Belated Moonlight: He Regretted Only After I Left-Chapter 57: Shane Donovan, You’re Really Good-Looking…
Time passed by second by second.
Finn Lockwood sat uneasily, occasionally craning his neck to look toward the road.
Suddenly, the low hum of a car engine echoed from the alley, and a blinding headlight pierced through the night, as a black Bentley stopped at the entrance of the food stall.
The car door opened, and Shane Donovan stepped out.
He was still wearing a well-tailored black suit, with a long coat of the same color over it. His upright figure stood out in stark contrast to the noisy, greasy environment.
He immediately saw Stella Sterling slumped over the table, and Finn Lockwood standing nearby, at a loss.
He quickly walked over, and when his gaze fell on Stella’s flushed face, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
"How much did she drink?" he asked Finn, his voice not loud but carrying an overwhelming pressure.
"Not... not much, just a bottle of beer..." Finn’s voice grew smaller.
Shane didn’t question further. He bent down, leaned over, and gently patted her cheek, "Stella?"
Stella opened her eyes groggily, and it took her a moment to focus and recognize him. She giggled a bit, reached out, and poked Shane’s cheek, "Huh? Shane... Shane Donovan? How... how did you become two?"
Shane grabbed her mischievous hand, looking at her intensely, "Can you walk?"
Stella shook her head and leaned helplessly to the side, "No... I can’t... the world... is spinning..."
Shane said no more, directly lifting her in his arms.
Stella let out a startled cry and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, her flushed cheek resting against the cool collar of his coat, nestling comfortably.
Shane’s body stiffened slightly, then he steadied himself, holding her firmly as he turned toward the car.
"President Donovan!" Finn Lockwood finally reacted, quickly getting up.
"No need to follow," Shane said without looking back, his voice cold, "I’ll take her home."
Finn Lockwood stood frozen, watching as Shane carefully placed Stella in the passenger seat, fastened the seatbelt, then walked around to the driver’s seat, started the engine, and drove off into the night, quickly blending into the stream of traffic and vanishing into the misty darkness.
Only when the taillights disappeared did Finn snap back to reality, breaking out in a cold sweat.
It’s over...
He seemed to have... lost the boss?
Just as he was at a loss, another sharp screech of brakes sounded—
The car door was flung open, Jasper Hawthorne quickly stepped out, scanning the food stall urgently, only to find Finn standing there dumbfounded, amidst the mess of empty bottles on the table.
"Where’s Stella?!" Jasper’s brows were furrowed tightly.
Terrified by the aura of menace Jasper exuded, Finn stammered, "The... the boss... she was taken by President Donovan..."
"Shane Donovan?!" Jasper’s face immediately turned livid, his fists clenched tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hands, "When did he come?!"
"Just... just now... before you arrived..." Finn’s voice was nearly inaudible.
Jasper turned his head in the direction Finn pointed, his chest heaving.
Once again, he was too late!
Why is it that Shane Donovan always gets ahead?!
"Bang!" He kicked the iron chair fiercely!
A dull noise followed, and Finn shivered, not daring to make a sound.
Jasper clenched his fists fiercely, his face as dark as water...
...
At this moment, the black Bentley sped along the highway.
The window was slightly open, and the cool night breeze blew through Stella’s loose hair.
But even with the seatbelt securing her in the passenger seat, Stella was far from settled.
The alcohol had gone straight to her head; she felt hot all over, her brain like a jumble of mush, and all her rationality and defenses were completely washed away by the alcohol.
She tilted her head, watching Shane, who was focused on driving beside her.
The streetlights cast light and shadow through the car window on his sharply chiseled profile—his straight nose, tightly pressed lips, and the vermilion mole by the end of his eye subtly appearing and disappearing in the dim light, so captivating that she couldn’t look away.
"Shane Donovan..." she murmured his name, her voice soft and enticing.
"Hmm?" Shane kept his eyes on the road, his Adam’s apple barely detectable as he swallowed.
"You’re... really handsome..." Stella chuckled lightly, reached out her hand, her fingertips trembled slightly as she touched his face.
At that moment of touch, it felt like a faint electric current shot through.
Shane’s arm muscles instantly tightened, almost causing the steering wheel to slip.
He drew a deep breath abruptly, grabbing her misbehaving hand, "Stella, sit still, don’t move."
"Okay..." Stella responded pitifully, retracting her hand, but within seconds, she started to be restless again.
She unfastened the seatbelt, languidly leaning toward him like a lazy cat, her head resting on his shoulder, her warm breath mixed with the scent of alcohol fanned against the side of his neck.
"Shane Donovan... I feel so dizzy... so uncomfortable..." she whimpered, her hand unconsciously grabbing the fabric of his trousers by his thigh.
Shane’s whole body tensed, nearly slamming on the brakes.
He could clearly feel the softness and warmth of her body, smell the faint fragrance of her hair mingling with the scent of alcohol, feel her warm breath spreading over his neck...
All his senses were, at that moment, magnified infinitely, challenging his proud self-control to its limit.
"We’re almost there." He almost gritted these words through his teeth, pressing the accelerator a bit harder underfoot.
The car finally pulled into the underground parking lot of Stella’s apartment.
Shane parked the car, undid his seatbelt, turned around, trying to slightly push the octopus-like Stella clinging onto him aside.
"Stella, we’re home. Can you walk on your own?"
Stella groggily lifted her head, her eyes glistening, like black glass with a misty layer of water.
She seemed rather unhappy to leave the warm embrace, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest, mewling unsatisfied, refusing to let go.
Shane held her, walked into the elevator, and pressed the floor button.
In the enclosed space, her presence was overwhelming.
The elevator mirror reflected his tense profile and the dependent posture of the girl in his arms.
He lowered his eyes, looking at the drunkenly beautiful Stella in his embrace, his gaze as complex as ink unable to dissolve.
When they finally reached the apartment door, Shane fished out the keys from her bag and opened it.
He gently placed her on the couch in the living room, intending to get up to pour her a glass of water.
However, as soon as he made a move, Stella suddenly tightened her arms and hugged him even tighter. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
"Don’t go, it’s so dark..." she murmured, tilting up her drunkenly dazed face, "Why don’t you turn on the light, don’t go, stay with me... okay?"
Shane’s body froze completely.
He looked at her flushed, close-at-hand lips; their softness, their alluring color, seemed to silently invite him to taste them.
The string of rationality, at that moment, was stretched to its limit.
He leaned down, placing his arms on either side of her body, trapping her between the couch and his chest in a confined space.
Their distance was so close they could feel each other’s heated breaths.
His gaze was like a bottomless whirlpool, locking onto her hazy eyes, his voice low and hoarse:
"Stella, do you know who I am?"
