Chapter 8

At that moment, Stella was sitting on Rowan’s lap. One of his arms wrapped around her waist in a hold that felt both possessive and tender, like a gentle kind of captivity. He held her easily, as if she belonged there. His breath was warm, and when he spoke, his lips almost brushed hers.

Stella’s breath caught as she saw the hunger in his deep eyes. It was a look she knew all too well. In her past life, every time they got intimate, he would look at her just like that—like a hunter who had already marked his prey. And she was the one who had... But back then, she had always run. After that night, when he said he wanted to marry her, she told him to get lost.

He gave her space, thinking she needed time to cool down. But somehow, a video of him carrying her into a bedroom got leaked. While people were still speculating about their relationship, a rumor surfaced that Rowan was supposedly about to get engaged to Diana Menzie, the heiress of the Menzie family from Londale. The news claimed the engagement had been arranged earlier this year.

Diana even posted something on Twitter. It didn’t name anyone directly, but everyone could tell who it was aimed at: "A bitch gets what she deserves." It was vague, but it didn’t take much to figure out—everyone knew she was talking about Stella.

Overnight, Stella, who had already been cast as the cruel sister who bullied her poor sister and got kicked out of her family, was now labeled a mistress seducing someone else’s fiancé. Even though Stella had heard countless cruel insults, at that time, each laugh, insult, and malicious curse felt like a blade dipped in blood, stabbing her so deeply it was unbearable.

Even though the trending topics were taken down fast, and Diana later deleted her post and publicly apologized, and Rowan personally clarified on Twitter that he had nothing to do with Diana and had been the one pursuing Stella—none of it mattered. No one believed her by then. The insults never stopped.

Her parents, Jessie and Lewis, called her in a rage. They screamed at her, cursing her for humiliating the Fairchild name. They said they wished she had never been born. Randy was even worse. Once he found out Stella had slept with Rowan, he looked at her like she was something filthy, constantly calling her a slut every chance he got.

That time in her life had been agony. And since she had nowhere else to pour that pain, she dumped all of it on Rowan. She hated him with every fiber of her being. She had convinced herself that everything—the rumors, the betrayal, the shame—was his fault. So, whenever he came close, she would lash out, shoving him, screaming at him like a madwoman.

But he never fought back. He would let her hit him, let her rage, and when she was finally too exhausted to continue, he would just pull her into his arms and hold her like he never wanted to let her go.

At that moment, Rowan’s eyes were filled with the same hunger. Back then, Stella had seen that hunger as something sinister. She believed he didn’t truly care for her, that he was only after her body. Stella stared into his eyes, and only after a long moment did she realize that the hunger was really years of repressed desire. He had liked her for a long time. Stella found herself lost in thought.

Rowan lowered his gaze, pressing his forehead against hers and softly asking, "Don’t you want to kiss me?" His breath was hot against her skin, and as Stella came back to herself, she instinctively placed her hands on his shoulders. "It’s not that."

"Then, shall we kiss?" His voice dropped even lower, his breath growing hotter as his fingers tightened on her chin. Gently, his thumb brushed over her lips, caressing them softly. "I’ll open my mouth for you, Stella. Will you kiss me?"

He had been calling her Stella all day, but now, he was finally calling her Stell, more intimately than before. Stella felt her ears heat up at his words and couldn’t help but bite her lip, fighting the temptation. He was teasing her, pulling her in. She wanted to kiss him even without his teasing.

But just then, something from her past life flashed in her mind. She felt there were still things left unresolved, and she couldn’t kiss him yet. Her hands pressed gently against his shoulders, and she pushed him back slightly.

As he narrowed his eyes, she directly asked, "Are you really getting engaged to Diana?"

He blinked in surprise, his brows furrowing in confusion. "Who is Diana?" He had already offered an explanation before that he and Diana had no relationship. They had met once through a family arrangement, but Rowan had made it clear he had rejected her outright.

But today, Stella had seen herself trending on Twitter with Rowan, and now everyone was speculating about their relationship. Though she hadn’t been drugged this time, the fact that she and Rowan were trending was just like last time. Stella was now more alert than ever. If history repeated itself, tomorrow, the news of Rowan and Diana’s supposed engagement would surface, and Diana would surely post something on Twitter.

This time, she needed to handle it before the news exploded. She couldn’t wait until the rumors were all over Twitter to clear things up. No one would believe any clarification once the gossip spread.

She huffed lightly, reminding him, "Diana, the heiress of the Menzie family, just came back from abroad earlier this year. Didn’t you two go on a blind date? And now you’re saying you don’t know her?" Speaking of which, Stella had even run into Rowan and Diana when they were leaving a restaurant together after their arranged meeting. They had walked side by side, looking like a couple.