Crossroads

Chapter 190

Stephanie leaned back, casually glancing towards the restaurant entrance, her gaze tinged with boredom and mild curiosity.

In the next heartbeat, her eyes widened slightly, caught off guard by what she saw.

“Thank goodness you’re

you’re here. The words rushed out from a figure sprinting towards her breathlessly.

Stephanie struggled to comprehend the situation. Hayley appeared before her, drenched to the bone. Water dripped from her clothes, hair, and fingertips, painting a picture of utter disarray.

“What are you doing?” Stephanie asked, a hint of disbelief coloring her tone

Hayley’s voice trembled with urgency and regret as she gasped for air. “Stephanie, I’m so sorry, I used Dominick’s phone earlier, but I shouldn’t have answered your call just now…” Her complexion, pale from the torrential rain, betrayed her distress. “We were worried sick about you. Please don’t be angry with Dominick. I’m really sorry about this.

“She was sorry? What for? Stephanie wondered.

“Stephanie, why are you being so willful!”

From beyond the restaurant’s glass doors, a figure strode purposefully towards them, his voice laced with biting frustration

“In this pouring rain, you run off and then shut off your phone. Are you deliberately seeking attention, Stephanie?“

Vincent’s anger flared, his e

Leyes narrowing as he observed Stephanie seated calmly while Hayley stood before her, soaked and apologetic. He fought the urge to reprimand her on the spot.

He had cautioned Dominick countless times against indulging women as it only fostered unnecessary drama.

The atmosphere in the small restaurant, which was not more than a thousand square feet in size, tensed noticeably with the arrival of these prominent guests.

The few waitstaff huddled in a corner, if their memory served them right, recognized the man with brown hair as Vincent, the most popular among women in the city. The other man, though unfamiliar to them, seemed even more formidable and less approachable based on his demeanor.

Clearly, these were important individuals

Stephanie’s face remained impassive, unmoved in her seat.

Ignoring Vincent’s chastisement completely, she sat in silence. Yet, she couldn’t ignore Dominick’s intense gaze, which spoke volumes.

“What have I done wrong this time? Stephanie thought.

settling on Hayley, who stood

and the faint outline of her legs beneath the skirt. The soft lighting of the restaurant

for Stephanie

restaurant being a public place and it being dinner time with many patrons around, an uneasy silence settled among

This is all my fault,” Hayley said,

looking remorseful. He handed her his coat, which she gratefully accepted and offered a

the rainy night, Hayley

waiter approached with a tray, carefully placing a small pot of soup on the table. Stephanie turned her attention away from the scene outside the

Vincent remarked sarcastically, seating himself

up her spoon and began eating, treating

you’d turned off your phone because of jealousy, so she ran out into

continued to ignore

I’m wrong to reprimand you?” Vincent

Chapter 190

down and said calmly, “It’s

my fault“, it was said

What was wrong

with her!

soon as they got out of the car, she hurried

stepping out of the car seemed oddly composed, her first words demanding. Td like some soup,

from the car. “Mr. Wellington, earlier on the phone,

remained silent, striding past Stephanie without so much as a glance and headed directly upstairs to

as she watched the man move heavily beside her, his steps

past, during their arguments, he would have surely reprimanded her immediately. But now, she couldn’t pinpoint when it had started; the dynamics between them had shifted. For instance, they were silent on

in fact, worse

glanced at them, a chill settling in

Stephanie, trying to console her. “Mrs.

for his

any longer upon their return home, she

treatment he wants, then that’s what he would get. He better not talk to me for the rest of his

incensed, grabbing her nightclothes and rushing for another bath. She lay in the tub, the warm water soothing

the water in the large bathrub, the droplets shimmering in the soft bathroom light, wetting her

every corner, offered her a

on the right wall obscured

hungry. Her thoughts wandered, realizing she hadn’t eaten enough for dinner

door swung open, startling the naked Stephanie and causing her

tell you to not soak in the bathtub for too