Chapter 133/No rest ever

Chapter 133: 133/No rest ever

Chapter 133

**Stephanie’s POV**

I immediately slapped my freezing palm flat against his broad chest, desperate to placate his explosive fury before it tore the room apart. The thick veins in his neck were violently bulging, pulsing with dangerous rage.

"Very well... maintain your composure," I murmured, keeping my tone soft and yielding to reel him in. "We shall head to the clinic together tomorrow."

His rigid muscles relaxed a fraction under my touch. Turning away toward the exit, he spoke with a dry, calm detachment. "I shall depart the room now."

Instinct took over. My hand shot forward, my fingers tightly gripping his massive forearm to halt his retreat. I locked my eyes onto his, a tense, anxious curiosity gnawing at my chest. "Where exactly were you last night?"

He answered with a steady, unyielding rigidity that didn’t offer an inch of compromise. "I had an urgent business matter to attend to."

My brows knit together, a sharp, nervous cramp instantly seizing the lower depths of my abdomen. I whispered, genuine fear bleeding into my voice, "Did you... did you systematically murder someone?"

A subtle, fleeting smirk etched across his lips. Bending down, he gently slid his warm fingers across my pale, drained cheek with unexpected tenderness. "Stephanie, my sweet girl..." he murmured, his voice dropped to a low rumble, "your person must absolutely never exhaust your intellect with such grim matters."

He turned on his heel and exited the bedroom, his heavy strides echoing against the floorboards before the wooden door clicked shut behind him.

The moment he was gone, I collapsed onto the mattress from sheer, absolute exhaustion. I curled up, tightly pulling my knees against my chest as my mind violently exploded with a barrage of dark doubts and frantic thoughts. How on earth could I possibly juggle two powerful men simultaneously without my affair being exposed and my entire existence completely obliterated?! And that wretched, cryptic maid what exactly was her explicit goal and ultimate demand from me?!

Furthermore, what in the absolute hell were they all meticulously hiding inside that terrifying, dark basement? I was already certain that a catastrophic, lethal secret was resting deep within those subterranean walls. On top of everything else, I was forced to navigate the insolent arrival of Valentina moving into the estate, while still dealing with my tyrannical, cursed boss at the company!

I exhaled a massive, completely helpless breath, resting my back against the pillows with a deadening fatigue. Staring up at the ceiling with immense bitterness, my voice cracked, a choked sob escaping my throat. "Oh, Stephanie... what in the absolute hell have you plunged your existence into? Catastrophes and massive problems are surrounding you from every single direction!"

Suddenly, the loud, piercing ring of my phone violently shattered the silence, scattering my dark thoughts. I jolted upright. Lifting the device with a heavily trembling hand, I stared at a completely foreign, unrecognized number that I had never laid eyes on in my life.

Swallowing my nervousness, I swiped to answer and raised the phone to my ear. "Yes, hello... who exactly am I speaking with?"

A strict, arrogant, and immensely provocative voice radiated from the line, causing my entire frame to freeze in absolute shock and blazing fury. "It is your boss, Miss Miller."

My eyes widened to their limits. I bolted fully upright on the mattress, my voice sharp and laced with pure disbelief. "Mr. Vincenti! How on earth did you acquire my private phone number?!"

He responded in a freezing, superior, and thoroughly patronizing manner that grated on my raw nerves. "We possess the specific records and numbers of every single one of our employees, Miss Miller... that is an action that requires no questioning."

I drove my fingernails with crushing force into the bed sheets to thoroughly suppress my rising rage. "Is there a specific problem?" I asked with cold detachment.

He delivered his command in an absolute tone that left zero room for discussion or debate. "Arrive at my location this absolute instant... we have an exceptionally important business matter to execute."

My limbs convulsed, scorching blood of raw agitation igniting inside my veins. I screamed in a hushed, yet frantic tone through my panting breaths, "What?! Today is the official weekend, Mr. Vincenti! Or have you completely forgotten that reality?!"

He fired back with dry, freezing arrogance and a provocative, stubborn bite. "I am entirely aware of that fact, but business absolutely recognizes no weekends."

I gestured wildly in the empty room, my hand flying out in pure frustration as my voice shook violently with rage. "Do you genuinely expect me to work even during the weekend?! This is absolute madness!"

He delivered his next words in a strict, sharp, and final hiss that pierced straight through my eardrums. "Arrive at my private residence this absolute instant. You are entirely aware of the address... I am waiting for you."

And before I could even move my lips to utter a single syllable of flat refusal, he rudely slammed the line shut directly in my face. I was left staring blankly ahead, my eyes wide and trembling in the absolute center of the silent room.

Fuming, I rose from the bed and advanced with slow, dragging steps toward the massive wardrobe. I threw its double doors wide open with pure frustration, my freezing, trembling fingertips digging through the dense layout of garments in total mental distraction.

My hands finally extracted a stark white button-down shirt. I had deliberately chosen it for its exceptionally loose, billowing cut around the abdomen—a vital shield to thoroughly conceal every single trait of my twin pregnancy from the prying, sharp eyes of that cursed tyrant of a boss. Along with the top, I pulled a pair of classic white trousers from the rack.

I began to force my frame into the clothing, my tensed limbs resisting, but the exact millisecond I attempted to pull the zipper upward, my entire body paralyzed with absolute frustration. I encountered an immensely grueling, severe difficulty in fastening my white trousers.

Compressing the muscles of my slightly distended stomach with extreme force, I held my breath inside my lungs, muttaining in a breathless, highly irritated whine, "Damnation... it is no longer my goddamn size!"

My breathing fluctuated with sharp instability as I stubbornly tugged at the fabric, using the tips of my fingers to fight the zipper until I finally succeeded in securing the fastener with the highest degree of excruciating effort.

I let out a sweeping exhale of relief heavily laced with deep constriction. Placing my open palm flat against my tightly suffocated stomach, I whispered entirely to myself, "The time has officially arrived to execute a thorough shopping excursion and purchase trousers carrying significantly larger sizes."

Moving toward the full-length mirror with slow, deliberate strides, I lifted my hand to meticulously examine my physical appearance. Ensuring the alignment of my hair, I adjusted the long locks with tense fingers as they cascaded over the width of my shoulders, then bent my posture slightly to apply my customary perfume.

My hand extended to wrap around the glass neck of my familiar fragrance bottle, but the absolute millisecond I hoisted it and pressed down on the nozzle, I felt its lightweight. Staring at the container with profound disappointment, I discovered the bottle was completely and utterly depleted.

I let out a heavy sigh of raw frustration, my eyes tracking across the glass shelves to examine the alternative fragrances lined up neatly before the cosmetics. Selecting a foreign perfume that carried an entirely different scent profile than my usual, I gripped the bottle tightly by its neck and aggressively sprayed the fluid across my neck and inner wrists in rapid, sharp strokes, causing the potent aroma to instantly erupt and blanket every single perimeter of the space.

The fragrance was immensely powerful and overwhelmingly pungent—so much so that my head instantly spun with a faint wave of sudden dizziness. Yet, there was absolutely no logical avenue to alter my choice now; it was entirely too late, and I no longer possessed a single fraction of spare time.

My hand automatically moved forward to scoop my leather handbag and my phone from the surface of the vanity table. I exited the bedroom with heavy feet, descending the stairs with highly cautious steps despite the absolute, crushing constriction of my trousers.

At the absolute base of the staircase, I collided with Isabella yet again. She halted her steps, her eyes scanning the entire layout of my attire with deep scrutiny before she questioned with visible curiosity, "Stephanie... are you departing the estate for a specific destination?"

I adjusted the alignment of my handbag with highly anxious fingertips, responding with an icy, flat conciseness. "Yes."

In that exact split-second, Cedric’s deep, resonant, and profoundly masculine voice boomed out with flat detachment from directly behind my frame. "Where exactly to?"

I spun my entire frame around to face his position, a sharp rigidity seizing the muscles of my shoulders beneath the absolute weight of his hawk-like, piercing eyes. I stated in a tone I desperately fought to render entirely natural, "I am heading out to execute some shopping."

Of course, this was the absolute only plausible excuse I possessed, given the reality that I had never disclosed a single detail to anyone regarding the fact that my boss had forcefully summoned my person to his private residence to perform labor on the weekend!

Cedric’s eyelids narrowed to their absolute limits, his nose flaring with visible irritation as he closed the physical distance between our frames by stepping forward. He stated in heavy condemnation, "What in the absolute hell is this suffocating aroma?"