Chapter 1: Meets
7 pm, Capling Studio.
Stella Harris had just entered the studio not too long ago when she heard her phone ring.
At first ringing, she didn't pick up because she didn't think it was all too important.
Time was running out, she still had to complete this project at hand. She sat down, facing the microphone as she worked along with the DJ.
"Alright, you're doing a good job,"
The DJ praised her as they kept trying to place sounds in the right places.
Stella Harris' phone rang again, interrupting her conversations.
"I'm sorry!" she said, picking up the phone when she saw it was her manager calling.
"Stella Harris, come over to Da Kings restaurant right away!" Kira Lopez's urgent tone sounded over the phone.
"Da Kings? Is there a problem?" standing up to leave the studio.
"There is fire on the mountain now. So run!"
"I'm so sorry about this but I have to leave now," Stella Harris apologized to her partner as she rushed out of the studio.
In less than ten minutes, Stella Harris was already at the front of Da Kings restaurant.
She picked up her phone to ring her manager but her manager beat her to that.
"Look, I am here," Kira Lopez quietly said, waving at her artist.
Stella Harris then turned and spotted her. Rushing over to her, she demanded an explanation.
"Stella, bring down your voice, now look who's over there."
Turning to look as her manager instructed, Stella Harris received the shock of her life. She blinked her eyes to check if she was seeing things as she watched the couple sitting not too far away. She was sure they hadn't seen her.
Soon, the couple stood up to leave after they were done.
"Let's tag along," Stella Harris said, dragging her manager with her as they followed the couple.
The couple drove from the restaurant in the City to a very simple community. As they came out, acting all lovey-dovey, they entered an apartment and shut the door close.
Stella Harris and her manager went closer to get a glimpse through the window and were shocked to see what was transpiring there.
Like being struck with lightning, Stella Harris stood there, staring at the couple. Hot tears streamed down her face as she listened to them moaning.
Kira Lopez took down her camera as she dragged her artist away from the scene. Heading straight to the car, she placed Stella Harris in the front passenger seat and drove out of the environment.
The audacity, she thought.
This was someone's fiance. He would pretend to have important meetings just to be heartlessly cheating on his fiancee with cheap models in the industry.
She had always known Dada Capling did not love her artist, but why hurt her this bad? Kira Lopez still could not understand what men want as she shook her head sadly.
She could feel Stella Harris' pains.
"I will drive you home," she said, turning to look at Stella Harris.
Stella Harris just looked on, she didn't know how she should react anymore.
The car came to a halt inside Stella Harris' garage.
Kira Lopez then came down as she rushed over to assist Stella Harris to her room, laying her on the bed gently.
"And now this is not the end of the world. You have to be strong else, how would you defeat your enemies? You still have a long way to go Stella." Kira Lopez then advised, leaving her to have her privacy.
Stella Harris' eyes were full of tears as she squeezed her blanket. This must be a dream, she thought. She had to sleep somehow to start fresh tomorrow.
The next day.
Stella Harris' car pulled up at the Atlantis Hotel. Stepping down, she headed to the lobby to have a drink.
There was no way she would appear at that Capling Entertainment Company. She had to clear her head first.
"Hello Miss, what would you like to have?"
"Some non-alcoholic wine," she answered.
Her head couldn't take alcoholic drinks.
Even though she was in pain, she didn't think Dada Capling deserved her tears. She also could not risk her reputation.
"Here it is Miss!"
The waitress served her what she ordered respectfully and left.
Opening her drinks, Stella Harris sipped her wine gracefully as she reminisced everything that occurred last night.
Last night was not the first, she knew it but ignored it because she was so blinded by love. Her manager had warned her countless times to leave the relationship but she had refused because she thought there was nothing he would do to hurt her and that he would change if he was cheating on her. It's been six years already. She thought about his impromptu meetings. Just like yesterday, he had said he had an important business meeting.
Oh yes! That was the meeting. And this was the man she was supposed to get married to? Impossible!
She had thought all the hurt he had caused her was not intentional.
Was she always this blind?
Thank God for her manager, she would have been blinded for life.
"Dada Capling, I will only return to you, what I get. Watch!"
She whispered, sipping her drink as she blinked her long black lashes.
At the other side of the lobby, was Chris Morgan. He had just finished a meeting with a business partner not too long ago when he spotted Stella Harris sitting not too far away. Something was off with the way she blinked her lashes, so he sat there observing. He could recognize her. An RnB and pop musician. Music wasn't something he had paid much attention to. He had only seen her three times on TV and that was because his younger sister was a big fan.
Looking at her, he found her interesting.
"President Morgan, everything is settled, we can leave now." his right-hand man then came in and interrupted his thoughts.
Turning to his Right-hand man, "Look over there, I want to know every single detail about her. You have only two days."