Crossroads

"Stephanie stole my man....

"I was forced to leave home, and these past few years have been so difficult because of her," Jessica cried, tears streaming down her face as she tightly held the hand of the middle-aged woman across from her. "Mom, you really have to help me..."

"Is she really the daughter of our city's wealthiest man?"

"Yes, her dad is Gary Reed. Why would a wealthy young lady come to our shop to work the night shift? What does she want? There are things I've been too afraid to tell you. Every time she comes to our shop, she's aggressive, mocking me behind my back. She even said her family's wealth could leave us destitute. I'm scared of her, but this time, she's gone too far..."

Her voice grew increasingly agitated as she choked with sobs. "Mom, I really have no other choice. Stephanie wants to ruin my giving me any way out, and she wants to harm my baby..."

What?"

y life! She's not Regina was filled with anxiety upon hearing that Stephanie planned to ruin her daughter's life and even hurt her unborn grandchild.

Her heart sank, trembling as she asked, "Betty, are you...pregnant?"

"Where did Stephanie go? She's pregnant, yet she's running around."

Vincent sat bored in the back seat of the car, propping his chin with his right hand as he gazed out the window at the setting sun, muttering softly.

Suddenly, he remembered something and turned to Scott beside him. "Dominick's phone rang a few times just now. It must have been a call from Stephanie. Should we tell him?"

The car had entered the highway and they were already far from Elite High School.

The Roberts family's driver hurried over, saying there was an emergency at home. Scott and Vincent rushed over to see what was happening, leaving a car outside the school for Dominick, along with his cost and phone.

Scott also glanced at the sunset outside the car window and said lightly, "It's past six. Dominick should already be in the car, and he'll drive straight to Royal Park Hotel. There's no need to inform him about Stephanie. He's already aware of where she's staying..."

Vincent thought that made sense. Before they came, Dominick had already instructed him to check on Stephanie's whereabouts. But...

"But what if Stephanie has some other trouble and goes looking for him? The last time when I took Stephanie to hang out at Lockchain Tower, Dominick scolded me fiercely," Vincent complained with lingering fear.

Since that incident, Vincent had been particularly cautious whenever Stephanie was involved.

Scott had also heard about the incident at the Lockchain Tower and chuckled, "Dominick doesn't like Stephanie appearing in public. You're just asking for trouble!"

"How would I know? He's too strict with that witch..."

Vincent sighed with emotion, "Look at Jessica. Her advertisements are everywhere now, and Dominick has made her incredibly famous. It's such a stark difference in his treatment for them."

Vincent couldn't understand why Dominick insisted on hiding Stephanie away. Chapter 54

Scott's expression tumed slightly somber upon hearing this, but he didn't respond.

"Dominick, are you in the car right now?" Vincent grabbed his phone and dialed Dominick's number.

"You should head to Royal Park Hotel now. Oh, nothing's wrong, I just wanted tell you that your phone rang a few times earlier, and it seemed like there was a message from Ste....

Before Vincent could finish his sentence, there was a loud bang from the other end of the phone.

"Dominick, what's happening?" Vincent asked, his expression changing.

Scott could also hear the sounds coming from the phone, and he became nervous. "Did Dominick get into a car accident?"

"I have something important to settle," Dominick said as he quickly exited the car.

"What's going on? Do you need help?" Vincent felt uneasy.

"Dominick, I... I'm in pain..."

Without answering him, Dominick hung up the phone. The last thing Vincent heard was a soft, delicate female voice at the end. That voice....

Vincent's face turned cold upon hearing the female voice.

"What's happening?S Should we send someone over?" Scott urged him.

Vincent's tone was cold. "Dominick's "important matter' involves being with Jessica." For some reason, he felt sad for Stephanie.

Jessica?

Scott was somewhat surprised that Dominick was with Jessica now and wondered, "Did he come to Calorium for Jessica?"

Although they were all childhood friends, they had never dared to interfere in Dominick's private affairs due to his cold and aloof personality.

"What is Stephanie up to? Her man is about to be stolen, Vincent muttered under his breath, feeling frustrated, and quickly called Stephanie to inform her.

Seeing his anxious expression, Scott smiled and asked, "You seem to quite like Stephanie?"

"I just find Jessica annoying."

Vincent snorted, sounding quite like George. As he owned an entertainment company, he had seen plenty of women.

"Although Dominick rarely interacts with women, he wouldn't... Scott retorted mildly upon seeing Vincent's exaggerated expressionThis content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

"You know about Dominick's taking away when he was a child. He doesn't understand these romantic matters at all." Vincent recalled the past events and immediately felt worried for Dominick.

On the other hand, Stephanie's phone urgently rang.

She had just come out of the bathroom and walked to the bedside to pick up her phone. Alter picking it up to check on the caller ID, she found that it was a call from an unknown number.

After hesitating for a moment, she answered, "Hello, this is Stephanie."

Upon hearing the voice from the other end of the phone, Stephanie looked surprised. "Oh, okay, be right over."

"What's wrong?"

Meanwhile, Vincent, on the other end, had a dark expression as he glared at his phone.

"This witch's line is busy. Who is she talking to?" He grumbled discontentedly. "Vincent, you're really worried. Do you want to go to the hotel to check on her?"

Scott asked.

Vincent remained expressionless. "It's none of my business anyway. She's not my wife.

"With her karate skills, the two of us together might not be able to beat her. She's a violent girl!" With that, Vincent thought it was unlikely that Stephanie was in trouble.

"Be careful!"

Stephanie hurriedly took a taxi to the milkshake shop across Elite High School As soon as she got out of the car, she saw the panic-stricken face of Regina, the shop owner, who almost slipped on a puddle of water on the ground.

Stephanie quickly stepped forward and caught her as she reminded, "Regina, you need to be careful when you're alone in the shop."

"I'm... I'm fine." Regina immediately pushed Stephanie away, seeming uncomfortable with the contact.

Stephanie maintained quite a distance from her, lowering her gaze in confusion.

She sensed an air of aloofness and unfamiliarity from Regina, but she was unsure whether it was merely her imagination or if something had truly happened, a, you mentioned an urgent matter on the phone. What is it?" She cut straight to the chase, devoid of unnecessary pondering.

"Ah, Regina, Upon hearing her tone of genuine concern, Regina became conflicted with different emotions.

"It's just...a few thugs showed up earlier, and I was at a loss, which prompted me to call you over." Her voice grew fainter, and she eventually bowed her head, seemingly overcome with guilt.

Stephanie, without glancing at Regina's expression, went and pulled out a chair for her. “Regina, please, have a seat. Let's discuss the matter...

Upon witnessing her gesture, Regina's guilt and shame seemed to intensify.

The two sat facing each other, the sign outside the shop indicating "Closed,"

enveloping the serene milkshake shop in silence, with only the two of them present

"You mentioned that a few thugs attempted extortion at the shop, right?" Stephanie trusted Regina's account without hesitation. "Did you contact the authorities?

"Did they ey harm you? D Did the shop suffer any losses?"

Regina kept her head bowed, stuttering out, "N-no, everything is fine. They just left without doing anything in the end."

Stephanie was Indignant upon hearing Regina's words. "Those scoundrels must have come to freeload and hurl insults at you, right? The shop used to be plagued by gangs of ruffians back then too..."

As they delved into past events, Regina's emotions became convoluted.

Initially, when she first opened the shop, Regina encountered gangs of ruffians who, seeing her as a vulnerable widow, frequently sought to

000

exploit her hospitality. However, since Stephanie began working at the shop...

"That incident landed you in the police station," Regina murmured, her voice tinged with remorse.

On Stephanie's first day working at the shop, she coincidentally encountered a group of ruffians, Regina usually timi nature would om have preferred to just settle things with a few cups of milkshakes and some chicken wings, but Stephanie had a different approach to it. She grabbed a chair and smashed it directly onto them.

"It's nothing. I just couldn't stand them," Stephanie awkwardly chuckled.

85

Stephanie acknowledged her own somewhat spoiled temperament. Having grown up in a wealthy household, encountering a group of thugs who sought to take advantage and insult her was infuriating. Unable to contain her anger, she resorted to using a chair against them...

"Steffi, I..." Regina gazed at her, hesitating for a moment, before abruptly rising to her feet. "I've just freshly squeezed some mango juice. Let me pour you a glass."

"Thank you." Stephanie graciously accepted as she watched Regina make her way to the counter, Regina knew that she loved mango juice, but...

After taking a casual glance at the counter, Stephanie felt that Regina seemed somewhat unusual today. She looked like she was up to something.

"Steffi, there's something I'd like to ask you" Upon returning to the table, Regina's gaze turned complex as she locked eyes with Stephanie.

"You were released pretty quickly after you got into the police station. Who was the one who bailed you?" Stephanie, catching on to Regina's sudden inquiry, lowered her gaze and revealed a blend of frustration and sorrow.

"My dad," she replied honestly as she didn't like to tell lies.

,even catching the That day, when she got into a fight with the ruffians

<<

and ended up in the police station, it stirred up quite a commotion, attention of the chief. Instead of reprimanding her, they ended up letting her go, and she suspected it was her father's doing because who else had that kind of influence to do that?

But later, she hesitated for days before finally calling the Reed Villa.

O She had intended to thank them and maybe even call hinx"Dad" to express her gratitude, but when Gary answered the phone, he unleashed a torrent of insults, accusing her of bringing shame to the Reed family. It only left her feeling more despondent.

"Is your dad really the wealthiest man in our city?" Regina's astonished voice interrupted her reminiscence.

Stephanie looked up, reluctantly nodding. "Yes." Regina suppressed her conflicted emotions and, summoning her resolve, tightened her grip on the glass of mango juice. Finally, in a hoarse voice, she said as she handed the glass to Stephanie, "Steffi, I made this specially for you."

Stephanie took the glass and sipped on it, smiling faintly. "It tastes good."

But Regina turned away in a panic, her face turning pale.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way. My husband's probably waiting for me at the hotel. He has a bad temper, and keeping him waiting might not end well..."

Then, Stephanie finished the juice and grabbed her bag, bidding Regina goodbye with a wave.

Standing at the shop's entrance, Regina watched her receding figure. "Mom, how did the task I gave you go?" Just then, Regina's phone urgently rang, and Jessica's voice came from the speaker. Regina's hand that was holding the phone trembled. She had never done anything deceitful before, and this was her first time.

"She drank everything."