Chapter 189: Chapter 189 How responsible
Alana gasped, “You can’t just go killing people.”
Stephan said coldly, “He touched you. It’s only right that I teach him a lesson.”
Alana watched him anxiously. “Anyway, fighting is wrong. Could you tone it down a bit? I don’t want anything to happen to you because of me.”
Seeing the worried look on her face, Stephan chuckled softly, his gaze
softening.
He raised his hand and gently ruffled her hair. “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”
Alana let out a slight sigh of relief.
As for whether Cole would hold Stephan accountable, she’d worry about that
tomorrow.
Besides, this wasn’t entirely Stephan’s fault. Next, Stephan drove Alana straight back to their apartment.
The group chat with his friends was buzzing with activity; they were all tagging Stephan, asking when he’d bring his wife over, they were all waiting in the private room to meet her.
When Stephan got back to the apartment, he realized he had over 99 unread messages in the group.
He replied manually: [Don’t wait anymore. Go home, wash up, and go to sleep. I just brought your sister-in-law home.]
As soon as the message went out, the group erupted in a chorus of groans.
Stephan couldn’t be bothered to respond. He set down his phone, turned around, and pulled Alana into his arms.
He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his hands resting on her slender waist, holding her tightly.
Alana had just been about to look for clothes to take a shower when the man suddenly embraced her. She was a bit puzzled.
“What’s wrong?”
His thin lips pressed against the crook of her neck, and he couldn’t help but suck hard. “Lana, you really do make men crazy over you. First there was Manager Dane, who had his eye on you, then Luca, and now this guy...Cole.”
“Also, these are the only ones these few who have their eyes on you, how many more are there that I don’t know about, hmm?”
When he found out she’d lied to him to push him away before, he felt angry, but mostly excited.
Because she belonged to him, entirely and completely his!
He had her all to himself! He was never the other man.
But... the endless stream of unwanted suitors swarming around her left him feeling
deeply threatened.
Alana bit her lip. “You’re overthinking it. There aren’t that many...”
Stephan looked up but kept holding her close, his dark eyes fixed on her. “Do they
know you have a boyfriend? And they’re still hitting on you?”
Alana felt nervous under his intense gaze and whispered, “They do. I told them I’m
seeing someone.”
Stephan’s thin lips twitched. “They know you have a boyfriend, and they’re still after you? Every single one of them wants to be the other man, trying to steal my girlfriend away?”
When your girlfriend was this beautiful and not always by your side, who knows how many wolves were circling her?
Sometimes, you just couldn’t guard against everything!
Stephan gazed at the girl’s beautiful, innocent yet alluring face. He couldn’t help but cup it in both hands and coax her softly,
“Sweetheart, why don’t you consider quitting your job? I’ll take care of you.” He thought to himself, he wasn’t forcing her to quit her job, he was just asking her to consider it.
Yes, he was respecting her opinion.
Alana froze. “Huh?”
Weren’t they just talking about men?
Why had the conversation suddenly shifted to her job?
Stephan looked at the girl’s bewildered expression. To show his sincerity, he pulled out a bank card, grabbed one of her hands, and pressed the card into it.
“This is one of my bank cards. Feel free to use any amount you want. It’s unlimited.”
Alana looked at the almost entirely black bank card in her palm, edged with gold
stripes, and for a moment, it actually felt a little too hot to hold. “No, no! I don’t want your bank card.” She quickly shoved the card back into the man’s hand.
Stephan stared at her, his eyes dark and intense. “Lana, don’t you want my money?Even if I’m giving it to you willingly, you still don’t want it?”
Alana shook her head and said earnestly, “Stephan, you’ve misunderstood. I just don’t want to be a parasitic plant that clings to her boyfriend and has no sense of self.”
“I should have my own career, and within that career, strive hard, shine brightly, and realize my self-worth. Even though the process is tough, I won’t lose myself.”
Once she lost her job and devoted herself entirely to a man, even if that man were willing to support her, she wouldn’t truly be happy.
On the contrary, having grown accustomed to being supported by a man, she would live in constant fear,what if he stopped treating her well and withdrew everything he’d invested in her? Without a job, how could she fill that void?
Any woman with even a modicum of rationality would never give up her career for the sake of a relationship.
Stephan watched the girl explain her reasoning to him with such earnestness, and instead of getting angry, he smiled.
A faint smile played on his thin lips. She was indeed the woman he had chosen, she had her own thoughts and was very clear-headed.
So clear-headed, in fact, that he found himself at a loss with her.
He wanted to shower her with money and let her live a life of leisure, but she wasn’t having it.
So what could he do?
He could only spoil her.
“Fine. If you want to work, then work. I won’t ask you to quit.”
Alana’s eyes crinkled into a smile.
Unlike some men with strong chauvinistic tendencies, Stephan actually respected her opinion and wouldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want to do. That was a major plus.
Stephan changed the subject. “But could you switch jobs?”
Alana grimaced. “Hm?”
He rubbed her cheek and discussed it seriously with her, “Come work for me. I’ll pay you a high salary.”
Alana froze. “Huh? You want me to work for you, does that mean you’re offering me a backdoor?”
Stephan asked with a smile, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like getting special treatment?”
Alana looked conflicted. “I... I don’t really. Well, you know, I mean... people will talk if I get a backdoor deal. You said I’m just an ordinary person with average abilities, so if I get a backdoor appointment, then...” The girl stammered, her adorable look of conflict and hesitation making Stephan burst out laughing.
“With me looking out for you, what’s there to be afraid of?”
Alana blinked and said earnestly, “No, I can’t keep bothering you, can I? If I just stay under your wing, protected by you, how am I ever going to grow? I think everyone needs the ability and courage to stand on their own two feet; you can’t rely on others for everything. What if one day, that person turns out to be unreliable?”
Stephan’s lips curled into a half-smile. “Are you implying that I’m unreliable?”
“No. I didn’t mean to say you’re unreliable. I was just saying ‘what if you become’ as in one-in-ten-thousand chance, something so minuscule it’s practically negligible.”
Stephan snorted with a laugh. She was chattering away, but her explanation was
practically meaningless.
Wasn’t she just trying to say he wasn’t reliable, that she couldn’t depend on him for the rest of her life?
Were girls these days all so level-headed? Don’t they ever get swept up in romance?
It almost made him, a grown man, seem like the only one with a “love-struck brain,” always thinking of her first.
Never mind, never mind.
“Fine, I’ll put the suggestion of you working by my side on hold for now. But if anything at your job makes you uncomfortable, just tell me, I’ll take care of it for you anytime.”
“But...”
He pinched her cheek. “No ‘buts.’ If your boyfriend doesn’t even have the ability
to sort out your problems, he doesn’t deserve to be your boyfriend.”
Alana blinked. Boyfriend... how self-aware, how responsible.
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