He opened his mouth, but the words of rebuttal wouldn't come out.
He himself didn't know what their relationship was anymore.
'We aren't quite partners, but we don't feel like friends either!'
Over this period, he had come to think of her as a friend. Stella Sterling had never explicitly defined their relationship, so he just went on assuming.
But hearing Stella Sterling say that now, a pang of sadness struck his heart.
He really wanted to ask her, 'Aren't we good friends?'
But after some thought, he kept it to himself. 'Actually, her calling me her subordinate is probably her way of giving me face!'
After all, his situation was effectively that of her captive.
He was just a captive with better treatment, that's all. Thinking this, he ultimately swallowed his rebuttal.
'If she says I'm a subordinate, then I'm a subordinate. Subordinate, partner... whatever. The way she treats me is pretty good, so what does the label matter!'
