Now They Want My Forgiveness - Chapter 270: Chapter 270

Stella's body had been getting better lately, especially her curves. It was almost like she was going through a third growth spurt.
Jordan quickly averted his eyes and glanced over at the surveillance feed.
Stella could feel the heat coming off him. She turned to look at Jordan, only to find his cheeks were already flushed red. She hurriedly reached out, pressing her hand to his forehead, and then to her own.
"You're not running a fever. Why does your body feel so warm?"
Jordan couldn't exactly tell her the truth. The worst part was, he thought he was being subtle, but Stella still caught on. "I'm fine. Maybe it's just because I drank some hot water."
"If you drank hot water, shouldn't you be sweating? But you're not. Are you sick or something? Should we have the doctor take a look at you when he comes tomorrow?"
"It's nothing. I'll be fine by tomorrow morning." Jordan said, feeling a little flustered.
But Stella was genuinely worried about him. Feeling helpless, Jordan could only agree. "Alright, if I'm still not feeling well when the doctor comes tomorrow, I'll let him check me out."
Finally, Stella let it go and stopped pressing him about it.
Jordan didn't notice anything unusual. He gave her shoulder a light pat. "Give your eyes a break. Maybe one of these days you'll figure it out, but for now, just stop looking. Don't you have something to do tomorrow?"
Stella gave a slight nod. She really did have something to take care of. She'd already gathered all the evidence she needed about Lionel's supermarket ripping off her business model, and she was planning to sue him.
So the next morning, she took Nola and went straight to the authorities. After looking over her documents, the official let out a helpless sigh.
"Mr. Hayes, it's not that we don't want to help you, but this really isn't considered copying. Just look at all the shops out there. Most of them run on the same model. I can't just say they're all plagiarizing each other, can I?"
"No, it is plagiarism! I've already applied for a patent," Stella insisted. She'd already anticipated this argument, so she'd made sure to have everything ready in advance.
"You don't have to be so insistent about this. Their business isn't exactly the same as yours. If they were copying you one-to-one, that would be real plagiarism," the official replied.
Stella wanted to say more, but seeing the official's attitude, she understood there was no point. After a long pause, she said, "So, what you're saying is that you're encouraging this kind of cutthroat competition?"
"Your stores aren't even in the same location, so it's not really direct competition. I don't think you need to overthink it, Mr. Hayes. Instead of spending your time here, you might as well figure out how to make your business better," the official said.
Stella stood up and left with Nola. They hadn't gone far when they overheard the official inside scoffing, "What a joke. She's only just started and already thinks she's got the market all figured out!"
Stella and Nola exchanged a look. As they walked out, Nola said, "Mr. Hayes, Lionel must've pulled some strings, right?"
"Yeah, I really didn't see that coming. He's got me beat when it comes to this stuff. But since the authorities won't step in, we'll just have to find a way to force his store to close down soon," Stella replied.
Nola nodded. "We can attract more customers in other ways. Supermarkets are a necessity, after all. Only those who really put themselves in the customers' shoes can run a good supermarket."
Stella felt the same way. There was no way she was just going to sit back and wait for disaster. Since Lionel wanted to go head-to-head, Stella was more than willing to see who could really figure out the rules of the market.
Once she got back, Stella started cooking up a new plan for her supermarket. She kept it under wraps, not telling too many people, just in case Lionel's side caught wind of it.