Chapter 169: Jealous woman

Stella seriously wanted to blurt it out.

’You’re cheating on me?’

The words sharply pressed against her teeth, very ready to splatter out. Then she remembered who she was. Her status... And this was an open place. There was the possibility of eyes she could not see. She swallowed the accusation and replaced it with something colder.

"There you are! Why are you not picking my calls? Because you’re busy with her?" she said flatly even though the words were cold.

Josie looked at Tom with quiet curiosity, as if she were only now placing the elegant woman in front of them into the proper part of his life. Tom opened his mouth, then closed it again. Before he could find an answer that would not make the moment worse, Josie gave him a small smile.

"I’ll keep in touch," she said to him.

Then, to both Tom’s and Stella’s surprise, Josie turned slightly and greeted Stella in a pleasant voice.

"Miss Marchetti, how do you do? I’ve watched your movies."

Stella did not reply. She blinked but still maintained her composure.

Josie did not react to the silence either. She simply nodded politely at Tom and walked to her car, and she drove away as if the tension behind her had nothing to do with her. That clean exit left a sharper sting than any insult would have.

Stella waited until the car disappeared completely before she walked up to Tom. He was still standing where Josie had left him, one hand loosely in his pocket, with a small frown on his face. Stella stopped in front of him and glared so hard.

Before she could speak, Tom shook his head.

"This doesn’t suit you."

Stella’s jaw clenched. Something flickered across her face, close to embarrassment, but she refused to show it. She lifted her chin instead.

"Really? That’s all you could say to me after what you did?" she shot back.

"At least not out here. A reporter could be anywhere. You standing in the open like this, looking at me like you want to start a scene, is careless. You’re Stella Marchetti." Tom pointed out half calmly, half hardly, as if the woman had suddenly forgotten who she was.

Stella glared harder, more because he was right than because she wanted to admit it. Without another word, she turned and walked back to her car with the same elegance she always carried; she set her back more straighter as if to prove a point and her steps were calm as if the street itself should be grateful she was still composed.

Tom followed her to her car and got into the passenger seat in the front.

For a second, neither of them spoke. Stella’s hands rested on the wheel, though the tension in her shoulders gave her away.

"Call your John Warren. Tell him to drive my car back home." Tom said firmly not carrying how that sounded.

Stella did not move at first.

"I know he was the one who fed you my whereabouts, you should be able to get through to him faster than I can." Tom added.

Stella only lifted her chin and started the engine. She began to drive out of the environment.

Tom glanced at her and spoke again. "And John should consider himself fired."

"No." Stella’s response came out fast then.

Tom turned his head fully toward her. "No?"

"No," Stella repeated, while keeping her eyes on the road.

"Well, I said yes. I wouldn’t have him around me when all he’s there for is to feed your information about my movements." Tom said sharply.

"I didn’t employ him to report your movements to me. I employed him for your security." Stella argued, glancing back at him.

Tom scoffed softly. "Indeed."

A stretch of silence filled the car afterwards. Stella didn’t know what to reply with so she just drove on with an exaggerated perfect focus, her grip on the wheel remaining too tight.

"I didn’t take you for this kind of an illogical jealous woman," Tom said eventually.

Stella exhaled sharply then responded; "I am logical."

"Logical? Oh, please." Tom repeated and huffed in disagreement.

"Yes." Her voice sharpened as she spoke on; "How did you expect me to react when I found you walking out of a private suite with another woman? Tell me. Was I supposed to smile and ask if you enjoyed yourself? I was protecting what is mine."

Tom let out a short breath then asked with incredulity; "What is yours?"

"Yes, what is mine." she repeated firmly.

"When you still have Adrian?" Tom demanded and that landed. Stella’s throat shook before she answered.

"That," she began through gritted teeth, "was what I came to tell you before I caught you cheating."

Tom shook his head slowly then started speaking with the patience of a man explaining something simple to someone too stubborn to hear it;

"I wasn’t cheating. I’m a single man. I can be with anyone. And in case you need the reminder, you’re still engaged to Adrian."

Stella’s answer came quieter than before, but it did not lose strength.

"I’m cutting it off." she announced and Tom went still.

For a moment, the only sound in the car was the low sound of the engine. He looked at her intensely then, searching her face for any sign that she was bluffing.

"Why?" he blurted out. Because he genuinely didn’t know why.

Stella huffed, then looked at him and said; "Why? For you, of course. To be with you."

The simplicity of it left him without an immediate answer. She said it like the decision had already finished forming long before she found him outside that suite.

The System chose that exact moment to interrupt.

DING!!!

```

[NETORI COMPLETION CONFIRMED]

Target: Stella Marchetti

Host has successfully completed the Netori route.

Target has chosen Host over her fiancé.

Next Objective:

Make Target understand she will be sharing Host.

Exclusivity is not available.

Afterwards, another panel unfolded;

[RELATIONSHIP MAINTENANCE UPDATE]

Affection: 100%

Loyalty: 100%

Stability: 65%

```

Tom read through quickly. He saw that Affection and loyalty were already sealed and he was pleased. Stability was the only thing lagging, and looking at the jealous woman beside him, he understood why. She had just chosen him. In her mind, that choice made him hers alone.

He watched her in silence for another second, wondering just how he would let her know she would be sharing him without causing chaos. Then he finally spoke;

"Don’t cut off the engagement."

Stella blinked. Her head turned sharply toward him, surprise cutting through her composure.

"What?"