Page 98 of King of Rage

Without waiting, she hurried back inside.

In the living room, Lucius was still sitting on the couch, surrounded by the gifts scattered across the table. He picked up one of the boxes and examined it before setting it aside. There were several expensive gifts among them, including designer dresses, jewelry, and even property papers they had received for their wedding.

He glanced over the table with a faint smile, still unable to hide how pleased he was by everything that now belonged to their life together.

Then an unfamiliar ringtone broke through the quiet room.

Lucius frowned.

His gaze moved toward the sound until he spotted Stella’s phone lying on the side table beneath the lamp.

He rose from the couch and walked over. The screen showed an unfamiliar number.

He picked it up, intending to take it to Stella, but the call was still coming through.

After a brief hesitation, he answered.

“Hello?”

“Good day, sir. This call is regarding Miss Stella Gibson’s flight to London,” a voice said on the other end. “We’d like to inform you that everything has been arranged and the flight is ready for her departure. We’re simply waiting for her arrival. Would you like us to send a car to your residence to pick her up, or will she be arriving on her own?”

Lucius went completely still.

His fingers tightened around the phone.

London.

For several seconds, he said nothing. His expression emptied as the words sank in, followed by a cold rush of disbelief.

She was leaving?

His jaw tightened.

All this time, had Stella simply been waiting for the right moment to leave him again?

His grip on the phone became so tight that his knuckles whitened.

He abruptly ended the call.

“Everything was a lie?” he whispered, his voice barely audible.

His chest rose sharply as he stared at the phone in his hand. His thoughts raced, and for the first time in a long time, Lucius looked genuinely shaken.

Then he heard footsteps.

Stella hurried back into the living room.

“Did I leave my phone here?” she called. “I came back to get it.”

The moment she saw Lucius, she smiled.

He moved toward her immediately.

Before she could ask what was wrong, he pulled her into his arms.

The force of his embrace made her gasp. His arms locked tightly around her, almost as though he was afraid that if he loosened them for even a second, she would disappear.

Stella felt the tension in his body and immediately looked up at him.