My Amnesic Ex Married My Sister, So I Married His Uncle-Chapter 125: Your Album Must Be a Huge Hit

That call from Ryan Shaw left Zion Shawcross tossing and turning, unable to get to sleep.

Early the next morning, he dropped by Stella Sterling’s art studio, his face clearly showing a lack of sleep.

When he arrived, Stella Sterling wasn’t there yet.

Inside the villa, only two staff members in charge of photography were present.

The two of them were a little surprised to see Zion Shawcross show up in person.

"Zion Shawcross, my sister is a huge fan. Could I get your autograph for her?"

Zion Shawcross gave him a lazy glance and nodded.

The staff member immediately ran back, returning with Zion Shawcross’s album from last year to be signed.

Zion Shawcross took a marker and wrote "To" on the album cover in his highly distinctive handwriting, then looked up at the staff member.

The staff member understood instantly and quickly supplied his sister’s name.

For these kinds of personal autographs, it was normal for a more amicable celebrity to personalize it with a "To."

While Zion Shawcross was signing his name with a flourish, the villa’s doorbell rang.

A moment later, Stella Sterling and Faye Rhodes walked in, chatting and laughing.

As soon as Faye Rhodes stepped inside, she sensed someone else was there. She looked up and met the complicated gaze in the eyes visible above Zion Shawcross’s mask.

The smile on her face vanished instantly. "What are you doing here?"

Zion Shawcross handed over the signed album and took off his mask, his expression unreadable.

"Can I not be here?"

Stella Sterling sensed trouble brewing. She said a quick word to Faye Rhodes and went ahead to get ready.

Faye Rhodes had been all smiles when she turned to look at Stella Sterling, but the moment she faced forward again, the smile was gone.

"I post progress updates in the group chat every day, so you don’t need to come in person." She glanced at the time. "I’m surprised you’re up this early."

Zion Shawcross grunted in acknowledgment. "I was expecting you to say I’m disturbing you."

Faye Rhodes nodded. "You are, a little."

Zion Shawcross: "..."

’How was he being a disturbance?’

’Logically speaking, this was *his* album and *his* album cover. *He* was the client. How could he possibly be a disturbance?’

’He’d like to know how!’

Faye Rhodes was completely oblivious to the man’s dark mood, only thinking that such a tall person standing in the hallway was getting in the way.

"Move aside. You’re blocking the way."

"..."

Zion Shawcross was displeased, but he still moved aside as asked.

He took a deep breath, deciding not to bicker with her.

"Have you had breakfast?"

Faye Rhodes looked up, a little surprised. "Are you asking me?"

Zion Shawcross’s chest tightened. "...No, I’m talking to the air."

’Oh, so he *was* asking me.’

’But with so many people here, he probably wasn’t *only* asking me.’

So, while Zion Shawcross was waiting intently for her answer, Faye Rhodes poked her head into a small side room and asked, "Maurice, Sutton, have you guys eaten breakfast?"

The two answered honestly, "Not yet."

Faye Rhodes relayed the message. "They haven’t, and neither have I. Umi has already eaten."

She smiled at him, the implication clearly being that he should go buy breakfast.

A knot of frustration tightened in Zion Shawcross’s chest. He had no choice but to pull on his mask and head out to buy breakfast.エンディング

’He shouldn’t have even bothered asking!’

Stella Sterling had witnessed the entire exchange. When Faye Rhodes came in, she couldn’t help but ask, "Faye, don’t you think Zion Shawcross seemed a bit upset?"

Faye Rhodes looked up blankly. "Was he? Isn’t he always like that?"

After a pause, she added suspiciously, "I have no idea what he’s even here for today."

Stella Sterling shook her head and swallowed her words.

’Forget it. She was clueless about love herself, so who was she to act like an expert?’

Half an hour later, Zion Shawcross returned, his hands laden with bags.

It looked like enough food for thirty people, not just three.

Faye Rhodes stared, dumbfounded. "Why did you buy so much?"

"I didn’t know what you all like, so I bought a bit of everything."

This area was a new development with few shops around, so Zion Shawcross had driven to get the food.

Street snacks, steamed buns, corn, soy milk, coffee, bread, milk, eggs—he had bought basically everything he saw.

Faye Rhodes looked at the mountain of food on the table and said speechlessly, "Well, I guess we have breakfast and lunch covered now."

’I never should have let Zion Shawcross go buy things by himself.’

While Faye Rhodes was still looking through the bags, Zion Shawcross received a message.

Knowing that Zion Shawcross was usually still asleep at this hour, Henry Wright hadn’t called him directly, opting to send a message instead.

[About the MV for your title track—it’s being filmed separately, right? We were considering stop-motion animation, but we might have to change plans. The execs just shoehorned in a female lead.]

Zion Shawcross thought for a moment, then replied with a single word.

[Whatever.]

After everyone finished breakfast, Zion Shawcross went into the studio and saw Stella Sterling’s half-finished painting for the album cover.

Although Faye Rhodes sent daily progress updates to the group chat, seeing it in person was still a stunning experience.

Photos taken on a phone always had some color distortion, the lighting made certain shades look different from how they appeared in person, and digital compression caused the images to lose fidelity...

In short, Zion Shawcross loved Stella Sterling’s painting.

Seeing him struck speechless, Faye Rhodes laughed and bumped him with her shoulder.

"What do you think? It’s amazing, right?"

Zion Shawcross nodded readily. "It is."

He turned to Faye Rhodes. "It’s all thanks to you for recommending such a brilliant artist."

’That kid Ryan Shaw might have recommended her first, but I’m choosing to ignore that.’

"That’s because our Umi is a genius." She hugged Stella Sterling’s arm, praising her with a smile.

After the praise, she turned back to Zion Shawcross. "Your album had better be a massive hit. You can’t let Umi’s painting go to waste."

"..."

’He really shouldn’t have come today.’

Although he was annoyed, Zion Shawcross didn’t leave.

He had nothing else to do today anyway. It wasn’t a bad way to spend the time, watching the scenery and seeing someone paint.

In the middle of the afternoon, Stella Sterling finished a section of her painting and noticed a missed call from Owen Rhodes on her phone.

She immediately called him back, and Owen Rhodes picked up right away.

"Done for now?"

"Mhm, for the moment. What’s up?"

’Counting the days, Owen Rhodes had been in Veridia for six days. He’d said he was going for a week, which meant he should be back tomorrow.’

"I was regretting not being able to come see you work in person, so I was planning to order some afternoon tea for you and the staff. Would that be okay?"

"That would be great! Are you coming back tomorrow? When you do, I’ll bring you over to have a look."

Owen Rhodes chuckled. After asking her to send him the studio’s address, he said he had to get back to work and ended the call.

Faye Rhodes saw her expression and immediately guessed who had called, giving Stella Sterling a teasing wink.

An hour later, the doorbell rang.

Stella Sterling was busy, so Zion Shawcross, the only idle person there, got up to answer the door.

The door opened, and his gaze met that of the tall, elegant man standing on the other side.

The newcomer’s deep eyes betrayed no emotion as he said politely, "Hello, I’m looking for... Umi."

Faye Rhodes came out behind him, and upon seeing the visitor, she exclaimed, "Uncle!"