Belated Moonlight: He Regretted Only After I Left-Chapter 43: Sharing a Bed (Bonus - )

Shane Donovan obviously didn’t expect her to say that, and in the darkness, his breathing paused almost imperceptibly.

The air in the room seemed to come to a standstill.

Just as Stella Sterling regretted so much that she wished she could bite off her own tongue to make amends, Shane’s voice came through, even more hoarse than before...

"No need."

He paused, then added, "I’m fine, you go ahead and sleep."

His refusal made Stella breathe a sigh of relief, but the guilt in her heart did not diminish at all.

She pressed her lips together and said nothing more, lying back down.

However, from that moment on, she could no longer fall asleep.

Shane Donovan’s suppressed coughs would sound out intermittently, though he tried his best to control it, yet in the silence of the night, they were still clearly audible.

Every cough was like a small needle, gently piercing Stella’s heart.

She stared at the blurred outline on the ceiling, her mind in turmoil.

In the end, she succumbed to her conscience.

She quietly sat up, fumbled to turn on the bedside lamp on her side to the lowest light.

The dim light dispelled a small patch of darkness.

"Um... President Donovan..." she looked towards the direction of the sofa, her voice very soft, "Come sleep on the bed."

Shane seemed surprised that she would offer again, and in the dim light, his deep eyes looked towards her.

Stella avoided his gaze, quickly saying, "The bed is big, we... can sleep on each side. In the middle... in the middle we can put pillows as a barrier! It’s better than you sleeping on the sofa and getting sick."

As she spoke, not waiting for Shane to respond, she swiftly placed the extra pillows on the bed in the middle, creating a clear enough ’border.’

Having done all this, she quickly crawled to the side near the window, lifted the covers to lie down, and turned her back on the ’barrier,’ muttering, "I’m asleep now!"

With an attitude of ’I’ve decided, and you shall not refute.’

Shane looked at the abrupt ’pillow wall’ on the bed, then at Stella, who had her back turned to him, her body as tense as a rock, and an unnoticed softness flickered in his eyes.

He silently stood up.

Footsteps approached.

Stella felt the mattress behind her sink slightly, and an aura of clear freshness mixed with a slight hint of moisture enveloped her.

Her body instantly went stiff, even her breathing became lighter.

Shane lay down on the other side of the bed, separated by the soft pillow barrier.

Back to back, they said nothing.

The room became quiet once again.

But this time, the silence was entirely different from before.

It was as if invisible threads were entwining in the air, tense and ambiguous.

Stella could clearly feel the body heat and presence behind her, belonging to another person.

Even with pillows in between, and even back to back, she could not ignore that strong presence of the opposite sex.

Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest, as if it wanted to break free and jump out.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to lull herself into sleep.

Who knows how much time passed; maybe she was really exhausted, or perhaps her tense nerves finally reached their limit. Stella’s breathing gradually became long and even, her body slowly relaxed.

She fell asleep.

Hearing the steady breathing behind him, Shane slowly opened his eyes.

He turned over very gently.

In the dim light, he could see Stella’s jet-black hair scattered across the pillow and a small section of her pale, delicate neck.

She was sleeping deeply, even unconsciously nuzzling into the pillow.

Shane’s gaze was deep, like the tranquil night sky, lingering on her serene sleeping face, refusing to move away.

He reached out, his fingertips hovering beside her face.

But in the end, he withdrew his hand, merely watching silently. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

He watched for a long, long time.

Until a faint grey-white began to seep through the window outside.

He exhaled almost inaudibly, turned over again, and closed his eyes.

One person was sound asleep this night.

The other...

remained sleepless.

...

The next morning dawned.

Stella woke up to the aroma of food.

She opened her eyes groggily to find she had somehow turned over, now facing the center of the room.

The ’border’ of pillows... Somehow, it had flattened out.

One of the pillows had even tumbled to the floor.

And the other side of the bed... was empty.

Shane Donovan was already up.

Stella sat up with a start, rubbed her eyes, and looked around the room.

She saw Shane, already dressed impeccably, in his neatly pressed dark gray suit.

He was standing by the small dining table, taking out breakfast items from a take-out bag and arranging them.

Sunlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, casting a faint golden halo around him.

Hearing her stir, he turned his head, his expression unchanged, "Awake? Freshen up and have breakfast."

His voice seemed to have regained its usual coolness, the nasal tone much diminished.

Stella nodded dazedly, "Oh, okay."

She instinctively glanced at the disheveled bed...

Her cheeks felt a subtle warmth; she dared not think too deeply and quickly threw off the covers to get out of bed, "I’ll be ready in a moment."

She almost fled into the bathroom.

After splashing her face with cold water and looking at her slightly flushed cheeks in the mirror, Stella took several deep breaths to calm her mood.

When she tidied herself up and came out, Shane was already seated at the dining table waiting for her.

Breakfast was abundant, with both Chinese and Western options covering half the table.

"I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I bought a bit of everything." Shane pushed a steaming bowl of soybean milk toward her.

"Thank you." Stella said in a low voice, sitting down across from him.

The two ate breakfast quietly.

The atmosphere was slightly awkward and delicate.

Stella took small sips of her soybean milk, occasionally sneaking glances at Shane.

He ate quickly, but his movements remained graceful, showing no signs of anything unusual.

As if last evening’s ’sharing a bed’, was just an ordinary occurrence.

"Um... President Donovan," Stella finally couldn’t help but ask, "Did you sleep well last night?"

Shane looked up at her with calm eyes, "It was alright."

He paused briefly, adding, "Better than the sofa."

Stella: "..."

She didn’t know how to respond to that.

She lowered her head, focusing on her bowl of soybean milk, but the roots of her ears quietly turned red.

Seeing her like this, Shane’s eyes flickered with a hint of barely noticeable amusement, but it quickly disappeared.

He put down his chopsticks, picked up a napkin, and wiped the corners of his mouth, "Your flight is at three in the afternoon?"

"Yes." Stella nodded.

"I’ll have someone send you to the airport then."

"No need to trouble yourself, President Donovan, I can take a taxi myself," Stella hastily refused.

"It’s on the way."

"..."

On the way to where?

Shane stated calmly, "I have a meeting in the morning and will head to the airport afterwards. I also have a flight at three. We can go back to Riveria together."

Stella: "..."

So it was truly on the way this time...