Cross Roads

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 skind 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?" The idea seemed absurd. Stephanie let her hair down, dismissing the thought. It must have been from sleeping on it wrong, she thought.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she opened the door for Oscar. He stood straight, and his expensive black coat was drenched through, water droplets clinging to his hair Oscar strode inside, closing the door behind him.

Stephanie frowned at him and quickly grabbed a dry towel. "Take off your coat. Are you soaked through? Why would you call this way in the rain? Something wrong?" Oscar grabbed the towel and roughly dried his curly hair. Then, be locked eyes w with her with his clear blue eyes and paused before murmuring.

"There's a thunderstorm" Stephanie's face remained expressionless. The house was brightly lit, and Oscar continued to stare at her. After a few more seconds, he sighed and added. "You get scared." "Who's scared" I'm not scared!" Stephanie snapped back, irritated by his suggestion.

Then, he laughed Oscar was tall, with a strikingly handsface 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 a captivating light He rarely smiled, and the sight of it now was bewitching.

"Stop laughing! I said stop laughing? Stephanie yelled, and her cheeks flushed with anger.

She was the only one who could spar with him like this. It was an unspoken bond between them.

Oscar glanced around at the brightly lit room. All the lights were on, yet she claimed not to be afraid. But he wouldn't say anything. The Chapter 269 amusement in his eyes seemed to deepen. He loved to see her worked up.

"What's wrong?" he asked Oscar was ever perceptive. He had picked up on her discomfort within minutes of arriving.

mind racing with paranoid thoughts.

Stephanie, however, kept glancing towards the balcony, herm "It's nothing," she said stiffly, clearly brushing him off.

She wouldn't dare tell him about the haunted apartment. She'd never hear the end of it. And with that strange mark on her neck, she was even more resolved to keep quiet.

"I'm kind of hungry. Want spasta?" Stephanie said as she opened the fridge and pulled out the leftovers from that morning, planning to hear them in the microwave.

"I got it this morning. It's a decent portion, and actually pretty tasty," she added, intending to offer him half, But Oscar just grabbed a can of chowder and started cooking.

Stephanie, feeling utterly useless, stood awkwardly 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. Something simple would be fine" Oscar continued to ignore her and focused on his 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 particularly striking.

Stephanie 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 couple of days ago. She had planned to wash them all at once but had ended up being too lazy.

Stephanie's guilt got the better of her, and she stepped in to help.

She turned on the faucet and began washing the dishes. Meanwhile, Oscar didn't pay attention to her efforts, taking sclams from the fridge. cleaning them, and adding them to the chowder. When he turned his head, he saw Stephanie enthusiastically washing the dishes.

"Babe, stop playing around," he said, looking at her with a hint of helplessness.

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

Tm not playing. Stephanie retorted stubbornly, but she just rinsed the dishes and put them away.

It was 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. And now she couldn't even handle a little complaint.

They sat side-by-side at the glass coffee table in the small living room, each with a bowl of clam chowder. Oscar had added skind of seasoning. and the warm aroma filled the room "This pasta is all stuck together. It must have been sitting out for a while. It's awful" Stephanie took a bite of the microwaved pasta and immediately grimaced, switching to her bowl of clam chowder instead.

Oscar casually tossed the pasta into the nearby trash can. "Don't eat this stuff allymore.

That was how she was spoiled into a picky eater.

Stephanie devoured two bowls as if she hadn't seen food in days while Oscar ate more slowly.

y, occasionally shifting clams from his bowl to hers.

She had grown up with him, and next to her grandfather, Stephanie felt closest to Oscar.

Oscar would always be good to her.

"Little Pillar, don't lie to me, she murmured, clutching her spoon. The storm m outside had begun to to subside.

So much had happened in the years he'd been gone. She had changed, and so had Oscar.

Stephanie assumed he hadn't heard her. By the tthey finished washing the dishes, the rain hadm stopped. He headed for the door, and Stephanie followed, standing in the doorway. They locked eyes for a minute. She was about to offer a polite farewell, but Oscar spoke first.

"Babe, I would never lie to you." Stephanie was stunned med. His expression was calm as he glanced at her once more before turning and walking away She closed the door, her mind filled with the image of Oscar's tall, aloof figure Suddenly, a series of loud bangs echoed from upstairs.

The relentless noise from upstains, like someone playing basketball, was driving Stephanie crazy. Her face darkened. She was about to explode, 14:14 PM Chapter 269

She angrily looked up at the ceiling and yelled, "What the hell! Are you nuts? The thunder just stopped, and En.

now you're playing ball!" For sreason, the person upstairs seemed to be in a particularly bad mood tonight, making the noise even louder and more irritating Stephanie was fuming!