Return of the Crowned Heiress Chapter 351

Stephan’s warm breath brushed against Felicia’s ear, making her spine tingle. Combined with Stephan’s teasing tone, which was thick with innuendo, the atmosphere was unmistakably charged.

The storeroom was pitch–black, with the only illumination coming from the faint light seeping in from the door’s cracks. Despite the darkness, Felicia could feel Stephan’s burning gaze locked onto her.

She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “It’s either friends or not even that. There’s no middle ground.”

Stephan chuckled, his hold around her waist tightening. He made it clear he wasn’t about to let her go.

“Funny,” he murmured, his voice dangerously low. “You weren’t talking about ‘just friends‘ when you were begging me last time.”

The suggestive edge in his tone caught Felicia off guard, her mind flashing to that night. She’d been drugged by Arnold and was barely keeping herself together until Stephan found her and got her out of the Lawson residence. Once her defenses crumbled, everything else happened as if it were inevitable.

For a split second, guilt flickered in Felicia’s heart. She had been rather cold afterward, hadn’t she? After getting what she needed, she walked away without looking back.

Quickly, she seized the moment to shift the narrative. “I can make it up to you!” she blurted,

Stephan’s expression darkened further, his jaw tightening. It was as if he was debating whether to laugh or strangle her.

Sensing his rising frustration, Felicia leaned her head back slightly and added, “Come on, we’ve been over this. That night wasn’t some grand affair. Back then, it was mutual. We were consenting adults having fun. No big deal. No need to blow it out of proportion.”

Her words struck a nerve.

Stephan’s brows knitted together. He leaned closer, his gaze piercing. It was as if he were dissecting her very soul.

Felicia sighed inwardly, knowing full well how blunt her words sounded. She couldn’t deny the pull she felt toward him if she were honest with herself. His chiseled face, magnetic presence, and unrelenting intensity made anyone’s heart skip a beat.

But she couldn’t trust him completely, let alone depend on him, just because her heart wavered momentarily.

In

hearted and unfeeling–always calculating gains and losses, always guarded, and always doubting others‘ sincerity.

Like a stubborn stone–impossible to warm, impossible to break.

And besides, she barely knew Stephan. The little she did know came from rumors. He was a mystery, one cloaked in danger and allure. That made him both tempting and untouchable.

His presence in Khogend wasn’t a coincidence either. He clearly had a purpose. And she was. just a small, incidental part of his plans. Or worse… a distraction.

She hesitated but eventually asked, “Mr. Russell, you must’ve had something important to deal with when you came to Khogend. Is there anything I can do to help?”

His dark, piercing eyes bore into her, a storm brewing beneath his composed exterior.

To her surprise, he seemed… angry.

Why?

Could it be that his reason for coming here wasn’t some hidden agenda but her? No way. She

wasn’t about to flatter herself like that.

Stephan’s low voice broke the tension. “I thought something had happened to you.”

Felica froze.