CHAPTER 521: CHAPTER 521: SELF-DESTRUCTING ON THE SPOT

After things were finalized, Stella Jennings specifically sent messages to both Aidan Sinclair and Ruby Sullivan. To her surprise, both of their replies were astonishingly identical, asking if she needed company.

Of course, Stella refused. It was just a dinner; she absolutely couldn’t bother her friends anymore.

On the day of the dinner, Stella had a live program on a broadcast platform. Ellie came to pick her up and only had one piece of advice on the way—no need to be too polite.

Ellie actually quite liked Stella, but the young girl’s presence was too weak. If she continued like this, it would be hard for her to stand her ground in this industry.

In response to her agent’s advice, Stella simply gave an "mm" and said no more, leaning back in her seat to catch up on sleep.

Recently, she had less work, so she spent all her time preparing for the script. The drama was adapted from a novel, and she even bought the entire original set to read, a total of six books, over two million words, which strained her eyes.

All those years of studying, she felt she hadn’t read this many words.

Stella was training herself to love reading, whatever the books were, first cultivating the energy to not feel sleepy upon seeing words. Otherwise, when the drama was finished and she prepared for the art entrance exams and the college entrance exam, she might as well just die.

In the private room of the restaurant, Gavin Garrison and Crystal Pierce were already waiting, smiling and chatting casually, looking completely at ease.

When Ellie and Stella entered, both of them looked towards the door, their smiles growing warmer, as if today was just a casual gathering of acquainted friends, without any unpleasant preconditions.

"Come, Holly, sit next to me." Crystal said with a warm smile.

Stella got nervous and her legs cramped up when getting out of the car, but seeing Gavin and Crystal’s expressions, she felt a bit dazed. It turned out that the apologizers didn’t take today’s matter seriously. Instead, as the victim, she inexplicably felt embarrassed first.

She smiled at Crystal but didn’t sit next to her, choosing instead to sit across from her, beside Ellie.

Ellie, accustomed to the false pretenses of various actresses, wasn’t too surprised. Her face, habitually stern, didn’t change much due to the other’s enthusiasm.

They hadn’t been seated long when the dishes started arriving, likely ordered in advance.

"The waiter said today’s sea urchin sashimi is particularly fresh. Here, let me serve you one," Crystal said, offering food to Stella.

"Yes, this restaurant’s sashimi is quite famous," Gavin chimed in.

"No, thank you. I’m not very fond of raw food," Stella replied with a gentle smile, her expression very soft, yet her tone was clear and indifferent.

She didn’t know why she was feeling a sudden surge of anger, but seeing Crystal’s nonchalant expression made her uncomfortable.

Crystal’s chopsticks hovered in mid-air; as she was dazed, the sashimi fell into the cold dish platter.

She sat down somewhat awkwardly, as if small flames ignited in her eyes, cracking the mask of her smile, almost too difficult to maintain.

Gavin cleared his throat and said solemnly, "Stella, I understand the matter between you and Stella. Perhaps there’s some misunderstanding..."

"President Garrison, I haven’t withdrawn the lawsuit yet," Ellie interrupted him impatiently.

That’s her way; either she’s not stubborn, or she fully engages. Misunderstanding, my foot! She didn’t bring Stella here today to listen to anything about misunderstandings.

Gavin’s smile remained unchanged, "Ellie is indeed Ellie, the fiery temper of a hot pepper hasn’t changed a bit. I know you haven’t withdrawn the lawsuit, but do you really want to stir things up and make a fool of everyone?" Though he kept smiling, his smile clearly took on a sinister quality as he spoke, his gaze and tone warning.

It was also a way of showing Ellie his position; he came to mediate with a bias, and while both hand and back of the hand are flesh, where the flesh is thicker is obvious.

His goal was to settle things, not to make internal strife more severe.

Ellie didn’t expect Gavin’s attitude, and she was so angry she laughed, "Hope President Garrison remembers what you said today." With that, she stood up, signaling Stella to leave.

But Stella held her back at that moment, "Forget it."

She held Ellie’s hand but didn’t look at her, barely audibly uttering those two words, then paused, lifting her head as if nothing had happened, calmly asking, "President Garrison, Crystal, I will withdraw the lawsuit, rest assured."

She spoke with a blank expression, like a soldier swearing allegiance to a commander, then stood up expressionlessly and left the private room first.

Ellie followed, rushing out.

Gavin, however, was shaken by that indifferent look she gave earlier, as if he had just done something unforgivable, feeling very uncomfortable, and even a bit breathless. He subconsciously tugged at his tie, feeling a little better.

Crystal glanced at him, pouring sake into both their cups, "President Garrison, I’ll drink this as a toast. No need for extra words." She finished her drink in one go.

Gavin finally came back to his senses and downed his drink too, "Not at all, Stella might have good physical attributes, but she’s too impressionable to be promising. Morningstar still relies on you for support."

Crystal paused to steady the effects of the alcohol and smiled, "Support or not, I’m just an employee at Morningstar; doing my job well is my duty." She paused, hesitatingly saying, "I heard that Stella is good friends with Mrs. Sterling. Aren’t you afraid she’ll go back and cause trouble for Mr. Sinclair?"

Gavin recalled Aidan Sinclair’s words, feeling a slight headache, dodged Crystal’s question without answering, and gossiped instead, "Have you and Mr. Sinclair been having arguments recently?"

Crystal rolled her eyes teasingly and mocked herself, "I’m just a small artist; how could I have the standing to argue with Mr. Sinclair? President Garrison, you jest."

Hearing this, Gavin instead laughed, musing that perhaps the two of them, considering Crystal’s identity, had been maintaining a low profile. Starting this year, Mr. Sinclair stopped hosting parties; previously, women were lining up to get into his bed, now all are refused, maybe indicating good news is on the horizon.

Gavin chuckled, "No need to worry about all that nonsense; focus on preparing for your new movie. You’re just one major award away from being an established lead actress."

"I’ll just focus on my acting; whether I win an award is up to fate." Crystal laughed, paused,

and earnestly said, "However, regarding Stella’s matter, I do owe an apology. Troy was under my management, after all, and it’s only natural for Holly to be upset with me. It’s a pity she left today... In any case, I must apologize to her properly when I get the chance."

"I think she’s just being childish. Once she thinks it through, it’ll be fine. We’re all in the same company; making it bigger does no one any good unless she’s a spy sent by a rival company."

Meanwhile, inside the car, Stella began to tremble uncontrollably, filled with anger. She was furious, beyond furious. Furious at Crystal’s presumption, furious at Gavin’s bias, and even more furious at her own weakness!