Chapter 7 What If We Exchange Deals

• "Mr. Marvin should be able to help us, right?" asked Mia.
• "I don't know," replied Stella while putting on her socks. She was getting ready to see Mr. Marvin and discuss their deal. "He's willing to make a deal with me because there are benefits for him. If he helps you, what will he gain? I don't think so."
• "Huft..." Mia exhaled very harshly.
• "But there's no harm in trying. Come with me to meet Mr. Marvin and let's talk to him. Who knows, he might be willing to help."
• "I'm not sure since there's no benefit for him, but never mind. There's no harm in trying first. At least we'll have tried."
• Stella nodded, then got up, as did Mia. They left their rented house and walked to Esther Company.
• 30 minutes later.
• Stella and Mia got out of the taxi that they had booked online earlier. They stood in front of the company.
• "Wow... the company is bigger than Dixon, Sis."
• "It doesn't matter if it's big or small. Let's go!" Stella urgued.
• They took another step and entered, then walked towards the receptionist.
• "I have an appointment with Mr. Marvin. Is he in his office?" asked Stella.
• "Are you Miss Stella?" the receptionist asked.
• Stella nodded.
• "Mr. Marvin is already in and waiting for you. Let me take you to his office," the receptionist offered.
• "No need, I can find it myself," Stella said.
• "Okay then, Miss."
• Stella and Mia headed towards the elevator. Shortly after, the elevator they were in opened and they stepped out. Stella walked to Mr. Marvin's office. Although she had only been there once, she still remembered where it was.
• Knock, knock!
• "Come in," a man said from inside.
• Stella held the door handle, pushed the door slowly, and poked her head in.
• "Come in." Marvin said.
• Stella smiled, together with Mia, entered and walked towards Mr. Marvin's desk.
• Marvin frowned when he saw that Stella didn't come alone, but with a another woman.
• Mia couldn't stop staring at Marvin, stunned by the 28-year-old man's good looks.
• "How come yesterday Stella hesitated to marry him? If I were her, I would have accepted his offer immediately. He has the perfect face!" Mia thought.
• "This is my sister," Stella said after sitting on the chair opposite Marvin.
• "Okay..." Marvin nodded. "Yesterday you agreed to our deal, so now let's discuss what–"
• "Wait a minute," Stella interrupted.
• "Now what? Do you want to add more conditions?" Marvin asked.
• "No, sir, that's not it," Stella said.
• "Then what?"
• "Before we discuss our deal, I'd like to ask you a favor, and I hope you can help me, sir."
• Marvin frowned upon hearing Stella's request.
• Stella looked at Marvin very seriously.
• Mia, on the other hand, lowered her head while biting her lower lip. She nervously fiddled with the fabric of her skirt, hoping the man in front of her could help.
• "What favor?" asked Marvin.
• "My sister... yesterday... she also made a deal with Damian," Stella said.
• Marvin furrowed his brow. "Made a deal with Damian?"
• Stella nodded. "You remember when you thought I was talking about you, and then I got out of your car afterward? It wasn't me calling you out, it was Damian. That was when I went to see him. When I talked to him, he offered me a deal. I had to marry him, and he would give me a few percent of the company, but I turned him down on the spot. That didn't make Damian give up, so he went to my sister and made a deal with her."
• Stella turned to look at Mia, who was sitting beside her. They exchanged glances. "And this idiot sister agreed to the deal without even talking to me! She even went as far as signing the contract."
• "I immediately agreed to the deal because I thought that we would get a lot of benefits," Mia said, looking at Marvin. "I also thought that I could become an enemy in disguise."
• "But Damian's not that stupid!" interrupted Stella quickly. "Another reason is because you don't want to keep living this hard life. So you do anything without thinking, as long as your life is good."
• "Why do you keep blaming me, huh? All of this happened because of you too. If only you hadn't hooked up with that jerk, Mommy and Daddy would still be alive, and we wouldn't be living this miserable life." Mia said emotionally.
• "Now you're blaming me?"
• "That's the fact! This all happened because of you!" Mia replied.
• "That's it, why are you fighting? I don't have much time to listen to your arguments!" Marvin piped up.
• Stella and Mia sat back with their hands clasped under their folded arms.
• Mia looked at Marvin, an idea suddenly crossed her mind as she looked at him, then she turned to look at her sister. "Stella?"
• "What?" replied Stella curtly.
• "Don't you think you're smart and I'm dumb? How about we switch positions? Think of it as you making amends for everything you did to bring Damian into our lives."
• "Switch positions? What does that mean?" Stella looked at Mia very seriously.
• "You're always feeling smart, so how about we swap deals. You take the deal to marry Damian and I'll marry Mr. Marvin."
• "What?" Marvin and Stella immediately looked at Mia with shocked eyes.
• "Yes, swap positions," Mia said again. "Didn't you used to love that Damian a lot? You wanted to marry him too, right? So you guys just get married... not to mention that you always think you're so smart, don't you? I think you'll handle Damian better than I can."
• "No! I don't want to marry him." Stella replied. "I loved him before, but not now! You made the mistake, so why should I have to pay for it?"
• "Because you made the mistake of bringing that Damian bastard into our family. Who's paying the price now, huh? Me, Mommy, and Daddy."
• Stella shot Mia an annoyed look. "You...!"
• "That's it! That's enough!" interrupted Marvin again. "I told you not to fight!"
• Marvin looked at Mia. "About your idea of switching positions. I..."
• Continued...