Stella Grace smiled and she said, “What if the woman you loved comes back one day?”
Frederick Addington suddenly paused and he looked at Stella suspiciously. He loosened his hand and his eyes dimmed. “I don’t think she will ever come back again. I think Jasper thinks the same too. That’s why he allowed you to be his assistant.”
Stella caught the strange look in his eyes. “Frederick, do you want to make a deal?”
“What deal?” Frederick’s eyes lit up with hope.
“What do you mean when you said that I will soon regret my decision?” Stella asked.
Frederick glanced at her and said, “Jasper is doomed. If you continue to stay by his side, you will soon regret it.”
“Jasper is doomed? What do you mean?”
“Natalie, are you really worried about Jasper? Are you interested in him?” Frederick suddenly narrowed his eyes and said with suspicion.
“If you’re talking about Hale, then I suppose that you’re thinking too much. Jasper is not going to save her.” Stella made it clear.
Frederick was slightly surprised. “How did you know about Hale?”
“I know more than you think I do. For example, that mission was fake,” Stella said as she looked at Frederick.
Frederick was even more shocked. “How did you know that? Who are you?”
“I think, I should be the one asking that question. Who are you? Who do you work for?” Stella asked doubtfully.
Frederick put his arms around Stella’s waist and said, “If you want to know who I work for, come to me and I’ll tell you.”
“Let go.” Stella ordered.
“So, who ordered you to stay with Jasper? Is it Sean?” Frederick asked in return.
Stella stared at Frederick.
He was smart. Even though he was caught off-guard for a moment, he quickly regained his composure. He was someone who could be easily deceived by her. If she continued talking to him, she could risk being exposed if she panicked.
“The more you know, the sooner you will die.” Stella stomped hard on Frederick’s foot.
Frederick felt the pain and let go of his hand.
Stella walked toward the room without looking back at him.
“I’m just giving you a kind advise – you shouldn’t follow Bettany’s footsteps. You saw what happened to her,” Frederick said from behind her.
Stella stopped. She regretted that she wasn’t recording the conversation. Otherwise, this sentence might have been very useful.
She turned to Frederick and said, “You’d better worry about yourself.”
Frederick smiled evilly. “It seems that you don’t know much. Your rank must be quite low.”
Stella turned her head and walked toward the room.
Along the way, she recalled her conversation with Frederick over and over again. Although he was cautious, she still got a sense of something.
She pushed the door open.
Jasper Milton was frowning. However, he relaxed a bit after seeing her. He then said in a low voice, “What took you so long?”
“I couldn’t find the lighter in your car, so I spent some time looking,” Stella said as she sat down in her seat.
“Don’t be angry, Director Milton. I have a lighter too.” Mr. Welch took the opportunity to take out his lighter and lit it.
Jasper lit the fire, took a cigarette, and looked at Stella.
Stella looked into his eyes.
He motioned for the dishes to be served.
She ate quietly.
“This must be Miss Wheeler? May I propose a toast to you?” A man said to Stella all of a sudden.
Stella raised her glass.
“She’s driving me back. She can’t drink,” Jasper said in a low voice.
“Oh, oh, yes, yes, we must follow the law. We don’t drink and drive.” Mr. Welch said quickly. He looked at Jasper and said with a smile, “Director Milton, when do you have time? If you want to view the area, I will make the necessary arrangements.”
“I’ll let you know.” Jasper said and looked at Stella.
Stella met his gaze. She put her glass down on the table and continued eating.
Jasper smirked slightly, feeling warm in his heart.
Half an hour later, she could no longer eat.
Jasper said to Mr. Welch, “I have to go home to my children. Please excuse me. Elvis will handle the arrangements. Have a good time.”
“Thank you, Director Milton.” Mr. Welch smiled ingratiatingly.
“No problem.” He then got up.
Stella also stood up.
When he went out, Stella picked up her bag and followed him out.
“Be smart in the future. You followed me here to eat, not to drink. Just say that you’ll be driving whenever you’re offered a drink. Do you understand?” Jasper ordered.
“Okay, it slipped my mind for a moment,” Stella explained.
Jasper pressed the button of the elevator. “Why did you take so long to come back just now? A minute longer I would have come out to look for you.”
“I met Frederick in the washroom.” Stella did not hide anything.
Jasper’s eyes became colder. “Stay away from him when you see him next time.”
“I talked to him for a while.”
Jasper turned around and looked at Stella, full of caution. “What’s there to talk about? Haven’t you suffered enough because of him?”
Stella saw that the elevator had arrived. “I’ll tell you when we’re in the car.”
Jasper didn’t say anything and he maintained his cold facade. They entered the elevator and then got into the car. He looked at Stella and said, “You can tell me now.”
Stella fastened her seatbelt and looked at Jasper. She said seriously, “I was trying to see if I could get anything out of him. First, when I told him about the fake mission, he asked me how I knew about it and who I was. This shows that Frederick knew about the fake mission. I remember that he was one of the President’s men. That could only mean that the President knew that the mission was fake from the very beginning.
Second, he thought that I was ordered by Sean to stay with you. He said that he didn’t want me to follow in Bettany’s footsteps. It meant that Bettany was ordered by someone to stay with you.”
“Frederick is very cunning. Perhaps, he is trying to confuse you.” Jasper said cautiously.
“I don’t think that’s the case. Furthermore, if the President knew that the mission was fake, could it be the former President ordered Hale to be captured?” Stella guessed.
“That’s impossible. If Sean’s father was the one who arranged the operation, he would have killed Hale after he knew about her whereabouts. He wouldn’t have let my people catch her. Therefore, the person who had tipped Anthony off was definitely not the one who had planned the fake mission. Besides, I don’t know which sect did Frederick belong to.” Jasper said in a deep voice.
“If Bettany was assigned to you by someone, she should know that it was a fake mission. If we find out who was the one who had given her the instructions, we could find out who was the one who planned the fake mission and what was the purpose of it. If the mission was fake but the deaths were real, then the question is were the deaths planned? Was the whole thing aimed at you or someone else?” A lot of questions appeared in Stella’s mind.
However, at the same time, she also felt that they were getting closer to the answer…