Crossroads

Chapter 134

Sleep evaded her.

Stephanie tossed and turned in her bed, her movements restless, as if burdened by unspoken thoughts that kept her from drifting into

slumber.

“Stephanie.”

On the other side of the bed, Dominick noticed her agitation, finally unable to resist calling her name in a deep, subdued tone.

Immediately, Stephanie settled down.

Yet, within moments, she shifted again.

“Dominick, are you having trouble sleeping?” Her voice was clear and unwavering, betraying her own alertness despite the late hour.

The faint light from the bedside lamp cast a soft glow on Stephanie’s profile. She harbored a genuine fear of the dark.

“Dominick, can I ask you something?”

With evident inner conflict, Stephanie edged closer to Dominick, her tone betraying a hint of urgency as she posed another question.

He remained silent, his gaze fixed on her, prompting her to hesitate in her subsequent words.

“That year, during our high school graduation trip… You were our assistant teacher. Did you… Did you attend that trip?”

She asked cautiously, as if wary of touching upon sensitive matters.

“No,” Dominick replied bluntly.

Stephanie furrowed her brow suddenly, visibly perplexed. “But that’s impossible. Kevin said…”

“What did he say?”

you…” Her eyes searched Dominick’s face intently, a mixture of doubt and suspicion coloring her voice. “It couldn’t have been yo

Meanwhile, Dominick lowered his eyes subtly, offering no further explanation.

“Have you heard anything about the incidents during the trip that year?”

reminisced about certain events, her voice laden with gravity, oblivious to his

helped me

a long while as she tried to ease her emotions, managing only a

mountainside. Suddenly, five or six bandits from a mountain village attacked me. They dragged me down the hillside, pounced on

Dominick froze momentarily.

Chapter 134

deep thought. Suddenly, she clasped his arm with both

him.

“I heard gunshots.

was it you who saved me that

his arm before she added insistently,

to the woman nestled beside him,

didn’t you

why didn’t you

On any other day, he would have likely still been in his study, but tonight

a dull ache pulsed through his brain, and he avoided dredging up

seemed suspended for

Yet, her determination persisted.

Dominick responded

vividly. “Stephanie, I’m angry that you accepted Kevin’s pursuit without reason, I’m angry that you

only partially known to her and the other part, bluntly put,

he hate

hatred weighed heavily

for every misstep, convinced she owed him, demanding her repayment

years for you to acknowledge your

wait was in vain; eventually, he

she didn’t recognize him for who he truly

his demands for contrition and reconciliation, but

Faced with armed bandits, how

memories were clouded; fear gripped her as she recalled the sounds

accompanied by the acrid scent of blood. She knew the man who had come to her rescue

longed to do something for

Chapter 134

worst, haunted by the possibility that her actions could have cost him

arm, she whispered, “I’ve

expect from me? A token of

was calm, tinged with a

here to repay you.” She

by taking credit for what you did. He claimed he