Belated Moonlight: He Regretted Only After I Left-Chapter 20: Serves You Right!

Elias Peyton could almost imagine Jasper Hawthorne on the other end of the line, feeling aggrieved yet forced to ask him for help, and he was absolutely delighted.

All these years suffering under Jasper Hawthorne’s dominance, today he finally unleashed it!

Jasper fell silent again, tacitly agreeing with his notion.

Elias was even more spirited, his gossip soul blazing, "I mean, what did you do to her? How did you manage to drive someone so devoted to you away? This must be a huge mistake, right? Could it be cheating..."

"No!" Before Elias could finish, Jasper coldly interrupted him, his voice rigid. "It’s some... misunderstanding, and my own issues."

He clearly wasn’t good at explaining or expressing, his tone dry.

"Misunderstanding?" Elias was skeptical, "Come on, with Little Junior Sterling’s temper, would she really get so mad over a small misunderstanding with you?"

"Why don’t you call me Senior? Maybe I’ll soften up and give you some advice. After all, Riveria is my territory, proximity is an advantage..."

He was used to teasing, not expecting Jasper to truly yield.

Yet, the other end fell into prolonged silence.

It was so long that Elias thought the signal had dropped.

Just as he was about to tease a bit more, Jasper’s voice suddenly came through, "Elias Peyton..." he paused, each word seemed squeezed out through clenched teeth, "Senior."

"..."

Elias’s smile froze instantly, and the pen in his hand fell onto the desk with a ’clack.’

He sat up straight abruptly, hardly daring to believe his ears!

What did he just hear?

Jasper?

The one who’s always aloof and dismissive, treating him like air?

Actually called him Senior?!

Though it was forced for him to inquire about Stella, this unprecedented first shocked Elias more than the sun rising from the west!

"Damn..." Elias reflexively swore, his eyes widened, "Jasper, you’re... really serious? So what kind of charm did Stella cast on you? That even made you, this eternal iceberg, bow and call me Senior? You’re not just sunk, you’ve fallen straight into the Mariana Trench!"

Jasper didn’t rebut, only his breathing grew heavier, as if desperately enduring something, or silently admitting.

Elias digested this astonishing gossip for quite a while before shaking his head in wonder, "Alright, alright, given your ’sincerity’... tell me, what’s the situation? Did you meet? Faced a closed door? Got a thorough scolding?"

Jasper was concise, his voice gloomy, "She doesn’t want to see me, told me to get lost."

"Hahaha!" Elias ungraciously burst into laughter, "Serves you right! Ignoring her in the past! Now, realizing your mistake yet? Our Little Junior Sterling is the embodiment of wisdom, leaving you is damage control!"

After he laughed enough, he touched his chin, trying hard to recall his encounter with Stella yesterday and his theoretical knowledge of relationships, ready to offer some advice to this romance idiot.

"I’ll tell you, you handled it foolishly. Rushing to block the door is the worst move. With Stella’s character, soft on the outside but strong within, the more you push her, the harder she’ll resist. You should..." Elias was getting into it, spitting as he spoke.

However, before he could finish, someone rapped his office desk twice.

Elias instinctively turned his head, only to see Shane Donovan standing expressionlessly behind him!

"!!!"

Elias’s smile froze instantly, all sounds caught in his throat.

He clumsily hung up the phone, stood up immediately, "President Donovan..."

Shane’s gaze lingered on his face for a moment, those deep eyes seemed even colder, his tone calm yet carrying an invisible pressure, "Counselor Peyton."

Elias’s heart skipped a beat.

Shane’s eyes swept over the files piled up on his desk, then returned to his face, speaking lightly, "Origin Corp’s case, the other side proposed a new settlement plan, the legal department’s assessment report I reviewed, it wasn’t detailed enough."

Elias was taken aback, "President Donovan, wasn’t the assessment report for that case finished yesterday..."

"Redo it." Shane interrupted, his tone leaving no room for doubt, "I want to see a quantitative analysis of all potential risks and a worst-case loss estimation model. I want to see the report on my desk tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning..." Elias felt a sudden blackout, almost losing his breath.

The Origin Corp case involves complex cross-border intellectual property issues, just clarifying the legal relationships takes considerable time, and now he needs to do quantitative analysis and modeling?! It’s another all-nighter!

"President Donovan, isn’t this a bit..." Elias tried to struggle.

Shane lifted his gaze, eyes devoid of warmth, "Is there a problem?"

Elias immediately chickened out, swallowing back the words at his mouth, with a dry laugh, "No... not a problem! Tomorrow morning I’ll present it to you!"

Shane said no more, gave him a faint glance, and turned to leave, leaving Elias alone with uncryable tears.

He slumped back into his chair powerlessly, looking at the mountains of case files, wishing he could bang his head on the floor.

What’s the matter with his big boss?

What did he do to provoke him?

Why does he always pick on him and drag him to the ground!

...

Meanwhile, at Sterling & Associates.

Though disrupted by Jasper’s sudden appearance, life must go on, and work is the best anesthetic.

Stella took on a new case, a local small design company accused of plagiarizing a large company’s advertising concept.

The other side aggressive, evidence seemingly solid, but Stella, upon studying the case file, found some oddities possibly indicating internal sabotage and evidence forgery from the opposing company.

To find the breakthrough, key evidence might be hidden in a critical business engagement—reportedly, the opposing company’s manager and a former employee from this design company had secret contact at a high-end nightclub, ’Misty Riveria.’

"Boss, do we... really have to go?" Finn Lockwood looked at the information on ’Misty Riveria,’ his face slightly apprehensive, "That place is reportedly chaotic, has complex backgrounds, can the two of us manage?"

Stella was arranging miniature recording equipment and hidden cameras, without raising her head, "What else? Evidence won’t deliver itself. The other side is holding firm, this is the only current breakthrough. Don’t worry, we’re just going to pose as guests and gather environmental and testimonial information, there won’t be any danger."

She appeared calm and composed, but inside she was a bit anxious.

Such places are often disorderly, indeed carrying uncertainties.

But for the client’s innocence and the firm’s reputation, this risk is worth taking!

At dusk, the city lights came on.

The entrance to ’Misty Riveria’ nightclub was already dazzling with neon, luxury cars gathered.

Inside the nightclub, deafening music hammered against eardrums, shadows moved in the dance floor, dazzling lights sliced through the frenzied crowd.

Stella took a deep breath, hooked her arm through Finn Lockwood’s.

For tonight’s operation, she specially wore a black spaghetti strap dress she wouldn’t normally wear, outlining her graceful curves, with slightly heavier makeup, shedding some of her lawyer’s competence, adding a touch of allure and charm.

Finn’s body was stiff, his palms were sweating, he whispered, "Boss... I, I feel a bit dizzy..."

"Stay calm." Stella pinched his arm, her gaze discreetly scanning the surrounding environment, searching for boxes or characters matching the case file description, "Just pretend you’re here for fun, act naturally, don’t wear a battle-ready expression."

"I’ll... I’ll try..." Finn’s voice tightened, palms sweating.

Meanwhile, in a VIP room on the second floor with a fantastic view, another scene unfolded...