CHAPTER 126: CHAPTER 126: TRULY MOVED

When Stella Grant finished speaking, there was a moment of silence on the phone.

Silas Sutton neither agreed nor disagreed, and he didn’t hang up.

On her end, Stella Grant took a shallow breath, gathering her emotions and calming her anxious heart before speaking, "Silas Sutton, I’ve been dealing with a lot lately, and it’s all very challenging, taking me by surprise."

Silas Sutton had just finished a video meeting and was feeling a bit tired. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a sip of the coffee on his desk, "Mm."

Hearing his response, Stella Grant continued, "You know my situation as well. My family owes a lot of money, and my mom needs a lot of money for her dialysis treatment."

Silas Sutton replied with a deep voice, "So what?"

Stella Grant said, "So, right now all I want to do is focus on making money."

Silas Sutton realized what she was getting at and said in a serious tone, "Get to the point."

Stella Grant said plainly, "These things I’ve been dealing with have seriously affected my ability to focus at work, so I want to use these couple of days to resolve them, and you’re the first."

Speaking earnestly and seriously, Stella Grant heard Silas Sutton put down his coffee cup on the other end of the phone and lightly laughed, scratching his eyebrow with his fingertip, "Go on."

Stella Grant said, "You’ve helped me a lot recently, but you’ve also been clinging to me. I don’t know your true feelings, whether you have genuine feelings for me or if you’re driven by physical desire."

Silas Sutton chuckled and asked, "Tell me the difference."

Dragging her suitcase through the neighborhood courtyard, Stella Grant replied, "Well, if it’s genuine, I’ll give you an answer. If it’s physical desire, I hope President Sutton will kindly let me go, because I truly don’t have the time or energy to keep entangling with you."

Stella Grant said what she needed to say, and then took her suitcase upstairs.

Silas Sutton paused for seven or eight seconds on the phone, his voice low and deep, "Stella Grant, do you think I have genuine feelings for you or is it just physical desire?"

As Silas Sutton asked this, Stella Grant was just reaching her door, pulling out her keys, and replied honestly, "I don’t know."

After speaking, Stella Grant carried her suitcase inside, reaching for the light switch on the wall with her thin fingers, just touching the edge of the switch when she heard Silas Sutton’s low, serious voice from the phone, "Stella Grant, I have genuine feelings."

Stella Grant caught her breath, her fingers freezing on the edge of the switch.

Without hearing a response, Silas Sutton laughed softly, "I have genuine feelings, give me your answer."

Stella Grant found her voice was hoarse.

Silas Sutton chuckled lightly, "Didn’t you say you’d give me an answer? Why not say anything now?"

Stella Grant pursed her lips slightly, her fingers moving on the edge of the switch, and with a ’click,’ she turned on the light.

The moment the warm light came on, Stella Grant felt a sense of rebirth, took a deep breath, and said, "President Sutton, I don’t like you."

After Stella Grant spoke, there was no response from Silas Sutton’s end for a long time.

After well over a minute, Silas Sutton’s voice came through, magnetic and smiling, "Stella Grant, are you playing with me?"

Stella Grant, "I am not."

Following this, the two fell into another brief silence over the phone.

Stella Grant thought that after Silas Sutton’s words, he would become aggressive or relentlessly persistent, but to her surprise, after the quiet, Silas Sutton just said, "If you’re certain you don’t want any entanglement with me, then next time, remember to reject me."

Stella Grant breathed lightly, "Okay."

Silas Sutton continued, "As for the help I’ve given you, you don’t have to keep it in mind. What is as difficult as climbing to the heavens for you is just a small effort for me. Not just you, I’m good to everyone around me."

Hearing Silas Sutton’s words, Stella Grant suddenly remembered what Sue Woods had said before, that he was always generous to women.

Giving houses and cars, arranging jobs, handling residence permits—all were commonplace.

Stella Grant, "Alright, got it."

Having talked this much about personal matters, there wasn’t much left to say between them.

Stella Grant considered saying ’Good night’ and hanging up, when suddenly she heard Silas Sutton asking, "Stella Grant, can I know, how do I compare to Flynn Shepherd and Ray Woods?"