained."A deal? What kind of deal?""He offe
"Mr. Marvin should be able to help us, right?" asked Mia."I don't know," replied Stella while putting on her socks. She was getting ready to see Mr. Marvin and discuss their deal. "He's willing to make a deal with me because there are benefits for him. If he helps you, what will he gain? I don't think so.""Huft..." Mia exhaled very harshly."But there's no harm in trying. Come with me to meet Mr. Marvin and let's talk to him. Who knows, he might be willing to help.""I'm not sure since there's no benefit for him, but never mind. There's no harm in trying first. At least we'll have tried."Stella nodded, then got up, as did Mia. They left their rented house and walked to Esther Company.30 minutes later.Stella and Mia got out of the taxi that they had booked online earlier. They stood in front of the company."Wow... the company is bigger than Dixon, Sis.""It doesn't matter if it's big or small. Let's go!" Stella urgued.They took another step and entered, then walked towards the r
"About your idea of switching positions. I'm sorry, I can't," Marvin said. "I made a deal with Stella from the beginning. So the woman I'm going to marry is her, not you, and that's inviolable."Mia pursed her lips. She really wished she could switch positions so that she could marry Marvin, who was a perfect man."Besides, you made that mistake knowingly, didn't you? You already knew Damian wasn't a good person but still made the deal. As for Stella, she did make a mistake, but she didn't know that Damian was a bad person. If she had known he was a jerk, she wouldn't have fallen for him."Stella who heard Marvin defending her, smiled. Mia now looked very upset."Okay! So what about me, what's the solution? I don't want to marry Damian either. Give me a solution," Mia said."What do I have to gain by helping you, hm?" asked Marvin. "I made the deal with your sister because it had a mutually beneficial goal and mission, and I think you'll enjoy it later too. So if I help you now, what
Stella looked at Marvin with furrowed brows as he said he would never fall for a woman again."After the mission is successful, you are free to choose your options. I allow you to stay in my house and enjoy all the facilities as long as you don't interfere with what I'm doing."Stella nodded in understanding. "Since it happens in the future, we'll see how it goes.""One more thing," Marvin said."What?"Don't expect more from me. Don't put your heart into me and never involve love."Stella turned her gaze in another direction and smiled sadly. She looked back at Marvin again. "You are numb, right? Then it's the same. Damian made me reluctant to fall in love with a man again. All men are jerks!""So you're calling me a jerk?" asked Marvin with narrowed eyes.Stella swallowed hard. "You're on the exclusion list," she said with a smirk.Marvin was still squinting and glaring sarcastically. Stella went back to reading the contents of the agreement, then when she finished, she looked back
"He killed the person I care about the most," said Marvin, his eyes piercing."Who?" asked Stella. "Your lover?"Stella and Mia glanced at Marvin, their expressions serious, wondering who he was referring to."Yes, Lily... she's my lover whom I love very much," Marvin replied. "I just found out that the accident that happened to Lily eight months ago wasn't purely an accident, but it was due to Fanny's interference. That damn woman managed to make it look like an accident, and she did it very cleanly.""Is she so deeply in love with you, sir, that she would take someone's life?" asked Stella."That's not love! It's obsession!" Marvin retorted, locking eyes with Stella. "So, I need your help, Stella. Help me bring down Fanny for killing Lily, and I'll assist you in reclaiming your property rights and even dealing with Damian.""Wait, does that mean Fanny killed Lily out of jealousy, wanting to possess you entirely?" Mia finally spoke up. "Fanny eliminated Lily because she saw her as a
"Are you guys up to something with me?" Damian asked, his eyes wide open and teeth bared. Mia swallowed nervously. "You deliberately accepted a deal with me to get revenge. And behind that, you have Stella and Mr. Marvin helping you," Damian said. "I only found out about Stella and Mr. Marvin's relationship this morning, and I told them about our deal," Mia replied. "Stella was furious at me, then revealed that the debt had already been paid by Mr. Marvin." Damian's brows furrowed. "So?" "This morning we met with Mr. Marvin, and asked for his help in canceling the deal with you. Unfortunately, that damn Marvin didn't want to help because the deal was already signed, it would be very difficult to cancel it. He was afraid you would demand a lot from him later," Mia said, pretending to be annoyed. "So he won't help you?" asked Damian. "No!" replied Mia, looking annoyed. She sat back with her arms folded under her chest. "He said he's already spent a lot of money paying off t
A few days later. Stella and Mia got into the car that was waiting in front of the apartment. One of Mr. Marvin's bodyguards picked them up to take them to the company. "Why do you think Mr. Marvin asked us to come?" Mia asked Stella, who was sitting next to her. "Probably to talk about the wedding. What else could it be?" Stella replied in a casual tone. She turned her head to look out the window and saw that the streets were very crowded even though it was already working hours. "Aren't you happy to be marrying Mr. Marvin?" asked Mia when she noticed Stella's indifferent expression. Stella immediately turned to look at Mia. "I'm getting married to a man I've only known for less than two weeks. What's there to be happy about? I don't love him at all. I never even imagined that I would marry a man this way." "Mr. Marvin is so perfect as a man. Aren't you attracted to him at all?" "He's still stuck in his past. He agreed to marry me to take revenge for Lily's death. He said Lily