Chapter 173
“Stella, here you are.” Kevin stood up and started introducing her to the man at the desk.
“This is Ms. Hayes, the one I mentioned to you before. Stella, let me introduce my classmate, Cavan James. I heard about what happened to you and rushed over right away. I didn’t expect you’d come too.”
Stella looked surprised. “You know about what happened at my company?”
“Yeah, we’re in the same city, so I tend to keep an eye on your business.
“I figured with your health, you might not be able to make it, so I flew over to check out a few suppliers for you. Didn’t expect you’d show up.”
“I had to come. Last time, because I didn’t show up and meet them face to face, a lot of deals got canceled. I don’t want that to happen again. Nice to meet you, Mr. James.” Stella reached out her hand.
Cavan hurried to shake it. “Ms. Hayes, no need to be so formal. You’re Kevin’s friend, and Kevin and I go way back to college. Just call me Cavan, as he does.”
“Alright, then you can just call me Stella.”
“Nice to meet you, Stella.”
They all sat down and started chatting. Kevin had already negotiated all the benefits Stella needed and even managed to get her a better deal than she could have gotten herself.
Cavan said, “Since we’re all here, I’ve invited everyone you want to meet for dinner tonight, so we can all get to know each other. Then
tomorrow, I’ll show you around our factory.”
Stella smiled. “That would be great. Thanks so much.”
“Your order is pretty big, which is great for us, too. So really, we’re just helping each other out.”
Stella gave a slight nod. When Stella went to the restroom, only Kevin and Cavan were left in the office.
Cavan asked, “So I finally met the girl you can’t stop thinking/about. Gotta say, she’s a real beauty. But with her condition, do you think she
can even have kids?”
Kevin shot him a glare. “She’s already married.”
“What? Married?” Cavan was stunned.
Kevin motioned for him to lower his voice and gave a wry smile.
Cavan did quiet down. “Seriously, man, what’s your deal? Stella’s married–she’s got a husband, and her husband doesn’t even seem worried. But here you are, rushing over and squeezing all these perks out of me. Why are you doing all this?”
Kevin looked down with a bitter smile. “Even if I can’t be the one by her side in the end, I still like her. I just want to help her however I can.”
“Man, I just don’t know what to say about you.” Cavan sighed.
“Back in school, you’d ditch class at the drop of a hat just to chase after her all over the globe. It’s a miracle you didn’t flunk out, but you almost didn’t even get your diploma, remember?
“And there were so many girls crushing on you. You could’ve picked any of them, but no, you just had to fall for her. What kind of spell does
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she have on you?
“Alright, even if she is that magical, it’s okay if she’s picked you. But no, she didn’t. Seriously, why are you such an idiot?”
Kevin gave a small smile. “Just keep it between us, all right? She probably already realizes it a little, but I don’t want her to feel too much pressure about it.
Cavan tapped him with his finger, but in the end, he couldn’t get a single word out.
What they didn’t know was that Stella had forgotten her phone and had come back to grab it. She was standing right at the door, and she’d
heard their whole conversation.
But she acted like nothing had happened and just went to the restroom. After that, she didn’t bring it up to anyone.
Since things went even smoother than they’d expected, the afternoon was pretty much free, though Stella still needed to get in touch with a few other suppliers.
Kevin had planned to take her out for a walk, but when he saw she was still busy with work, he didn’t come to interrupt her. But he wasn’t
idle. He tapped into all his connections, offering Stella every bit of help he could.
Just as it was almost time to get out of work, Stella’s phone rang–it was Jordan calling, and Stella answered.
At that moment, Kevin came over to ask Stella if they were ready to go to dinner and meet some of the other suppliers. When Kevin called out
to her, Jordan overheard it.
“You didn’t tell me the man with you was Kevin,” Jordan said.
Stella couldn’t help but laugh at how jealous Jordan sounded. “How did you pick up Kevin’s voice so fast?”
“Guys are always sensitive to their love rivals. Even if I’ve only seen him once, I can recognize him right away.”
Kevin walked over and saw Stella on the phone with Jordan, so he said, “Hello, Mr. Erwin.”
“Why are you there?” Jordan asked.
Kevin glanced at Stella, who motioned for him to leave so she could handle it. He hesitated, but Stella nodded reassuringly, so he had to walk
away.
Stella walked after him, explaining things to Jordan as she went. “Kevin wasn’t the guy I called over. And I didn’t expect to meet him here. He
just showed up to help me.”
Jordan sounded even colder on the other end of the line.
Stella quickly added, “He came without even letting me know. By the time I got here, he’d already handled everything. I didn’t even get a chance to do anything.
“I was planning to tell you about it, but I didn’t think you’d find out before I could.”
“Stella,” Eleanor said.
“Yes?”
“Sometimes I wish I could shrink you down and slip you right into my pocket, so no one else could ever see you.”
Stella’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
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“You’re already married, why is he will doing all this for you? that guy just can’t let you go, Jordan muttered.
Stella laughed. “Took who’s tailing didn’t an art the same way? If loan wasn’t still hoping for another shot with Jordan, there’s no way she’d have the guts to tell her that she’s pregnant with his kid
“Getting Jealous, are you?” Stella teased.
“Why, am I not allowed?” Jordan retorted.
“Of course you are. I love it when you get jealous. It just proves you care about me?”
“So, my sweet Jordan, I have to go meet some people for dinner now. Can I hang up?”
“Sure,” Jordan replied.
Just as Stella was about to tell him she’d call again when she got back to the hotel tonight, Jordan said, “I’ve got something to send you. Take
a look when you have time.”
“Okay.”
After they hung up, Jordan quickly sent the file over. Stella was curious about it. When she opened it, she saw it was a list of supplier contacts
from all over the world.
She was touched. Some of the info could be found online, but there were also contacts she just couldn’t find. Jordan must have gone
through a lot of trouble getting all these, especially the ones that weren’t public.
Jordan might not have had time to come, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t working behind the scenes for her. ‘He treats me better than anyone else ever could,‘ she thought.
At the end, there was a note: [I’ve already reached out to a few suppliers, which are marked in the list. Just give them a call and it’ll be easy to work with them.]
[Thank you, Jordan.] Stella texted him back.
(Don’t get too close to Kevin.]
Stella felt her heart melt as if a gentle warmth was flowing right into her.
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