Chapter 185

Chapter 185:
Across town, dinner had just wrapped up between Stella, Sharon, and William.
As Stella stood to pay the bill, William dabbed his mouth with a napkin and looked up, his voice unusually warm. “Next time, it’s on me.”
Sharon tilted her head, brows raised. William Briggs was more polite than she’d expected.
The three of them exited the restaurant together. Dark, dense clouds blanketed the sky, threatening to unleash a downpour at any moment. William’s phone buzzed. He answered, listened for a moment, then said, “I’ve got something urgent at the office. Where are you headed? I can have the driver take you.”
Stella shook her head gently. “No need. We’re just going shopping.” She couldn’t help but feel puzzled—why was William being so… polite? So attentive?
After he left, Sharon linked arms with her, eyeing her closely. “Stel, are you really telling me nothing’s going on with you two? That’s just your boss?”
Stella bumped her shoulder playfully. “Yes. He’s the boss who wires my paycheck. Let’s go.” They wandered the mall, picking up odds and ends, sharing quiet laughs as they strolled.
When they reached the street, arms full of bags, someone stepped out of a nearby car.
Travis. His eyes lit up the second he spotted Stella. “Stel… Ms. Gilbert!”
What a coincidence.”
She nodded calmly, keeping her expression neutral.
Seeing her hands full, Travis stepped toward her. “Let me help you with those.”
Stella subtly shifted the bags behind her. “No need. They’re light.”
She wasn’t used to Travis’s enthusiasm and wasn’t sure what to make of it.
She didn’t want to give him the wrong idea. They’d barely spoken before—this kind of eagerness felt misplaced.
“I’ve got something to take care of,” she added, polite but firm. “I’ll be off, Mr. Acosta.”
𝐿𝒶t𝑒st chαptєrs in
She looped her arm through Sharon’s and walked across the street, sliding into the car quickly.
Sharon hopped into the driver’s seat. In the rearview mirror, she spotted Travis still watching them from across the road, his gaze lingering. She smirked. “Stel, that guy is totally into you.”
Stella nearly choked. “What? No way! We’ve barely met five times!” Sharon didn’t believe Stella. After all, that man who’d stepped out of the Mercedes had been looking at Stella with such deep affection in his eyes, like a lovesick puppy. But Stella claimed they’d only met no more than five times? Impossible!
Sharon wondered if Stella’s emotional radar had been off since her divorce, unable to see the obvious.
“Stel, I think you need glasses,” Sharon said with mock seriousness.
“No, babe—you need a date,” Stella shot back, half laughing.
She had work, goals, a life to build. Romance? Not on the list.
When they pulled up to the research institute, Sharon glanced around. “You’re really living here?”
.
.
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