Chapter 41 Jealousy
The news spilled the beans on how Bella and Sterling met and how Bella had been crashing at Sterling's place for over a decade. Then, it dropped the bomb that they'd been hitched for three years.
"The whole article's just laying out the facts, no drama or anything to grab eyeballs. If Sterling wasn't such a big shot, this would be a total snooze fest. Honestly, I can't think of anyone else who could pull this off," Micah said, leaning back in his chair, giving Bella a curious look.
Bella went quiet, staring at the news. She couldn't wrap her head around why Sterling suddenly decided to go public with this.
Sterling was a businessman who always weighed the pros and cons, but this news didn't seem to do him any favors. Both Bella and Micah were stumped.
After a bit, Bella finally said, "If he wants to go public, let him. It's got nothing to do with me. Our marriage is a fact, and people would find out eventually."
Micah shrugged. "Alright, whatever. I don't want to get mixed up in your stuff. Just get that design draft Sterling wants done."
Bella nodded and left Micah's office. Her coworkers were still giving her looks—curiosity, jealousy, surprise, the whole shebang.
Bella ignored them and went back to her desk.
Suddenly, Bella's ears perked up as she overheard some colleagues chatting.
"The news had dropped, and she's still so chill."
"Don't let her calm act fool you; she's probably feeling pretty smug."
"If I got to live with Sterling for ten years, I could marry him too."
"I don't get it. She's loaded; why's she still working? Wait, isn't our current client also Sterling?"
"The design draft we busted our butts on last time got rejected by Sterling. Maybe they had a fight, and we got caught in the crossfire."
"Damn, we're really unlucky."
Bella heard it all but kept her cool, focusing on her design draft.
Then, Bella's phone rang. Seeing it was Mira, Bella frowned.
She hesitated for a moment before picking up.
On the other end, Mira was all concerned and regretful.
Bella immediately figured Mira must've seen the news Sterling put out.
Bella sneered. "You're not calling for help Debra's dad, are you?"
Mira went quiet for a sec before quickly denying it.
"Bella, I'm calling because I'm worried about you. Please believe me; I have no other motives," Mira said, sounding super humble.
Bella felt a wave of anger. She took a deep breath to calm down and coldly said, "I gotta work now. I'm busy."
Bella hung up, but the negative vibes left her in no mood to keep working.
Staring at the half-finished wedding dress design on her computer, Bella suddenly thought that even though she and Sterling were married, it was just on paper. They'd never had a wedding. Would Sterling want to see her in a wedding dress?
Micah popped up behind Bella out of nowhere, making her jump.
"Keep drawing. What are you zoning out for?" Micah asked, puzzled, as he peered at her screen.
Bella let out a soft sigh, "I don't know how to keep going."
Micah's eyebrow twitched. "Why don't you just ask Sterling straight up? Draw what he likes."
Bella blinked, a bit taken aback. It was such a simple solution. But would Sterling even tell her?
That night, during dinner at home, Bella kept sneaking glances at Sterling.
She was still on the fence, worried that Sterling's answer might make her awkward.
Sterling suddenly put down his fork and stared at her. "Is there a design draft on my face? Why do you keep sneaking peeks at me?"
Bella quickly looked down, feeling like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
"I just wanted to ask what your requirements are for the wedding dress," she blurted out.
Sterling gave her a look and slightly frowned. "Is that all?"
Bella nodded earnestly.
Sterling went quiet. Bella thought he was mad, and panic started to creep in.
"I prefer the wedding dress to be simple and bright, without too many frills," Sterling finally said.
Bella quickly whipped out her phone and jotted down his preferences. With these guidelines, she felt confident she could nail the design.
As expected, after a few days of grinding, they finally wrapped up all the design drafts before the deadline.
"Finally done. Knowing Sterling, these drafts should hit the mark," Micah said, looking pretty pleased with the stack of designs in his hand.
Micah glanced at Bella's tired eyes, knowing she hadn't been sleeping well. He thought for a moment and said, "Everyone's been busting their butts lately. Let your team take a day off tomorrow. I'll have someone else deliver these drafts to Sterling."
Bella shook her head. "It's fine. I can deliver them."
Micah rolled his eyes. "You don't really think I'm not letting you deliver the drafts because I care about you, do you?"
Bella looked at him, confused.
"I need to avoid any drama. If you tick Sterling off again and he takes it out on me, how am I supposed to keep this company running?" Micah rolled his eyes and walked out from behind his desk with the drafts.
"Go home and rest. I'm begging you. I'll deliver these myself. He'll definitely cut me some slack," Micah said, patting Bella's shoulder before heading out.
Bella thought Micah had a point. Sterling had a knack for blowing up over nothing, and sometimes she had no clue what set him off.
"Fine, I'll go home and crash early." Bella shrugged and went back to her desk to wrap things up.
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