Crossroads

Chapter 21

Dominick didn't do anything inappropriate towards her. He simply took sgauze and hydrogen peroxide from the medical kit to dress her wound.

The wound was somewhat deep, and as the hydrogen peroxide touched the cut, Stephanie couldn't help but frown. Dominick glanced at her, still wearing a cold expression and saying nothing, but his movements becmuch gentler. After he finished, Dominick turned to tidy up the medical kit while Stephanie quickly slipped her shirt back on.

When Dominick turned back to look at her, she had already put on her jacket and was nervously meeting his gaze.

"Thank you," Stephanie said awkwardly, Dominick didn't respond. Instead, he looked at her intently for a moment as if pandering something.

"Let's go back." He suddenly spoke up and strode toward the door.

However, Stephanie didn't follow up immediately. When Dominick reached the door, he turned back to look at her with sdispleasure, saying again, "Back to Wellington Villa."

Stephanie sat in the wooden chair, biting her lip. "I need to wait for my aunt to cback. I have something to talk with her about," she explained, hesitant to leave.

"Your aunt's still in the sanatorium on a new medication. She can't chjust yet, Dominick said flatly.

Stephanie was taken aback by the fact that he even knew about this.

With no excuses left, she lowered her gaze to her ankle, bit her lip, and braced herself to stand up. Then, she walked towards him with small steps.

Dominick seemed preoccupied with something else and barely paid attention to her as she followed him.

They walked out, one in front of the other...

The old apartment building had no elevator, forcing Stephanie to tackle five flights of stairs.

Each step sent a jolt of pain through her ankle, making her wince and pale slightly.

Dominick, naturally fast with his long legs, was already out of the building when he turned around and realized Stephanie was not in sight.

His brow furrowed as he stood impatiently, looking up toward the stairs.

Just as Dominick looked up, his usually stern face softened in surprise.

He frowned and took the stairs two at a time, finding her sitting on a step on the second floor.

"What's this? Lost your tongue? Couldn't you say your foot was injured?" he shouted, clearly angry.

Stephanie was already throbbing with pain, and his shout only fueled her grievance.

She couldn't understand why he was yelling at her. "It is none of your business!" she retorted.

Dominick's face darkened with anger.

12:49 Thu, 20 Jun M Chapter 21

His patience was wearing thin, He watched her stubborn defiance and quickly bent down to scoop her up.

Caught off guard, Stephanie felt extremely uncomfortable and instinctively struggled. "Putdown, I can walk on my own...

"Walk on your own?" Dominick repeated through clenched teeth, staring at her.

It seemed he was thoroughly provoked, and he abruptly halted. Then, Dominick set her down besides the rusting stair railing of the apartment.

He stood, arms crossed, and watched her like she was a spectacle,

"Go on!" His voice was a cold command. "Start walking, Stephanie, Now!"

Being urged by his sinister voice, she felt a little frightened, panicked, and somewhat aggrieved.

Stubbornly, she glared back at him, bit her lip, and took a step. She wouldn't let him look down on her, and she would do anything to walk.

But the truth was, her right ankle, already twisted, was swollen now from walking down from the fifth fl floor.

Her left foot landed, but her right leg buckled. She pitched forward, off-balance.

With a cry, Stephanie's knees hit the floor. She quickly grabbed the staircase railing, saving herself from a worse fall. But she looked utterly disheveled.

"Get up!" Dominick barked. "I said stand nd up! Showyou can walk!"

Dominick just watched her, showing no intention of helping, Instead, he continued to urge her on with a merciless tone.

Stephanie's eyes began to moisten as she heard this.

She squatted down, completely losing the strength to rise again.

Her right ankle throbbed fiercely. She bowed her head, her hands clutching the stair railing tightly, enduring the pain.

She desperately wanted to steel herself to stand up.

But the pain was just too much...

"I'm sorry..." She choked up, the words barely audible.

Dominick's eyes narrowed. "What was that? Louder!" His harsh voice commanded.

"I'm sorry!" Stephanie lifted her head, meeting his gaze. Her eyes held a stubborn defiance, yet she had to submit.

Dominick looked into her eyes, unexpectedly feeling a twinge of pity.

"From now on, behave yourself, he warned coldly, taking a step forward and scooping her into his arms.

This time, Stephanie didn't resist, though her body tensed up as he carried her downstairs.

Dominick's chest was broad and firm. Nestled in his embrace, she didn't dare to move. She could feel his strong heartbeat and his uniquely cool scent.

He was truly difficult to deal with...

"Mr. Wellington."

12:49 Thu, 20 Jun N Chapter 21

Outside the apartment, the driver was about to go upstairs to look for Stephanie but was shocked to see Dominick carrying her out.

"Open the door," Dominick commanded in a cool tone, Stephanie was stuffed into the car, looking awkward.

Especially when he leaned over to buckle her seatbelt, their bodies pressed close together, Stephanie felt incredibly embarrassed ad instinctively squirmed a little.

"Stephaniel" Dominick immediately looked up, sternly calling out her name.

Stephanie stiffened, daring not to move any further.

For sreason, when Dominick called her by her name, her face suddenly flushed red.

"Take her back to Wellington Villa and have Brad take a look at her ankle," Dominick instructed the driver and forcefully slammed the car door shut. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Stephanie through the window. "I don't want to marry a cripple!"

Stephanie pressed her lips at his words, not daring to retort.

The car sped away smoothly, leaving Dominick standing there, watching the fading car lights with a thoughtful gaze

"Dominick, I hope you didn't get violent when you busted those cheaters, did you?"

Suddenly, Vincent approached from another direction with a teasing smile. He just saw Dominick carrying a woman down and wondered when he had ever shown such tenderness to a woman.

"How's the photo?" Dominick ignored his teasing and asked sternly.

Seeing his serious expression, Vincent didn't dare joke further and spoke honestly. "No MMS from the satellite card yet..."

As Vincent spoke, he looked down at the smartphone screen in Dominick's hand.

On that screen, from a particular angle, a photo showed a man and a woman seemingly wrapped in an intimate embrace, and it was Stephanie and Kevin. Vincent pointed to a surveillance camera above the apartment building. "This caught something.

"Kevin had been here before you got that MMS, but there's no way they could have been hugging like in the photo." He turned to Dominick with a sly grin..

"Because Kevin was carried out of here..."

Dominick was a bit stunned at this.

Vincent's grin widened. "Who knew Stephanie could put a big guy like Kevin in the hospital? Guess she's more fierce than I thought."

A barely detectable amusement flickered in Dominick's eyes, though his face remained impassive. He turned and got into the car.

"Check for other connections between Claire and Stephanie," he said, leaning back with a touch of exhaustion. He closed his eyes as if to rest. Vincent was surprised that Dominick was actually concerned about Stephanie.

Yet, he felt a bit sorry for Stephanie, om murmuring, "She must have been scared by you just now." He recalled how Dominick had stormed upstairs with a dark expression to catch her cheating. That was terrifying.

"Scared?" Dominick's eyes snapped open, his expression turning dark.

12:49 Thu, 20 Jun Chapter 21

G He remembered Stephanie's stubbornness even with her foot injured, which was annoying, "You say I scared her?"

Vincent looked startled, unsure what had upset Dominick, only sensing that he was sulking over sirritation.

"Who could have gotten under his skin?" he wondered.

"Gosh, I was so scared..."

The driver brought Stephanie back. As soon as the car stopped, she couldn't help but clutch her chest and sigh.

Dominick had seemed very angry earlier, even saying he didn't want to ive marry a cripple. This made Stephanie pause and start to worry. "Dominick is really hard to deal with."

Hearing that Stephanie had injured her ankle, Brad called a doctor over, and she was helped into a wheelchair by a maid.

"Mrs. Wellington, we're okay with you going out, but with the pregnancy, you need to take extra care, om especially during the first three months. We don't want anything to happen to the baby." For the first time, Brad spoke to her with a stern voice.

"Okay, I'll be more careful next time," Stephanie replied, her head bowed in apology-

It was her first pregnancy, and she was not very familiar with these matters, and after being provoked by Kevin and Claire, she hadn't thought about the risks Seeing her condition, Brad didn't lecture her further. After the doctor had carefully treated her ankle and arm injuries, the maid helped her back to her bedroom to rest.

Brad even had dinner delivered right to her bedside and suggested she stay in bed and not wander around.

It didn't take long for her butt to go numb from sitting in the bed, but it was way too early to sleep.

Plus, Dominick was back from his business trip, and he might show up tonight... Stephanie immediately becnervous at the thought of this and glanced at the door from tto time.

She couldn't help but wonder if Dominick would scold her when he got back.

He probably won't seen in this room, right? He seems to disdainStonhania cat in the hard test in her thounkte