Page 106 of Until We Burn
She shakes her head. Her sleek ponytail swishes back and forth as she huffs. “I was arguing with my uncle on FaceTime. He’s asking for money again, and I told him I would stop supporting him after his second marriage.”
A small laugh escapes me, and the words come out easier than Ithought. “I mean, if you don’t have an uncle who’s asking for money, are you really Asian?”
“Finally! Someone who gets it!” Stella playfully rolls her eyes before she sticks out her hand and smiles at me. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Diana.”
Stella is everything I wish I could be: beautiful, confident, and full of light. She takes up space in her royal blue blazer dress, strappy silver rhinestone heels, and matching headband, which crowns her soft black waves. Her brown eyes take me in, so bright and curious against the faint mischievous curve to her lips.
I rise onto my feet and smile back at her in relief. “Thanks so much for getting back to me.”
“Oh, of course! Sit, sit.” Stella sets down the plate of sugary pastries in front of me. “Here, have some cinnamon buns.”
With a heavy sigh, she plops down into her swivel chair, kicks off her heels, and sinks her feet into the foot massager beneath her desk.
“Alrighty.”She pulls out a file and flips it open, looking over the document before she glances back up at me and leans in like a conspiring criminal. “CatchCo doesn’t usually do this, but there’s a reason why I reached out to you personally.”
“There is?”
“I have been keeping up with what happened to you since September.” She shakes her head as a wry, bitter smile crosses her lips. “When I first heard about the scandal, I saw it had Jonathan Huang written all over it.”
“How do you know Jonathan?”
“I know him because I dated him.”
My eyes widen.
Stella waves her hand.
“It was a secret, and no one knew,” she explains. “That’s why it took me a while to decide whether or not I wanted to get personally involved. But then, I remembered why I started CatchCo in the first place.”
I scramble to get the words out. “I-It was because of him?”
Stella nods. For a moment, her spirit dies a little and it’s like watching a star sputter in its light.
“He had photos of me. I was able to stop it before it leaked, but the scars didn’t fade. I still remember what it was like to be one of his victims.”
Stella takes in a deep, steadying breath before her face hardens in determination.
“We might’ve dated two years ago, but I know things about Jonathan that you don’t. I know who he keeps on a leash to do his dirty work. We can get physical evidenceanda whistleblower to clear your name. So, if you’re still willing to work with me to take down Jonathan and everyone else involved in this scandal…”
Stella plucks up a cinnamon bun and smirks.
“Name your targets, Diana. I’d be happy to help.”
KAI
Misty rain drips into my hair as I push myself up Grouse Mountain.
So much sweat clings to my gray compression shirt, it looks black on my body. I flex my shoulders back and look up. The logs go up in a spiral, creating a brutal stairway that leads to the peak.
The Grouse Grind is a forty-five minute hike we do every year to strengthen team bonding and keep our morale up, so we don’t end up slacking. It’s easy to get cocky when you have a streak of wins.
The Grouse Grind is there to remind us that we need to keep pushing each other hard no matter what.
“Just let me die,” Luke croaks. He slumps over the stairs with tears in his eyes.
“Come on, buddy.” I smack his ass, urging him onto his feet. “There you go. You got this.”
Luke groans. He drags a hand through his sweaty blond hair before he pushes on, his face flush and red.
