Chapter 188: Her Courage Comes From Him

Dominic ignored her and continued walking with Pudding. Bella unconsciously stopped, watching his back. The seemingly endless road was lined with neatly planted trees, their brown leaves signaling the end of autumn. Dominic's figure blended seamlessly with the surroundings, like a beautiful artwork. A wave of emotion washed over her.

Noticing Bella had fallen behind, Pudding turned and huffed, urging her to hurry. Bella sniffled and quickened her pace. Pudding, thinking it was a game, began circling Dominic. He seemed a little helpless but his expression was gentle. Finally, she stopped, panting. "No more games," she said. "Let's walk slowly and let the food digest."

Pudding panted heavily, her slick black fur gleaming.

Dominic turned to her. "Before Pudding came along," he said, "I never walked here. It must be much more beautiful in the spring."

Feeling guilty, Bella looked away. "I guess so. It will be just as beautiful then, lush and green, as it is now golden in the fall."

He paused, loosened Pudding's leash, and lit a cigarette. "The flowers in the yard are nice. I didn't expect you to have such good taste in planters." She smiled but remained silent about purchasing the flowers from the market and nearly being caught by the Yates family. The memory of his timely call that day warmed her, despite the nerve-wracking situation. She realized that sometimes, all one needed was the courage to do something unprecedented—and her bravery came from him.

After he'd smoked about half the cigarette, Bella stretched out to extinguish it. "That's enough. Stop smoking. Let's go back."

He seemed uneasy, clutching his now-empty hand. He whistled, and Pudding immediately returned from exploring the nearby bushes.

The wind was strong that night, and the fallen leaves were thick on the ground. Bella sneezed repeatedly on their return, a bad sign. The next day, she awoke with a heavy head, sore throat, stuffy nose, and a cold.

At her office, she routinely checked her phone and saw a message from Dominic. He mentioned Leonard's upcoming birthday and invited her. Leonard disliked large parties, so it would be a small gathering of close friends. Unsure if she'd be well enough, and unsure what to say, Bella pretended not to see the message.

She'd agreed to Simon's request the previous day, and he'd already called several times urging her to complete the name-change paperwork. She could do it anytime, but procrastinated. Perhaps she didn't want to make things easy for him. The prospect of changing her surname to Kennedy, even temporarily, disgusted her.

She hadn't expected Simon to push for a meal with his wife and son for the sake of family harmony. The thought of the woman's repulsive face made her nauseous, and she refused his invitation without hesitation.

Chapter 15? (The chapter number appears incorrect here.)

Changes Made:

• Corrected grammar and punctuation throughout.
• Improved sentence structure for clarity and flow.
• Removed the distracting and out-of-place website mention.
• Clarified ambiguous phrasing.
• Corrected inconsistencies in capitalization and formatting.
• Addressed the potentially incorrect chapter number at the end.

The final chapter number seems erroneous and needs review. I've left it as is, but it should be checked against the original source material.