Chapter 214

Dappled shadows danced through the trees as Adrian Roland gently laid the sleeping Stella Valentine against a sturdy trunk. He removed his jacket to wrap around her slender frame before stepping away to answer the call.

"Uncle Xavier."

"Return immediately." Suppressed fury vibrated through the line.

Adrian watched moonlight ripple across the lake's surface. "I owe you my gratitude for these years of mentorship. But the path ahead—I choose it myself."

"Fool!" The old man's voice sharpened. "I made you break your own arm to teach you a lesson! Look at my legs—they're your warning!"

Moonlight glinted off the cast encasing Adrian's left arm. His lips curved. "So what if it's ruined?"

"You think Stella Valentine would nurse a cripple for life?"

"She would."

"Naive!" Xavier's voice shook. "Someone once promised to be my crutch too. Where are they now?"

"Uncle." Adrian's gaze frosted over. "You've used that story to manipulate me for a decade. I could've loved her properly. Instead, you forged me into a revenge machine."

A ragged inhale sounded through the phone. "You blame me?"

"I dare not forget my debts." Adrian's eyes found Stella's sleeping form. "But hurting her remains my life's greatest regret."

"You'll live to rue this!"

"Losing her is the only regret that would haunt me forever."

The phone described a graceful arc into the lake as he ended the call. The splash startled a nightingale from its perch.

When Adrian returned, Stella was rubbing her eyes. Moonlight gilded her silhouette, transforming her into a lost woodland sprite.

"Lost your phone?" She frowned.

"Must've dropped it."

"No more reckless driving." She poked his chest.

He captured her hand. "As you wish, Mrs. Roland."

"What did you call me?"

"Mrs. Roland." His breath warmed her ear. "The kind who can never escape."

Stella rested her head against his shoulder with a soft laugh. "I must've owed the Roland family a fortune in my past life."

Leaves whispered overhead in the night breeze.

"Darling, will you tell me your real name now?" She tilted her face up. "A wife should know her husband's name."

"Isn't 'darling' enough?"

"How embarrassing when neighbors ask."

After a pause, he admitted, "...I have no name."

Stella's eyes sparkled. "I understand! You must've been kidnapped as a child." Her fingers brushed his cheek tenderly. "Don't worry, I'll give you a new one."

"Adrian Roland II." Her smile mirrored the crescent moon above. "The 'II' means returning home."

His brow arched. "Is my wife hinting at something?"

"Of course not!" Blushing, she explained, "It's for when our children learn to write."

Starlight caught in her hair like scattered diamonds.

"Overbearing Dragon Regrets." She murmured suddenly. "Like how you'd reach for me, then pull back."

Adrian's breath hitched. His little star always pinpointed his deepest wounds with poetic precision.

"Very well. From now on, I'm Adrian Roland II."

"Adrian II."

"Wrong." He tweaked her nose. "Time to change how you address me, Miss Shi."

The night air turned scorching. Stella's ears burned crimson before she managed a whisper: "...Husband."

A satisfied sigh escaped him as he tightened his embrace. "Remember it. Don't forget."

"I won't!" She playfully thumped his chest. "Such a nag."