CHAPTER 471: CHAPTER 471: DISLIKED

Stella Jennings didn’t quite know what was going on. When she sat down at Aidan Sinclair’s house and took a bite of the noodles Ruby Sullivan had just made, she couldn’t help but burst into tears, "Why couldn’t I debut?"

Aidan Sinclair was confident in the programs his company produced; the data must be genuine. But he couldn’t stop some companies from spending money to improve their artists’ reputations. He had been in this industry for too long and could tell at a glance that Stella’s setback was due to her freelance status.

But he knew telling her this now would only make her more upset, so all he could do was listen to her cry and ramble on.

Once she had mostly vented her emotions, Aidan sincerely asked, "So are you willing to sign with Morningstar now?"

Stella cried until her makeup was smudged. "I haven’t even debuted—how do I have the face to sign with Morningstar?" she said, her pout becoming increasingly miserable, looking as if she would cry again.

Aidan quickly said, "Your Uncle is your face. Every female artist I’ve taken a liking to in this industry has become a top star. I have faith in you."

Stella frowned, pursed her lips, and after a long silence, said tearfully, "Uncle, I don’t want you to have faith in me..." She stifled her sobs and continued, "Though the female artists you’ve liked have all become famous, many are just pretty faces with no work to show, often fleeting. I don’t want to be that kind of female artist; I want... I want to be a highly respected and virtuous veteran artist!"

Aidan clicked his tongue, not expecting his much-vaunted judgment to be disparaged, suddenly feeling too embarrassed to speak and had no choice but to look to Ruby for help.

Ruby, who had been holding back her laughter, cleared her throat and took Stella’s hand, "Whether you sign or not, I think what’s most important now is for you to have a good rest. Let’s remove your makeup and get a good night’s sleep; we can talk about everything else when you’re well-rested."

Stella nodded, believing that whatever Wenny said was right.

Even though Aidan had prepared new sheets and covers and a guest room for them, Stella still didn’t want to stay at a man’s house. Ruby was very particular about sleeping places and refused to stay overnight at his place, so Aidan had no choice but to drive the two young women to Ruby’s place in the middle of the night.

This was Stella’s first time at Ruby’s home. As soon as she entered, the cozy decor warmed her heart. Seeing the little shoes by the door, she whispered in surprise, "Will I get to meet your babies tomorrow?"

"Yes, they’re twins. Seth and Honey will definitely like you," Ruby whispered as she led her to the main bedroom’s bathroom to take a bath, then went to the bathroom outside.

After the two girls took their baths and tidied up, it was already late at night. They lay down in bed and immediately fell asleep, waking only at noon. If Mama Bennett hadn’t called them for lunch, they might have slept a little longer.

Honey and Seth were thrilled to see the beautiful sister in the house. Seth was a bit shy, but Stella quickly started chatting with the two little ones.

Today, the first thing Aidan Sinclair did when he opened his eyes was to check the voting record of the final performance at Morningstar. Although he was confident in his program, it was sometimes necessary to spot-check. This was just being responsible about his work, and definitely not personal favoritism!

As he suspected, the top two slots of the final show were held by individuals from the same company, a result that was ninety-nine percent due to company manipulation.

An idol show like this is fundamentally a platform where fans express love with real money. When fans don’t have enough money, companies are willing to spend money to buy legitimate votes for their artists, which, in theory, isn’t a problem—it’s just that some people are shameless.

But sometimes, you have to put your pride aside, sort of like occasionally having to flatter the boss in the workplace.

This afternoon, Morningstar was going to sign the seven girls who debuted, though they each had their independent companies, the group’s operation would belong to Morningstar.

The only one among the contestant girls Morningstar wanted to sign was Stella, but she outright refused.

Morningstar’s president didn’t know why the big boss was over to check things today, but seeing his stern expression, he didn’t dare ask questions, afraid of stepping on a mine.

After reviewing the data, Aidan left Morningstar with a dark face, ordering, "Blacklist this agency, and don’t work with their artists anymore except for the two in this group."

After giving those instructions, he left Morningstar with a stern face. Once in the car, he immediately video-called Ruby, "Do you have good food tonight? I’m planning to come by for dinner."

"Come over, Stella seems unwilling to go home. I’d like her to stay here a few more days."

"Sure." Aidan hung up, feeling his sister-in-law was indeed very nice.

Wanting to show that having dinner over was a common occurrence and not a special trip,

he brought lots of toys for Honey and Seth. It was apparent Aidan had little experience being a guest in others’ homes, unaware that people who frequently visit friends don’t usually bring so many gifts.

Ruby looked at the pile of gifts in the living room, unsure of what to say. Even if he was trying to win over the little ones to speak well of him, this was surely overdoing it.

Stella, seeing him bring so many gifts, felt uneasy, "Oh, I didn’t bring any gifts for you."

Honey, who really liked this pretty sister, took her hand and said, "Sister Holly coming to play at our house is the best gift."

The ever-shy Seth nodded repeatedly beside her.

However, after saying this, Honey rushed towards the mountain of gifts, clearly having a preference for material presents.

She picked up a Barbie, grinned widely at Aidan, showing her gapped teeth, "Mr. Sinclair, you can come over often." Seth and she had just started losing teeth, so Seth now had a missing tooth too, so he smiled with his lips closed, not wanting Stella to see his current teeth.

Aidan was overjoyed, feeling like he had managed to show Stella his popular side, not realizing that his actions had thrown Stella into a dilemma of why she hadn’t prepared gifts,

and deciding that tomorrow morning she’d have to go out early to buy gifts for the little ones.

Three days later, Ethan Sterling came back to find his place occupied by Stella and was immediately displeased, ready to call Byron Jennings to have his daughter taken away.

Stella hadn’t been online for a long time and didn’t know when Ruby and Ethan had reconciled. Since she hadn’t seen him around, she thought they had broken up. So, when she saw Ethan suddenly appear, she immediately bristled like a hedgehog protecting its territory, with all its spines directed at him.

This obnoxious man wasn’t he supposed to be off dating that older sister of hers? Why was he here bothering Wenny again?