Crossroads

Chapter 269

Stephanie rushed inside, quickly sliding the glass door shut behind her.

The wind and rain battered against the glass. Soaked to the bone. Stephanie opened her right hand and looked at loose

at the small screw that had fallen

It was early evening, and the st

storm was raging outside with flashes of lighting and booming thunder.

The bright lights inside the room offered a small comfort. She tried to convince herself the screw had simply loosened on its own.

Stephanie cast one last glance at the gloomy balcony, shook off her unease, and headed to the bedroom to change her outht

But her heart was still filled with anxiety and insecurity

She double–locked her bedroom door and turned on every light. The storm outside was a stark contrast to the silence in her room. Even the

sound of her own ragged breathing seemed loud and clear.

Stephanie peeled off her damp clothes and towel–dried her face and hair. She reached for fresh clothes on the bed, her eyes f

falling on the faint scar on her abdomen, a remnant of the C–section.

She stared at it, her cool fingers tracing the nearly invisible line. Oscar had given her some kind of cream, and even the stretch marks had vanished.

It was as if her pregnancy and brief marriage to the Wellington family had been nothing but a dream. All traces were gone, and Dominick had disappeared from her life…

Suddenly, her phone buzzed, shattering the silence.

Her nerves were on edge. She glanced at the phone on her vanity table and hurried over. It was Oscar calling

“Babe, I’m outside,” he said.

Stephanie fraze for a moment before responding “Oh, hold on a sec. She hung up, quickly dressed, and checked her appearance in the vanity mirror.

Suddenly, something caught her eye, and she stared at her reflection.

Stephanie gathered her hair into a bun and lifted her chin, tilting her head to the side. On the smooth skin of her neck, just below her left earlobe. was a faint reddish mark.

Her fingertips brushed against the strange mark. It looked like a hickey.

“A hickey?”

down, dismissing the thought. It must

Oscar. He stood straight, and his expensive black coat

the door behind him.

your coat. Are you soaked through? Why would you come

and roughly dried his

her with his clear blue eyes and

“There’s a thunderstorm”

continued to stare at her.

I’m not scared!” Stephanie snapped back, irritated

Then, he laughed

was tall, with a strikingly handsome face and deep blue eyes that were almost mesmerizing. When he smiled, his eyes crinkled at the comers, and even his pupils seemed to sparkle with

smiled, and the sight of

laughing? Stephanie yelled,

who could spar with him like this. It was an unspoken bond

glanced around at the brightly lit room. All the lights were on, yet she claimed not to be afraid. But he

Chapter 269

in his eyes seemed to deepen. He loved to see her worked

he asked

picked up on her discomfort within minutes of

racing with

glancing

herm

stiffly, clearly brushing him off.

She’d never hear the end of it. And with that strange mark on her neck, she

Stephanie said as she opened the fridge and pulled out the leftovers from that morning, planning to

it this morning. It’s a decent portion, and actually

Oscar just grabbed a can of chowder and started

couldn’t help but say again.

or cooking, he always moved efficiently. Watching him

at the side. They were the dishes

her, and she stepped

attention to her efforts, taking some clams from the fridge. cleaning them,

around,” he said, looking at her with a hint of helplessness.

hands, covered in soap bubbles. It seemed like she was indeed playing around.

playing. Stephanie retorted stubbornly, but she just rinsed the dishes and put

problems, leaving Oscar to clean up her messes without a word of complaint. And now

bowl of clam chowder. Oscar had added some

out for a while. It’s awful” Stephanie took