Chapter 10

Stella tightly gripped the fabric of Rowan’s robe around his waist, feeling a bit nervous. Rowan kissed her, and the hand that had been holding her chin moved to the back of her head. His fingers threaded through her hair, gently pressing her closer to him, making their bodies press together. He softly kissed her lips, slowly sucking and nibbling, over and over.

Stella realized that Rowan’s kiss felt different from when she kissed him in her past life. Back then, he had always kissed her with such force, perhaps because she had resisted him, making it feel painful, as if he was trying to mark her, to claim her. They had rarely, if ever, shared a gentle kiss like this. She had resisted him at every turn. His kisses back then were fierce, almost brutal. She had even once thought he was incapable of tenderness, that he was like a wild animal who only knew how to fiercely bite after catching his prey. But now, at that moment, she realized how wrong she had been.

Her lashes fluttered as his lips moved so softly against hers. Thankfully, she was sitting in his lap, with him holding her, making her feel secure. But just as the kiss was about to deepen, Felix, who had been curled up beside Rowan, suddenly became restless. The cat was unusually agitated. It butted and nudged at Rowan, using its head and paws.

Both of them stopped. Rowan frowned and released Stella, turning his attention to the troublemaking cat. Stella followed his gaze, her eyes landing on Felix. Just as their eyes met, Felix growled and let out a shrill, eerie cry, like a baby’s wail. Stella flinched, instinctively shrinking into Rowan’s embrace, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck. Rowan’s frown deepened as he scolded Felix, "Felix!"

Felix turned its head toward him, mewing softly with a look of pity in its eyes. Stella bit her lip nervously, feeling a mix of fear and unease. She buried her face in Rowan’s shoulder, her voice trembling as she whispered, "Rowan, I don’t want to stay here." Rowan could sense her fear. His expression darkened, but he said nothing. He simply stood up, holding her in his arms.

When Felix saw them preparing to leave, it lightly jumped off the couch as if wanting to follow them, but Rowan stopped it with a single glare. Felix mewed once more, lying down on the floor and staring at them with a pitiful gaze. It was clearly Stella’s cat, and its eyes mirrored her. But Rowan paid it no attention, carrying Stella as he walked away.

As the door closed, Stella looked past Rowan’s shoulder toward Felix in the living room. She was afraid that Felix’s aggressive behavior toward her and his resistance to Rowan getting close might mean that Felix could sense she had been reborn, seeing her as a ghost.

Rowan carried her back upstairs to his apartment. Stella kept murmuring in his ear, "I told you, he’s really fierce." After entering, Rowan set her down, raising an eyebrow at her words. "So, what are you going to do? Not keep the cat anymore?" He said this while heading toward the kitchen. Stella frowned at his words.

Felix had been with her for four years, a birthday gift she received on her 18th birthday. Someone had left him at her doorstep, but she never found out who. The card simply read, "Happy Birthday." At the time, she had asked everyone she knew if they had sent the cat, but no one knew. Her friends even teased her, wondering how anyone could give such a gift—just a cat, for the heiress of the Fairchild family’s birthday. But what they didn’t realize was that Stella loved cats.