Chapter 15 I Don’t Want to Lose You Again #3
Outside the house, a driver was already waiting beside the car. As Stella stepped closer, he immediately opened the car door for her.
“Thank you,” she said with a polite smile.
She was about to settle in when she suddenly stopped.
“My phone.”
Her eyes dropped to her empty hand, and she immediately turned around.
“I forgot my phone.”
Without waiting, she hurried back inside.
In the living room, Lucius was still sitting on the couch, surrounded by the gifts scattered across the table.
He picked up one of the boxes and examined it before setting it aside.
There were several expensive gifts among them, including designer dresses, jewelry, and even property papers they had received for their wedding.
He glanced over the table with a faint smile, still unable to hide how pleased he was by everything that now belonged to their life together.
Then an unfamiliar ringtone broke through the quiet room.
Lucius frowned.
His gaze moved toward the sound until he spotted Stella’s phone lying on the side table beneath the lamp.
He rose from the couch and walked over. The screen showed an unfamiliar number.
He picked it up, intending to take it to Stella, but the call was still coming through.
After a brief hesitation, he answered.
“Hello?”
“Good day, sir. This call is regarding Miss Stella Gibson’s flight to London,” a voice said on the other end.
“We’d like to inform you that everything has been arranged and the flight is ready for her departure.
We’re simply waiting for her arrival. Would you like us to send a car to your residence to pick her up, or will she be arriving on her own? ”
Lucius went completely still.
His fingers tightened around the phone.
London.
For several seconds, he said nothing. His expression emptied as the words sank in, followed by a cold rush of disbelief.
She was leaving?
His jaw tightened.
All this time, had Stella simply been waiting for the right moment to leave him again?
His grip on the phone became so tight that his knuckles whitened.
He abruptly ended the call.
“Everything was a lie?” he whispered, his voice barely audible.
His chest rose sharply as he stared at the phone in his hand. His thoughts raced, and for the first time in a long time, Lucius looked genuinely shaken.
Then he heard footsteps.
Stella hurried back into the living room.
“Did I leave my phone here?” she called. “I came back to get it.”
The moment she saw Lucius, she smiled.
He moved toward her immediately.
Before she could ask what was wrong, he pulled her into his arms.
The force of his embrace made her gasp. His arms locked tightly around her, almost as though he was afraid that if he loosened them for even a second, she would disappear.
Stella felt the tension in his body and immediately looked up at him.
His jaw was tight, his eyes dark.
“I’m afraid you’ve left me again,” he said.
His voice was low, but there was unmistakable fear beneath it.
“I almost called Nial and had him block the entire city to find you. I wouldn’t have let you disappear on me again.”
Stella stared at him, completely bewildered.
“What is going on?”
Lucius finally loosened his hold enough to look into her eyes, but one hand remained firmly around her waist.
“What was that call about?”
“What call?”
“The call about your flight to London.” His gaze sharpened. “Are you leaving?”
For a moment, Stella simply stared at him.
Then realization dawned.
“Oh.”
She glanced toward the phone still in his hand.
“I forgot to cancel my flight to London. I booked it months ago.”
Lucius continued watching her, his expression guarded.
“I’ll call my friend and tell him my plans have been canceled,” she added quickly. “I think it’s just a misunderstanding.”
She reached up and touched his arm, trying to ease the tension in him.
“Besides, you and I can go to London together if I want to go there for business in the future, right?”
Lucius’s expression softened almost immediately.
“Of course! I’ll take you whenever you want.” His answer came without hesitation. “I’ll book the flight myself. Cancel this one.”
He paused, his eyes searching hers.
“I don’t want you to go alone.”
The vulnerability in his voice softened Stella's expression.
“All right,” she said with a small smile.
Relief washed over his face.
The next moment, Lucius swept her into his arms.
Stella let out a surprised laugh as he carried her toward the couch, his mood changing so quickly that she could hardly keep up with him.
He sat down and settled her comfortably in his lap, one arm wrapping securely around her waist.
A satisfied smile lingered on his face, as though the fear that had gripped him moments earlier had already disappeared.
Stella shook her head, amused by him.
Lucius looked at her for a long moment, his gaze moving over her face as if reassuring himself that she was really there. Then his expression darkened with sudden hunger.
He slid one hand behind her head and pulled her toward him.
His mouth crashed against hers in a rough, hungry kiss, his hold tightening around her waist as he kissed her with all the emotion he had been holding back.