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?”

absurd. Stephanie let her hair down, dismissing the thought. It must have been from sleeping on it wrong, she thought.

opened the door for Oscar. He stood straight, and his expensive black coat

inside, closing the

“Take off your coat. Are you soaked through? Why would you come all this way in the rain? Something wrong?”

his curly hair.

his clear blue eyes

“There’s a thunderstorm”

face remained expressionless. The house was brightly lit, and Oscar continued to stare at her. After a few more seconds, he

scared” I’m not scared!” Stephanie snapped back, irritated by his suggestion.

Then, he laughed

blue eyes that were almost mesmerizing. When he smiled, his eyes crinkled at the comers, and even his pupils seemed

smiled, and the sight of it now was bewitching.

yelled, and her cheeks

with him like this. It was an

the lights were on, yet she claimed

Chapter 269

He loved to see her

he asked

up on

racing with paranoid thoughts.

however, kept glancing towards the balcony,

herm

nothing,” she said stiffly, clearly

hear the end of it. And with that strange mark on her neck, she was

said as she opened the fridge and pulled

morning. It’s a decent portion, and actually pretty tasty,” she

can of chowder and started

to the side, watching him maneuver around the cramped kitchen. She couldn’t help but say again. “You don’t have to go to all this trouble.

task. Whether working or cooking, he always moved efficiently. Watching him cook was surprisingly captivating. His serious expression when he stirred the chowder with a long spoon was

couldn’t help but think about how much of a failure she was as a woman, feeling guilty as she glanced at the pile of three or five plates at the side. They were the dishes she used for takeout a

got the better of her, and

her efforts, taking some clams from the fridge. cleaning them, and adding them to the chowder. When he turned his head, he saw Stephanie enthusiastically washing the

stop playing around,” he said, looking at her with

felt her cheeks flush. She glanced down at her hands, covered in soap bubbles. It seemed like she was indeed playing around.

just rinsed the dishes and put

true that when they were together, Stephanie was often the one causing problems, leaving Oscar to clean up her messes without a word of complaint.

side–by–side at the glass coffee table in the small living room, each with a bowl of clam chowder. Oscar had added some kind of seasoning. and the warm

out for a while. It’s awful” Stephanie took a bite of the microwaved pasta and immediately grimaced,