CHAPTER 529: CHAPTER 529: PLAYING THE VILLAIN

Ellie felt it was best to stop discussing this topic. The company’s regulations didn’t include intervening in the personal lives of artists. If it weren’t for Holly’s young age, she wouldn’t even bother to verify these rumors she heard from Gavin.

Once she got home, Ellie asked her about Gavin’s situation.

"From the way he sounds, if you don’t help, he has no option but to leave Morningstar. I suggest you give him a way out, which would also be a way out for yourself. Perhaps Aidan Sinclair is just putting on a show for you to report to Mr. Sullivan."

Ellie didn’t have all the information, and Stella didn’t think there was any problem with her making this judgment. But she knew Aidan wasn’t the type to engage in such theatrics or to fire a capable subordinate just to favor someone. Stellaron Group could only grow to its current size because the boss wouldn’t be so capricious.

"I won’t help," Stella replied, "Gavin overestimates me. I’m not that influential with Mr. Sinclair. If he contacts you again, just tell him this."

"Alright then." Although Ellie didn’t agree, she respected Stella’s decision. After the hospital incident, she began to seriously consider Stella’s words and started respecting her judgment.

Stella had a full day of work today, from leaving the house at 5 a.m. and only getting home after 11 p.m. Her face muscles were stiff from all the photo shoots. She moved her lips in front of the mirror for a while before feeling a bit better.

By the time she got ready for bed, it was past 1 a.m. Only then did she notice a message from Aidan sent in the afternoon: Did Gavin contact you?

Stella thought that sending a reply now shouldn’t disturb his sleep, so she texted back: He did.

The moment her message was sent, Aidan called. His voice sounded in a good mood, "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Stella yawned, "These are decisions made by the company’s higher-ups. What does my opinion have to do with it? I’ve already asked Ellie to tell him that my words don’t carry that much weight."

Aidan originally thought she would definitely plead for Gavin. After hearing what she said, he realized that his little girl had upgraded to version 2.0 and wouldn’t bother with such trivial matters unrelated to her. But about not having weight in her words, he thought it was necessary to correct that.

"Your words carry a lot of weight. If you want to plead for him, I’ll consider it."

Stella was taken aback by his words, "Do you mean you actually fired him as a show and are waiting for me to plead?"

"...Of course not." How could she think of such a boring assumption? Did Aidan Sinclair need to act out such a nonsense drama? For whom would he perform that?

"Oh, good, you scared me. I almost thought Ellie was right about your being that tedious."

"I just wanted to tell you that your words carry a lot of weight."

"Do they?" Stella frowned and thought for a moment, "Then I definitely can’t plead for him, as a speaker with weighty words,

I don’t want to interfere in matters I don’t understand without knowing all the facts."

She waited for a long while without hearing Aidan’s response and wondered if the signal was cut off, "Hello?"

"Hmm, I was just surprised. It feels like I’m only starting to know the real you now."

Stella suddenly felt nervous upon hearing this, "Could it feel like being deceived?"

"It’s like receiving a pleasant surprise. I thought I’d have to teach you for a long time before you acquired this judgment, but it turns out you didn’t need me to teach you at all. Okay, go to sleep early. I called you today thinking you’d surely plead for him, so I was ready to persuade you to agree with my decision. If you knew what he did, you’d definitely not help."

Over the years, Gavin had committed many unscrupulous acts abusing his power, and Aidan Sinclair had already given him many chances. This time it was Stella who gave the cause, but the most important thing was a real-name complaint email six months ago.

The other party was a young girl who had just graduated from a local art school. After being taken advantage of by Gavin, she suffered from severe depression due to the overwhelming mental pressure and attempted suicide multiple times before deciding to report him in her real name.

Aidan also took half a year to gather a lot of related evidence, which was enough for him to apply for a forced share repurchase.

The next day, Stella was groggily woken up by the doorbell. Her still sleepy head forgot the previous caution, and she drowsily came out of her room to open the door.

"Holly!" Gavin called out enthusiastically, making as if to enter.

Thankfully, there was still a safety chain on the door,

so he couldn’t just barge into Stella’s house.

Stella frowned, "What are you doing here?"

"I..." Gavin chuckled, thinking, aren’t you asking the obvious?

"If this is about you being fired, then I’m sorry, I can’t help." Stella half-closed her eyes and shut the door after yawning. She had only taken a couple of steps before the doorbell rang again. She turned and hesitated, then removed the battery from the doorbell.

Unexpectedly, just after lying down for a couple of minutes, she heard a loud pounding on the door.

Stella let out a howl as she sat up, ruffling her nest-like hair. She called Aidan while rushing downstairs to the door.

"President Garrison, does pounding on the door not hurt your hand?" She looked at Gavin outside the door with a sarcastic expression.

"I know because of Crystal’s matter, I put you through a lot, and it was my oversight for not seeing it. I sincerely apologize." He finished speaking, took two steps back, and made a respectful ninety-degree bow.

Stella pursed her lips, unmoved, "Moral coercion doesn’t work on me. I’m not the one who fired you, nor do I have the ability to keep you. Go talk to Mr. Sinclair." She glanced at Aidan coming over, "You should go talk to Mr. Sinclair."

Gavin froze, turned his head, and saw Aidan Sinclair running over in pajamas, his disheveled hair bouncing with each step, clearly having rushed out of a deep sleep.

Gavin thought, if he was this anxious, as long as Stella was willing to say even half a word for him, he’d be able to go back to Morningstar.

Over the years, Aidan’s conduct with women was something he was familiar with. If not for Stella’s young age and Crystal’s smoke screen, he wouldn’t have misjudged.

"Mr. Sinclair, good morning."

"Do you know I can call the police and accuse you of harassment right now?" Aidan roared angrily, his heavy breath nearly spitting in the guy’s face.

"I just wanted to come early and apologize to Holly. It was all my fault before, but Mr. Sinclair, you can’t fire me over such a minor mistake." Gavin appeared to be sporting a buddy-buddy smile.

Upon hearing this, Stella raised an eyebrow, "Alright, I forgive you. Okay, that’s got nothing to do with me now. I’m going back to sleep." She said and shut the door, leaving.

Aidan took Gavin to his place, though reluctantly, because he couldn’t have two grown men arguing at a young girl’s door. Most importantly, his attire was bound to give people the wrong idea.