My Amnesic Ex Married My Sister, So I Married His Uncle-Chapter 31: Battle-Hardened and Imperturbable
Twenty minutes later, Owen Rhodes found Stella Sterling playing ostrich in the guest room.
How did he find her?
Stella had locked the guest room door from the inside.
Owen felt a sense of fond exasperation.
She really was... all bark and no bite.
Owen raised a hand and knocked. After a moment, faint rustling sounds came from inside. A little while later, Stella finally opened the door.
She had probably composed herself. When she stood before Owen, only a faint, inconspicuous blush remained on her cheeks.
But she didn’t dare look up at him, her eyelashes trembling like a butterfly’s wings.
Owen stood a few steps away, watching her for a moment before leaning over, resting his hands on his knees to bring his face level with hers.
"Stella, you get embarrassed easily."
Stella bristled.
She retorted defensively, "I... I do not!"
"Then why did you run?"
Trying to save face, Stella argued, "I didn’t run! I walked."
"Right. Then why did you walk?" Owen dropped a bombshell. "It’s not like you haven’t seen it before."
BOOM—
Stella practically short-circuited.
The blush that had just faded from her cheeks crept back with a vengeance.
This was a question Owen had been pondering all the way back on the flight from Lumina.
He hadn’t found an answer, but he had a theory.
Perhaps the reason Stella hadn’t been shy with him before was because she didn’t see him as a man at all.
’In her eyes, I’m just a physique that she finds satisfactory, probably no different from a statue in an art museum.’
If this were Silas Jacobs, he’d surely feel that his pride as a man had been wounded.
But Owen didn’t care.
’At least I’m not completely useless in her eyes.’
’At least she’s very satisfied with my body.’
But today, Stella had gotten shy.
A smile silently touched Owen’s lips, and his deep-set eyes filled with mirth.
He suddenly straightened up, grasped Stella’s slender waist, and pulled her toward him.
"I thought Miss Sterling was a seasoned veteran, immune to temptation."
The "seasoned veteran," Miss Sterling, stammered, "I-I-I... I’m not immune to temptation! It’s dangerous for you to be flaunting yourself in front of me!"
’Yes, very dangerous,’ he thought.
’So dangerous that instead of barging into my shower on the spot, she hid in the guest room.’
The heat from Owen’s palm was searing where it held her waist, and she could barely move.
She felt his thumb stroking gently up and down her side, making her freeze completely.
Suddenly, Owen asked, "How many other men have flaunted themselves in front of you before me?"
The "seasoned veteran," Miss Sterling, didn’t dare admit that she had, in fact, never done anything remotely risqué.
Miss Sterling had very high standards. Of all the models who had applied before Owen, she had found fault with all of them—either their faces didn’t appeal to her, or their body proportions were off.
Miss Sterling was extremely picky. Too few muscles were too scrawny; too many were too bulky.
Owen was the first one to make it to the "take off your pants" stage.
But the "seasoned veteran," Miss Sterling, was just a paper tiger. Owen had stripped naked and presented himself to her, but she hadn’t dared to look.
All that magnificent scenery had been hidden behind her easel.
While Stella was painting, she had asked Owen to look out the window, so he hadn’t noticed that she never once looked anywhere below his waistline.
But Miss Sterling was feeling defiant now. "T-Too many... I’ve lost count..."
Staring at the pink tips of her ears, Owen leaned in closer, his voice laced with a subtle threat. "And what did you do to them all?"
The "seasoned veteran," Miss Sterling, was at a loss for words.
After a moment’s thought, she said uncertainly, "I... ate them all up?"
Owen let out a choked laugh.
Her tone wasn’t that of someone stating a fact, but of a student asking a teacher if she’d given the right answer.
’Right. So she didn’t eat them up.’
His hot breath fanned against her ear as a palpable tension filled the air. A layer of sweat formed on Stella’s palms, and she unconsciously clutched the fabric of Owen’s pajamas at his chest.
Just as Stella’s ears were about to start bleeding from embarrassment, Owen whispered, "Go wash up. It’s time for lunch."
...?
’Is that it???’
Something felt off to Stella, but she couldn’t take it anymore.
She muttered an "oh" and fled in a panic.
Owen glanced down at his indigo pajamas, at the small, damp, wrinkled spot on his chest.
’Yep, this girl is just not cut out for lying.’
Owen went to the walk-in closet to change. As he entered, his eyes fell on the wardrobe—one half filled with Stella’s dresses, the other with his shirts.
He couldn’t say why, but his heart felt like it had just been tickled.
He buttoned his shirt, one button at a time, a smile spreading uncontrollably across his face.
Owen Rhodes was in a very good mood today.
It wasn’t just the few secretaries in the executive office; everyone who attended the afternoon meeting could tell.
Because Owen Rhodes had actually smiled during the meeting.
Group Chat [Kyros Group Executive Office]:
Chuck: [OMG, did President Rhodes just smile? Was I the only one who saw that?]
Young: [I saw it too]
Lowe: [Me too. Looks like something good is happening with the company. Kyros Group is bound to reach new heights!]
Chuck: [Lowe clearly doesn’t pay attention to major company news. Let’s kick him.]
Lowe: [Chuck, don’t say that! I pray for the company’s prosperity every single day!]
Young: [Then tell us why President Rhodes was smiling]
Lowe: [Because the group expanded its business empire again?]
Quinn Lawson: [Lowe, have you been living under a rock?]
Starting last evening, Owen Rhodes’s "Married, do not disturb" post had blown up on social media.
Around ten o’clock at night, the official Kyros social media account responded: It’s true. The boss also said not to disturb the missus while she’s resting.
And so, it blew up all over again.
Group Chat [Kyros Group Executive Office]:
Chuck: [Liam has definitely met the boss’s wife. Liam, remember to pledge my loyalty for me. Even though I’m the only woman in the executive office, I have a boyfriend.]
Young: [Liam, pledge my loyalty too. Even though I’m gay, I also have a boyfriend.]
Lowe: [Liam, pledge my loyalty for me too! I was born a Kyros man, and I’ll die a Kyros ghost!]
Chuck: [...Can we really not kick Lowe from this chat?]
Liam Hawthorne: [You all have too much time on your hands?]
The chat instantly fell silent.
At four in the afternoon, Stella Sterling received a location pin from Ariana Grant.
The location was Caelum Restaurant. Ariana had texted: [Dinner together? 5:30.]
[You’re back?!]
[Yep. You coming?]
[Of course! See you tonight.]
Stella immediately messaged Owen Rhodes to let him know she wouldn’t be home for dinner.
Owen quickly replied, "Got it." And just like that, the smiling Owen in the conference room disappeared.
At five-thirty that evening, Stella met Ariana Grant at Caelum Restaurant. Ariana was holding a huge bouquet of fresh flowers.
Seeing her from a distance, Ariana rushed toward her, shouting, "Sweetheart!"
"Here, these are for you!"
Ariana was wearing a chic, lemon-yellow long dress today, with pearls dangling from her earlobes. She looked just like the girl from that famous painting—Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Stella was pleasantly surprised. "What are you doing in Jandor?" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
Ariana said, "I’m here to be the strategist for my silly best friend, of course."
