My Amnesic Ex Married My Sister, So I Married His Uncle-Chapter 117: I Hate That You’re a Block of Wood

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: I Hate That You’re a Block of Wood

It was subtle, but Stella Sterling thought she saw the light in the young man’s eyes dim in that instant.

She had seen plenty of Zion Shawcross’s photos and videos while doing her research.

He looked almost identical to how he did in the videos, so Stella recognized him at a glance.

In fact, without any makeup, Zion Shawcross’s languid aura was even more pronounced.

But...

She turned to look at her "niece," whose eyes were completely fixed on her. The girl was a bundle of excitement and obliviousness.

Excitedly staring at her, while completely ignoring Zion Shawcross.

She didn’t even notice Zion Shawcross’s silent heartbreak.

But regarding the object of his affection, Stella couldn’t guarantee that Faye Rhodes was as straight as an arrow.

In the end, she could only introduce herself. "Hello, I’m Umi. I’m looking forward to working with you."

Zion Shawcross gave Stella a polite nod.

He was well aware of Faye Rhodes’s adoration for Umi.

Umi seemed to have a magical effect. Her name alone was enough to make the normally quiet, introverted Faye Rhodes suddenly transform into an extroverted version of herself—a complete system reboot.

Seeing Faye Rhodes clinging to Stella’s uninjured arm, her eyes glued to Stella’s profile with an utterly infatuated expression, Zion Shawcross couldn’t help but scowl.

Unable to watch any longer, he took the lead. "Let’s go. Henry and the others must be getting impatient."

"Okay."

Zion Shawcross had long legs, and he vanished from sight in just a few strides.

Only then did Faye Rhodes whisper, "Auntie, how have you gotten even more beautiful? You’re my auntie, after all. Hehe~"

Stella froze for a moment, then gave a resigned smile.

’Faye Rhodes is actually a bit cuter than I thought.’

Henry Wright, who was waiting in the lobby, saw Zion Shawcross return in a visibly foul mood.

"What’s with you? Didn’t sleep well last night?"

"Yeah."

Zion Shawcross kept walking with one hand in his pocket, not even slowing his pace.

’Who pissed him off?’ Henry wondered.

Henry pursed his lips.

But the moment he saw the brightly smiling Stella Sterling following close behind, Henry Wright’s entire mood lifted.

’See? That’s the charm and power of a beautiful woman.’

’Just standing there with a smile is enough to brighten anyone’s day.’

Henry even felt that Stella was more beautiful than Catherine Linden in the photo shoots that had made her famous for her looks.

’What raw talent!’

This made Henry even more eager.

But he kept these thoughts to himself, professionally guiding them to the conference room to go through the contract signing procedures.

Just as he was about to step into the conference room, his phone buzzed.

He took it out and saw it was a call from Catherine Linden’s assistant.

"Excuse me, I need to take this call."

After ushering them into the room, he stepped aside to answer.

"What is it now? Didn’t I tell you to find Hughes first? I’m busy here."

Hughes was a junior agent he was mentoring.

He had too many artists under him to handle everything personally, and Catherine Linden was especially troublesome, so he had offloaded her onto Hughes.

He called it "training the new guy," of course.

The young assistant on the other end of the line was miserable.

If it weren’t for her lack of a strong academic background and the poor job market, she would have quit long ago.

Assistants like her were like the filling in a sandwich, getting squeezed and taking heat from both sides.

She said timidly, "Henry, there’s something I think you need to know..."

"Spit it out!"

"...Catherine came to the company today... and by coincidence, we ran into... President Rhodes in the underground parking garage."

Henry Wright suddenly felt his ears ringing. He pulled the phone away and dug a finger in his ear.

"You ran into who?"

"Uh... President Rhodes... yes, the Owen Rhodes you’re thinking of..."

Henry Wright’s knees went weak right where he stood.

When he spoke again, his voice trembled.

"Cath... Catherine Linden... she didn’t do anything, did she?"

"I saw Catherine give President Rhodes a cup of tomato juice, and then she left, probably heading upstairs. As for what Catherine said to him, I don’t know..."

The young assistant didn’t dare mention that she had seen President Rhodes’s assistant throw the tomato juice away the moment they turned a corner.

The world went dark before Henry Wright’s eyes.

When he came to his senses, he could only hope that Catherine Linden had a shred of sense left and wouldn’t end up digging her own grave.

He turned his head and saw several pairs of eyes staring at him from the conference room.

’Right, I still have work to do.’

’Once I’m done with this, I’ll figure out how to clean up Catherine Linden’s mess.’

’Worst case scenario...’

’Worst case scenario, I’ll just have our President Jacobs go grovel before President Rhodes again...’

’Oh, wait.’

’President Rhodes is married now. President Jacobs’s groveling probably won’t work anymore.’

With professional poise, Henry Wright plastered an enthusiastic smile on his face and walked back into the conference room.

Twenty minutes later, the contract was signed.

Stella Sterling’s collaboration with Zion Shawcross was now official.

Although there were many procedural details to confirm, the final result was that Stella needed to submit two art pieces within a month.

For Stella, who was used to a more leisurely pace, this was quite a challenge.

After all, not every client in the world was as easygoing as her one-in-a-million "angel client."

But since she had accepted the job, she would complete it to the best of her ability.

While Stella was pondering how to best complete the two promised art pieces, Henry Wright, on the other hand, hadn’t given up on his scheme.

"Miss Umi, let’s put the debut aside for a moment. Have you ever considered appearing in a music video?"

A version of the music video for Zion Shawcross’s new title track had already been shot, but after reviewing Faye Rhodes’s proposal for the cover art, Zion was personally dissatisfied. He wanted to reshoot a new version that incorporated Umi’s painting process after her pieces were complete.

For this reason, Stella’s artwork for this project needed to be completed in a studio provided by Vantage.

To facilitate the subsequent MV editing, Stella’s entire painting process would be recorded. Her image would then be edited out, and the creation of the art would be presented in a stop-motion style.

At first, Stella thought Henry’s talk about having her debut was just flattery to build rapport, but since he had brought it up repeatedly, she realized he was serious.

She no longer beat around the bush and politely declined, "I appreciate the offer, but I have no plans for that at the moment. Right now, I just want to focus all my energy on doing the paintings well."

"Okay, no problem. We can discuss it again later."

’Great. He really won’t give up.’

When it was time for Stella to leave, Henry Wright was supposed to see her out, but the trouble named Catherine Linden was still upstairs.

It wouldn’t be appropriate for Zion Shawcross either.

So, the task of seeing Stella off naturally fell to Faye Rhodes.

Of course, Faye was more than willing.

However, as the group waited for the elevator, Zion Shawcross’s expression refused to improve.

Faye Rhodes was clinging to Stella’s arm, laughing so hard she was practically trembling.

Since she couldn’t let outsiders know Stella’s true identity, Faye addressed her as "Umi."

"Umi, where do you live? Let me give you a ride home!"

"No need, someone is coming to pick me up. Thank you."

"Don’t be so formal with me. Oh, by the way, how will you get to the studio? Your family can’t drive you every day, right? How about I pick you up?"

This "family member" was, of course, referring to Owen Rhodes.

Zion Shawcross, who had been treated like thin air until now, finally spoke up. "Doesn’t Miss Umi have Ken as an assistant? Why are you trying to butt in?"

Faye shot back, annoyed, "You got a problem with that?"

"I do."

"Then you can have Ken as your assistant."

"..."

’Faye Rhodes, I swear you’re as dense as a rock!’