41. A Plan Must Go On

Diego sighed after helping Eston unload the suitcases from the trunk of the car. At the airport car stop, Eston, Matteo, and Stellina gathered around waiting for Fabian, Eston's personal driver, Diego, Eston's confidant, and Matteo's confidant to push the suitcases. "Be careful with that suitcase!" exclaimed Eston, giving orders to his confidant. While they-including Eston-were busy with their own activities, Stellina accidentally turned to Matteo. It turned out that Matteo had been watching her for some time. Stellina was surprised when Matteo winked at her. "What are you doing?" Stellina said to Matteo without making a sound. Fortunately, Stellina and Matteo were standing one step behind Eston. Their interaction went unnoticed. Receiving a glare from Stellina, Matteo smiled contentedly. For some reason Matteo could not stop flirting with Stellina despite the rejection reaction. "Do not miss me," Matteo whispered very softly. His voice was barely audible because it was drowned out by the sound of airport announcements and the noise of other visitors' conversations. "You are crazy," cursed Stellina who could hardly contain herself. "Stop that. It's ridiculous." Matteo no longer had time to tease Stellina because Diego had already arrived in front of Eston. The one suitcase Diego had brought was placed in one spot with Eston's and Matteo's other suitcases. "Everything is ready. Mr. Eston, were there any necessities left in the car?" Fabian asked after he had also helped drag Eston's luggage. Eston shook his head. He picked up one of his suitcases, about to be blocked by his right hand man, but Eston still wanted to carry his one suitcase. "Nothing," Eston said to Fabian, then turned to the man on his right. "I'll take this, the essentials and the lightest suitcase." After Eston's confidant nodded, Eston's attention turned to Diego. "Diego, you're finally in charge of all business affairs in the Vomero region," Eston said to Diego. Diego, with his hands interlocked in front of his body, simply bowed. Actually, in his heart, there was great relief. Certainly Eston and Matteo's departure had eased his burden, even if only briefly. "I didn't give you the job because I believed you could handle things here," Eston said once more. Diego's curved smile of formality spread across his face. Diego nodded briefly, he didn't really mind that much either. But because he felt uncomfortable with Eston, Diego decided not to say anything. "It's okay, Mr. Eston. I understand whatever you decide. After your departure on this work matter, I will take good care of all work matters here," Diego replied with a smile of formality. Eston chuckled as he tapped Diego twice on the shoulder. His gaze shifted to Matteo who was already acting normally as if he had not done anything to Stellina before. "Let's go now, Matteo," Eston said as he nodded firmly to Matteo. At Eston's invitation, Matteo nodded his head. After saying goodbye to Diego and Stellina, Eston and Matteo finally walked away from them. But while Eston was saying goodbye to Diego-which distracted Diego's attention-Matteo took the opportunity. Matteo gave a small salute to Stellina while winking once again. Seeing Matteo who seemed to have no worries, Stellina was taken aback. Stellina glanced at Diego to make sure he did not see what Matteo was doing. Stellina could only truly breathe a sigh of relief after Matteo and Eston had disappeared from her sight. Stellina even unconsciously held Diego's shoulder as her body relaxed. As a result, Diego immediately looked at Stellina in astonishment and surprise. "What's wrong with you?" Diego asked, looking at Stellina. Stellina looked up. "Huh? What do you mean?" Diego glanced at Stellina's hand on one shoulder. "Here, your hand. Also, why are you breathing so easy and limp all of a sudden?" Still holding Diego's shoulder, Stellina gradually realized her own actions. Stellina suddenly straightened up as she felt clumsy. "Ah, geez. Sorry. I was just a reflex." Stellina deliberately gave a smile at the end of the sentence, but it was awkward. "For whatever reason, I felt relieved after Eston and Matteo left for a while." Diego's eyebrows rose. Instead of suspecting Stellina's answer, he gave a lopsided smile. "Really? That means we feel the same way," Diego replied very casually. "I didn't know it would be this uncomfortable after they left." The look on Stellina's face was one of disbelief. "Are you serious?" she asked, sounding a bit worried about Eston and Fabian's personal driver. "You feel relieved too?" "Yes, I think they're a bit of a nuisance. My way of managing work here and Eston's are often at odds," Diego replied, again not worried that his words would be overheard by Eston's personal chauffeur. So worried about being overheard, Stellina-while glaring in surprise-slid closer to Diego and whispered into his ear, "Don't say anything that would make Eston's personal driver-" "Shh, it won't be heard. You shouldn't worry too much either. Just relax," Diego replied, cutting off Stellina's words. Before Stellina could respond to Diego's words, Eston's personal driver suddenly approached. "Mr. Diego, are you going home? Or do you have other business to attend to?" Stellina immediately behaved normally and gave an awkward smile to Eston's personal driver. Diego, meanwhile, just shook his head briefly and seemed relaxed. "If you're going back to the mansion, go ahead. I don't have work to do, but I do have business with her." Diego directed his gaze at Stellina at the end of the sentence. Then Diego looked at Fabian. "Fabian, you come with her. I'll take Stellina for a walk. Just the two of us." Fabian couldn't refuse if Diego's request was related to Stellina. As a result, Fabian only gave a formality smile before nodding obediently. Eston's personal driver had also understood what Diego meant. Without further ado, Eston's personal driver nodded as a sign of goodbye from Diego before turning around. Together with Fabian, Eston's personal chauffeur walked away from Stellina. "Gosh, that was close," Stellina muttered while holding her own chest. She let out another long sigh of relief. Then she turned to look at Diego sharply. "What did you just say? What if he hears about it and complains to Eston?" Diego immediately chuckled at Stellina's words. It was as if Stellina's words sounded like a joke. "Will he hear?" Diego asked. Before Stellina could answer, Diego gestured for them to leave. Stellina glared in surprise when Diego suddenly stepped away from her. Stellina hurriedly caught up with Diego and tapped him hard on the shoulder. "What do you want?" Diego was still grimacing as he stroked the part of his shoulder that had been hit hard by Stellina. "Slow down," Diego said. "I want to take you somewhere. How about lunch to celebrate Eston and Matteo leaving?" Stellina frowned. "Are you really so happy that you're asking me to celebrate?" Without hesitation, Diego nodded his head. "Of course. We're going to eat at a fancy restaurant-" "What?" Stellina immediately interrupted Diego's words, taking Diego by surprise. "No, not the fancy restaurant. I don't want to go there." It was Diego's turn to look at Stellina in confusion. For some reason, Stellina had never been too fond of fancy restaurants since they first met. "Why don't you want to go to a fancy restaurant?" Diego asked, his tone sounding annoyed. "We should celebrate this, Stellina. I'm trying to make you happy too." Stellina kept shaking her head as she folded her arms across her chest. "No, if you're trying to make me happy... why don't we eat at the tavern?" Diego's brows furrowed. "Tavern?" "Yes, a tavern. Why, you're not used to eating at taverns?" Diego was actually uncomfortable refusing. He pretended to fix the collar of his dress shirt. "It's not like that. For some reason I wanted a meaningful celebration today," Diego replied, deliberately lying because of his high prestige. Stellina knew that Diego wasn't used to eating in taverns. After getting Diegi's reaction, Stellina flashed a dismissive smile. Deliberately mocking Diego. "Oh, so this powerful and ruthless mobster doesn't dare to eat at a diner?" quipped Stellina, blatantly teasing Diego. In Stellina's presence, Diego already felt his ego being scratched. Especially watching Stellina's dismissive smile. Instantly, something stirred in Diego's chest and prompted him to straighten up. "Of course not! Why wouldn't I dare to eat at a tavern?" Diego didn't want to look weak. Stellina looked at Diego in disbelief. The dismissive smile on her face did not disappear. "Oh, yeah?" said Stellina dubiously. "Come on, we have to eat at the tavern today. I'm sure you're not that worried about eating at a tavern." This was not something Diego could resist. Stellina had repeatedly cajoled him, even to the point of insinuating it. That meant Diego had to accept Stellina's request. "Okay then," Diego replied, letting out a resigned sigh. His shoulders relaxed as he rolled his eyes in disgust. Stellina clapped her hands once with great enthusiasm. Within a second, in contrast to Diego, Stellina's face turned enthusiastic. "Let's go to the shop now!" Stellina arched a wide smile. Diego just shook his head while letting out a long breath once again. Somehow Diego couldn't help but feel annoyed even though Stellina was forcing him like this. ----- Stellina couldn't help but giggle as she watched Diego eat with gusto. They were already at the tavern that Stellina had deliberately chosen. From the moment their food arrived, Diego had not stopped chewing without stopping at all. Stellina had guessed that Diego would become addicted to the food. "Is it good?" asked Stellina, looking at Diego with the curve of an ignorant smile. Diego nodded his head. He didn't even look at Stellina at all. "Why didn't you tell me there was food this good?" Diego wondered between chews. "If you had told me, I would have always come here." Hearing Diego's words, Stellina finally released her laughter that she had been holding in. Stellina felt satisfied after successfully making Diego change his mind. "I told you. My choice is beyond doubt," Stellina said proudly. This time, as he ate his food, Diego turned his bemused gaze to Stellina. Diego had seen Stellina behave like a child so many times. "There's no doubt about my choice," Diego retorted, not to be outdone. "But boring," Stellina replied without looking at Diego. She said with lightheartedness. "Eating at fancy restaurants all the time gets boring over time." Although he did not accept Stellina's statement, Diego did not reply. Diego chose to continue eating his food without responding. Until a man suddenly approached their table, and Diego was the first to notice his arrival. "Stellina?" Diego was immediately shocked to hear the man address Stellina by her real name. So did Stellina who immediately stopped the movement of eating food. With her hand holding the spoon still raised low, Stellina was dumbfounded at the arrival of a strange man in front of their table. "Ah! Right! You're Stellina. Gosh, how did we meet here again?" Stellina still could not move for a split second. The man in front of her now was the shop owner who recognized her and her mother. Because before meeting Diego, both of them came to this shop quite often. "You look different, Stellina. Your appearance has changed. How long has it been since we've seen each other? One year? Two years?" Only then was Stellina able to lower her hand slowly and put the spoon back on the plate. With a facial expression that showed surprise and worry, Stellina then turned to look at Diego. "Who is she?" Diego asked in a whisper, moving closer to Stellina. Stellina bit her lower lip. She was worried that Diego would get angry when he found out the shop owner knew her identity. So, after shaking her head in response to Diego, Stellina cleared her throat. During that time, she prepared to change her gesture to make it look less awkward. "Why are you calling me Stellina, huh?" Stellina looked up and glared at the man who owned the shop. Hearing Stellina's harsh reaction made the man who owned the shop immediately startled. For a few seconds, the man could not respond to anything because he was so surprised. "I'm not Stellina! Who is she? I don't know her! You should have asked me who I was before acting like you knew me!" Stellina actually felt bad for the shop owner after speaking in such a high tone. Diego, on the other hand, also gaped in surprise as Stellina suddenly snapped. Diego secretly tried to hold back a smile full of pride. He knew Stellina was not used to yelling at anyone. But now Stellina managed to act out Vellina's gesture. "Ah, I've got the wrong person," the shop owner said. "Forgive me for not saying hello first, Miss." Stellina put on her haughty face. "Alright, don't call me again. I want to enjoy this meal." The man who owned the shop didn't say anything else, just bowed his head in apology. After walking away from Stellina and Diego, Stellina let out a sigh of relief. "Oh my god, I don't know how many times I've been rendered almost speechless," Stellina muttered as her shoulders relaxed. Beside Stellina, Diego was chuckling at her behavior. "I didn't think you could act like that," Diego said. Stellina looked at Diego sarcastically. "Yeah, you can laugh now. Meanwhile, I'm totally freaking out." "The important thing is that you did your charade well, Stellina."