CHAPTER 495: CHAPTER 495: KEEPING A DISTANCE

Earlier, Stella Jennings walked over without noticing and stepped on Crystal Pierce’s foot. Before she could apologize, Crystal shoved her aside and gave her a solid slap.

Stella hesitated for a moment, holding her hand, "Thank you."

Her manager, Troy, said sarcastically, "Crystal, you’re just too kind." As she spoke, she glared at Stella, "Can’t you even say sorry?"

"I’m sorry, Crystal. How much were your shoes? I’ll pay for them."

"Ha, rich girl, thinking everything can be bought with money, huh?"

"Well..." Stella was at a loss for words, feeling so caught off guard that she couldn’t even feel the pain on her face.

At this moment, Aidan Sinclair’s car stopped in front of them. He lowered the window and casually smiled, "What’s going on?"

As he drove over, he saw Stella fall to the ground and Crystal help her up. In the poor evening light, he might have thought they were chatting like fellow disciples if he hadn’t seen Stella’s expression wasn’t right.

"Mr. Sinclair, it’s nothing," Crystal replied with a smile.

Aidan turned to Stella, "How are you getting home?"

"I’ve called for a ride service."

"It’s not safe to take a ride service at this hour. Hop in, I’ll drive you home."

"No need." Stella felt overwhelmed when he said this.

Crystal laughed and said, "Mr. Sinclair, our little Stella is only sixteen. If you have any sneaky ideas, it’s better to put them away." She was quite familiar with Aidan, so she spoke freely.

However, there’s always been gossip that Crystal’s success is entirely due to her connections with Aidan Sinclair. In reality, she did want to forge such a connection, but she hadn’t succeeded. Aidan Sinclair indeed had past issues with Morningstar’s female artists, but not with Crystal.

Aidan laughed heartily, "With that mouth of yours, rest assured, my legal awareness is very strong." As he spoke, he got out of the car, made a gesture to Stella, "Come on up."

"Really, there’s no need!" Stella got a bit flustered and kept winking at him.

Seeing this, Crystal grabbed Stella’s hand and said, "It’s indeed not very safe for a young girl to take a ride service at this hour. However, I think taking Mr. Sinclair’s car... Hmm... So, it’s better if you take mine back."

"No!" Stella refused sharply in the moment of panic.

No one at the company knew she and Aidan Sinclair were neighbors. Her agent knew she was assigned such a good place to live, but only reminded her to cherish it. They didn’t know she lived in Aidan’s house, nor did they know Aidan lived right next to her. And in the whole neighborhood, only these two villas were built next to each other, separated by a two-meter-wide green path.

Now, some already suspected Stella and Aidan had an unusual relationship. If they saw their homes, wouldn’t it be too much?

Seeing Crystal’s face fell, Stella stumbled while explaining, "Well, I live far away, so I won’t trouble Crystal." She took out her phone, pretended to check something, "My car is arriving soon, I’ll head out now. Goodbye, Mr. Sinclair. Goodbye, Crystal."

With that, she quickly walked towards the street like she was escaping.

Aidan watched her leave, smiled lightly at Crystal, "Look at how you scared the little kid."

Crystal didn’t hold back, "It wasn’t me who scared her, it was clearly Mr. Sinclair."

Aidan playfully raised an eyebrow, "Naughty." Then he got into the car and whispered to the driver, "Follow Stella, avoid Crystal."

"Yes."

Stella hadn’t really called for a ride service; she planned to walk to the intersection ahead and get a taxi there. As she was walking, she saw Aidan’s car.

This time, Aidan directly opened the car door, "Get in."

Stella looked around before quickly getting in; once seated, she let out a deep breath as if just completing a risky business.

"Why didn’t you leave?" She turned her head and smiled, feeling completely relaxed.

"I was worried about you." Aidan originally intended to follow her ride service, but seeing her keep walking in this direction, he knew she lied earlier, "Why doesn’t your agent ensure you have a car?"

"I can’t drive, so if I had a car, I’d also need a driving assistant. My current level is still a bit lacking. If there’s a job, transportation is provided, which is quite convenient."

Aidan gave her Finn Ford’s phone number, "This is my driver Finn’s number. Save it; you can call him if you need anything."

"Okay." Stella initially wanted to refuse, but then the idea of having a contact handy seemed good, so she obediently saved the number.

"What exactly happened just now? How did you end up falling?"

Stella lowered her head, "Nothing much, I accidentally stepped on Crystal’s shoe. I heard that the shoes are custom-made, and I feel pretty bad about it." She was being sincere; although she wasn’t naive enough not to see Crystal deliberately causing trouble, stepping on the shoes was a fact. Though making her pay for it was making a mountain out of a molehill, not paying felt like owing a favor.

How should she compensate?

Stella was a bit troubled.

"Do you need me to help you sort it out?"

"Please don’t, Uncle. Your status is too special; our revolutionary friendship must remain secret."

Aidan was amused by her serious demeanor; he thought to himself, with such naivety, when would this little girl finally wise up?

The next day, the entertainment section devoted a large space to report on Ethan Sterling and Vivian’s romance. Of course, it also clearly depicted Ethan and Vivian’s attitude towards Ruby Sullivan, wanting everyone who wasn’t present to know that Ruby Sullivan’s position was rock solid. Not only was the husband loving, the child cute, but the in-laws were also very fond of her.

Rhonda Sullivan finished reading and smashed the iPad in her hand. Hearing the noise, Henry Linden hurried in, picked up the iPad from the ground, sighed, and advised, "Mr. Sullivan, why don’t you go out to relax a bit? The Perfume Association sent an electronic invitation a few days ago for you to attend The Jasmine Festival. I’ve checked, it’s a perfume sanctuary, very beautiful."

Rhonda Sullivan squinted, "Did Ruby Sullivan receive the invitation?"

"She must have received it too."

Rhonda Sullivan received the invitation as a collaborator of The Lawson Group; if it were just her status as a Miss, she wouldn’t have been eligible. With such a status being invited, Henry Linden guessed Ruby Sullivan definitely got the invitation.

Ruby Sullivan indeed received it; in fact, it was her third invitation to the event, the previous two times when she was at The Lawson Group. Every Jasmine Festival offers the opportunity to meet new perfumers there, observe new spices, and learn about this year’s Jasmine and various seasonal flowers, providing valuable insights into that year’s spice yield.

So, Ruby Sullivan was genuinely delighted to get the invitation.

Ethan Sterling was unable to accompany her due to business in Bellaza, but he promised to go find her as soon as he was finished.

Ruby Sullivan didn’t want him to exhaust himself by taking multiple flights, reassuring him.

"Just attending as a guest to speak a few words, dine with some perfume elites - no big issues."

Ethan Sterling hugged her from behind, "You know what I’m worried about."

Such an occasion likely meant L might also appear.

Their issue had only recently begun to calm a bit; he was worried Ruby Sullivan might encounter gossip reporters there, especially since the video storm arose from foreign media coverage.