On the way back home, Stella didn’t speak at all.
Only the wretched man could have said the bandit theory so naturally.
Arriving home, Stella said in a low voice, “Mr. Conrad, I’ll go upstairs and go to bed.”
Seemingly Clarence wasn’t willing to talk to her at all, he just hummed coldly.
That attitude was the true color of this wretched man.
After returning to her room, Stella locked the door from the inside. Then she took her clothes and
entered the bathroom.
She didn’t take a nap in the afternoon, and she had walked to so many places with Clarence. Now she
just wished that she could lie down as soon as finishing the shower.
However, unexpectedly, when she was half done with the shower, the light above her was out.
In a few seconds, the bathwater became cold as well.
Immediately, Stella turned off the tap. In the dark, she fumbled for a towel and wrapped her hair. Then
she put on her clothes slowly and opened the window to peer out.
Sure enough, the electricity was out in the whole community.
Anqiao Street was too old with old infrastructures, so the electricity would always be out from time to
time, but mostly it happened during the daytime. It didn’t impact their daily lives too much and the
electricity would be back shortly.
This was the first time that it was out at night since Stella moved here.
She walked out of the bathroom, staggered, and finally managed to reach her cell phone on the desk.
She turned on the flashlight and walked downstairs.
She remembered that Ms. Anderson mentioned her candles were in a cabinet of the living room.
However, after she had found the candles, Stella found another difficulty.
She didn’t have a lighter.
She had looked through every place but failed to find a lighter.
Stella turned around, looking at the black door of a bedroom. She gave up and heaved a sigh, “Excuse
me, Mr. Conrad. Are you sleeping?”
A few seconds later, the door was open. Clarence looked at her expressionlessly, “What do you want?”
“I... The electricity was out. Do you have a lighter? May I borrow it to light the candle, please?”
Clarence said rudely, “Weren’t you sleepy long ago? The electricity is out now. What else do you want
to do?”
Since she was asking him for help, Stella answered in a good manner, “I still haven’t finished washing
my hair. I need to boil some water and wash hair.”
“How will you boil the water?”
“There’s a coal stove in Ms. Anderson’s house. I saw it last time. I can use it.”
Clarence pressed his lips, “Where is it?”
Stella answered, “It should be in the kitchen. I can’t remember it exactly. I need to look for it.” After a
pause, she didn’t forget why she asked him for help, “By the way, Mr. Conrad, could you lend me your
lighter please?”
“No, I can’t.”
Stella was angry in silence.
With such an attitude, he must be dreaming to let her remarry him. She cursed him inwardly.
Clarence walked out of his room, took a candle from her hands, and walked directly into the kitchen.
When Stella followed him over, the candle was lit and put on the shelf. The little flame was swaying in
the breeze.
Clarence managed to find the coal stove from a pile of things. He cast Stella a glance and asked
unhappily, “Why are you here?”
“I...”
“Wait outside.”
Using the candle on the shelf, Stella lit up other candles in her hands. When she left the kitchen, she
left Clarence another one out of kindness.
When she walked to the yard, Stella put all the candles on the stone table. Rubbing her hands, she
looked up at the sky.
Without the city lights, the moon looked clearer and brighter in the sky.
Shortly after, Stella heard some movements in the kitchen, but she didn’t see Clarence come out for a
long time. She waited, but she couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Conrad, do you need any instructions?”
After a few seconds of silence, a voice answered her in the kitchen, “Shut up.”
“All right.”
Stella waited for another ten minutes. Then Clarence walked out with a coal stove in his hands.
After he put the pot of water to boil on the stove, Clarence bent down on his knee and looked at her,
“What else? Just tell me in a one-go.”
Stella blinked, “I’m hungry.”
Clarence was speechless.
Stella was afraid that he would comment “were all food you previously ate digesting in a dog’s tummy?”
After all, he had used a lot of animals to mock her tonight.
She mumbled, “It’s quite easy for pregnant women to get starved. Besides, you asked me yourself.”
“Are you blaming me for it then?” Clarence wasn’t in the mood to argue with her, pulling out his phone.
Stella noticed that he was dialing Nathan’s number. She hurriedly said, “Mr. Conrad, please don’t. I just
said that casually. Please don’t bother Nathan. It’s so late now.”
Clarence put down his phone, staring at her in silence with his ink-black eyes, “What do you want
then?”
Stella asked him for a favor, “There are some snacks in my room. Mr. Conrad, would you mind getting
some of them for me downstairs?”
If it weren’t for the inconvenience caused by the darkness, she would have gone upstairs herself.
Clarence stood up, “Wait here.”
Stella smiled at his cold face, “Thank you, Mr. Conrad. They are in the small basket on the desk.
Please pick up a few bags at random.”
Second floor.
Stella’s desk was under the window. The moonlight fell on the desk, peacefully and gently.
Clarence found the basket full of snacks with one glimpse. He didn’t want to pick anything up. Instead,
he picked up the whole basket.
He turned around and took a few steps, and then he felt that he was stepping on something.
He took a step back and bent down one knee.
...
Stella supported her hands on the table, looking at the swaying candle flames, lost in thought.
Since last night, Clarence treated her quite weirdly. Although he was still sharp-tongued, he could care
about her details and take care of her. She wondered if he was impacted by the environment in this
town.
After a while, there was something put in front of her.
Stella returned to her senses. Raising her head and looked at the whole basket of snacks, she parted
her lips and wanted to speak. However, she swallowed her words after they reached the tip of her
tongue. It was already nice of Clarence to condescend and get the snacks for her. She shouldn’t ask
much.
She put on a smile, “Thank you, Mr. Conrad.”
Clarence pulled a long face and said, “Instead of thanking me, you’d better make less trouble to me.”
Stella ignored his words directly. She opened a bag, “Mr. Conrad, do you want some?”
“Nope.”
She was happy as she asked just for being polite.
Stella chewed the snacks. While she was eating, her mood got better than better.
Clarence was sitting next to her, staring at her. After a moment, he suddenly called her, “Stella.”
“Yes?”
In the dark, Clarence frowned slightly. Looking down at her belly, he parted his thin lips, but still, he
didn’t finish his words.
Stella asked, “Yes, Mr. Conrad?”
Clarence withdrew his gaze and said indifferently, “Eat less junk food. It’s not good for your brain.”
Stella was choked up by his words.
Right then, the water on the coal stove was boiling.
Stella put down the snack in her hands and was about to take a basin. Clarence stood up and strode
into the dark.
Two minutes later, he came out with a basin of cold water.
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