Clarence stared at her and didn’t utter a word.
Under his gaze, Stella felt a bit uneasy. She looked away and coughed, “Mr. Conrad, if you don’t want
to answer your question, please ignore it.”
After a while, Clarence said calmly, “Since you said so, I do regret it.”
“Mr. Conrad, if you regret it, you can go back to Phoebe Steward. It’s still not too late.” As she spoke,
Stella stood up, “It’s quite late now. I’m taking off.”
After she took a few steps, her wrist was grabbed.
Clarence slightly increased his strength to grip her, and she fell into his arms.
Before Stella struggled, Clarence wrapped his arms around her waist, raising his brows, “Are you
jealous?”
Stella said expressionlessly, “I’m too tough to be jealous.”
Clarence curled up his lips and intentionally or unintentionally glanced at her bosom, “You are quite
tough indeed.”
Upon understanding his implication, Stella hurried raised her arms to cover her bosom, blushing. After
a long while, she cursed, “You rascal!”
“Why did you curse me? Didn’t you say you are quite tough? I like it.”
Stella choked up.
She doubted if the wretched man was mentally ill.
She said crossly, “Let go!”
Clarence, however, tightened his arms around her waist. He pressed his chin on her shoulder and
whispered, “Don’t move. I want to hold you.”
“Mr. Conrad, aren’t you jealous? Why don’t you hold Phoebe Steward?”
“All right. I was kidding with you. You don’t need to be jealous. Calm down.”
“I...”
Stella couldn’t utter any word for a moment.
Clarence said, “Wait for me for another half an hour. I’ll drive you home.”
“Mr. Conrad, aren’t you quite busy?”
“The work cannot be accomplished within just one day.”
Stella was silent and then continued, “Why do I need to wait for you for another half an hour?”
Clarence said, “It’s quite rare that you actively came to find me. If I let you go home like this, I would
waste your kindness, wouldn’t I?”
Stella didn’t speak. She knew what was in the wretched man’s mind. She shouldn’t have asked him.
After a few minutes, Clarence asked, “Have you decided the question you want to ask me?”
Stella’s lips parted. The words reached the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t know how to start.
“Okay, keep on thinking.”
Stella sat on his lap, and she could clearly hear the man’s heartbeat.
After a few seconds, she raised her hand and gently put it on his chest.
Clarence slightly stiffed. When he prepared to speak, Stella said, “Shush.”
He licked his thin lips calmly, staring at her without a blink.
Stella kept putting her palm on his chest. Under the cloth, she could feel his steady and powerful
heartbeat.
After a long while, Stella withdrew her hand and whispered, “I’ve finished asking.”
Clarence didn’t understand, “Pardon?”
Stella answered, “Nothing.”
She checked the time, “It’s quite late now. I need to go to work tomorrow. Please give me a ride home.”
Clarence’s eyes were darkened. He didn’t speak.
Stella looked up at him, “Are you giving me a ride or not? Or I’ll call a cab.”
Clarence withdrew his hands, “Sure.”
Stella stood up from his lap, straightening herself up as if nothing had happened.
Clarence picked up his coat, “Let’s go.”
On the way back, Stella pressed the car window to open a small crack. She kept peering out of the
window, slightly curling up her lips.
When the Rolls-Royce parked downstairs of Stella’s apartment, she was about to unfasten the seat
belt, but Clarence dragged her over. Stella met his black eyes, blinking.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. He whispered to ask, “What did you ask me just now?”
Stella answered, “A secret.”
He approached her closer, “You don’t want to tell me, do you?”
“Mr. Conrad, don’t you also have a lot of secrets? We’re even.”
Clarence asked, “What secrets do I keep from you?”
Stella thought for a moment and decided to toss back the tough question to him, “Mr. Conrad, you
know what you’ve hidden.”
Clarence indeed had hidden something from him. For a moment, he couldn’t find the right words to
retort her.
Seeing that he kept silent, Stella knew she won against him this time, “Okay, I’m going upstairs. Mr.
Conrad, be careful when driving home. Good night.”
She turned around and was about to pull the door open, and she heard Clarence’s voice from the
aside, “Stella, wait.”
“What...”
She subconsciously looked back. Before she could finish her words, her lips were sealed.
Clarence studied her expression. Seeing that she didn’t resist as usual, he raised his hands to press
the back of her head, gradually deepening the kiss.
...
After walking out of the elevator, Stella walked at a delightful pace with both her hands in the pockets of
her coat.
She entered the passcode, pulled the door open, and was walking in, only to find Sherry was looking at
her thoughtfully while holding her own arms across her chest.
Under Sherry’s gaze, Stella felt a bit guilty. She coughed and rubbed her nose unnaturally, “Well... It’s
so late now... Why are you still awake?”
“I’m just wondering where you are from so late.”
Stella hurriedly answered, “I was a bit hungry, so I went out to grab something. If I knew you hadn’t
slept yet, I would bring you some takeout.”
Sherry raised her eyebrows and asked, “What did you eat?”
“Hmm... spicy hotchpotch.”
“Oh, I see. It must be quite spicy as your lips are swollen.”
Stella choked up.
She let out a hollow laugh and tried to cover her lies, “Yeah... We can go there together next time. The
stall is in the lane downstairs. There were so many customers. I didn’t find it before...”
“Enough. You are going too far when making a story.”
Stella immediately shut up. She clenched her hands, lowered her head as if she had done something
wrong.
Sherry asked tentatively, “Are you going to move out soon?”
“What are you talking about?”
Sherry breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good then. Otherwise, if you progress too fast, I’m afraid I’ll be
left alone in this apartment again.”
Stella’s eyelids twitched. She said vaguely, “Well, it’s quite late now. I feel sleepy. Let’s go to bed. We
can talk tomorrow.”
After that, she rushed into her bedroom.
Looking at her receding figure, Sherry couldn’t help but click her tongue. She also went back to her
room slowly. She envied Stella a lot, wondering when she could also fall in love with someone.
Stella was lying on the bed, feeling quite spirited. She couldn’t fall asleep at all.
She slowly raised her hand and looked at her palm, on which the man’s temperature seemed to have
remained.
A grownup’s normal heart rate was around sixty to seventy a minute. When they were with their
crushes, the heart rate would accelerate automatically.
She had got the answer that she wanted to know.
Stella wrapped herself with the quilt, curling up her lips.
She hadn’t fallen asleep for a whole night.
On the second day, when Sherry dragged herself to get up with the holiday syndrome, she found that
Stella was busy in the kitchen. The latter was humming a song, looking extremely delighted.
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