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.

his gaze finally settling on Hayley, who stood before him, drenched from the

outline of her legs beneath the skirt. The soft lighting of

rare for Stephanie

being a public place and it being dinner time with many patrons around, an uneasy

go back, please don’t scold her. This is all my

with Hayley looking remorseful. He handed her his coat, which

car drove through the rainy night, Hayley looked

placing a small pot of soup on the table. Stephanie turned her attention away from the scene outside the window, imitated by the display of

appetite is impressive,” Vincent remarked sarcastically, seating himself

She calmly picked up her spoon and began eating, treating Vincent

your phone because of jealousy, so she ran out into the rain

to ignore

think I’m wrong to reprimand you?”

Chapter 190

Finding it bland, she set the spoon down and said calmly, “It’s all my fault” With that, she stood up and walked towards the restaurant door with a

my fault“, it was said in a fit of anger. But tonight, her calmness was

What was wrong

with her!

waiting at the entrance. As soon as they got out of the car, she hurried over to

stepping out

the car. “Mr. Wellington, earlier

Stephanie without so much as a glance

as she watched the man move

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 the entire way home without talking

was, in fact, worse than

glanced at them, a chill settling in her heart as she wondered.

softly to Stephanie, trying to console her. “Mrs. Wellington, in truth,

asked for

with frustration. Unable to contain it any longer upon their return home,

what he would get. He better not talk to me for

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

the droplets shimmering

systems in every corner, offered her a sense of

lost track of time in the soothing warmth, the full–length mirror on the

let my sons go hungry. Her thoughts wandered, realizing

Stephanie and causing her to almost

times do I have to tell you to not soak in the bathtub for