Chapter 78: Her flow

Tom dropped Stella calmly.

He had already imagined this possibility as he parked his car in front of her place. If Adrian arrived before he left, there would be no elegant version of the night. Only damage control. He looked into Stella’s eyes and spoke without raising his voice.

"I will go with your flow. Whatever it is. Just tell me what you want me to do."

Stella stared at him for a second, disoriented by the sudden shift from heat to danger. Then her mind locked into place. She pointed toward the bathroom.

"Stay in this room. Don’t come out. I will handle it." she told him.

Tom nodded without any hesitation. He stepped into the bathroom, shut the door quietly, and zipped up his trousers. The bath, the food, the softness after sex, all of those were gone for now. He stayed still and listened.

Outside, Stella adjusted the oversized shirt as best as she could, ready to walk out. But when she caught her reflection in the mirror, she stopped. She looked freshly ruined. Her hair was messy, some of Tom’s fluid was still obviously on some part, her mouth was still marked by the fluid she had swallowed. That version of her could not walk into the living room and face anyone, especially not Adrian.

She grabbed a towel, wrapped it around her hair, and forced her expression to appear closer to what could be described as composure. Only then did she leave the room.

Adrian was already fuming, in the living room.

The moment he saw Stella, the air in the space tightened, almost suffocating. Stella stopped a few steps away and raised her brows slightly, presenting the picture of a controlled surprise.

"You didn’t tell me you were coming," she said then asked immediately; "What happened to the wine outing?"

Adrian’s jaw flexed hard. Pride made his anger colder, not louder at first.

"Don’t insult me with an act, Stella. I know you’re an actress. But right now, you’re a terrible one." he gritted out.

"Excuse me?"Stella’s brows drew together. She didn’t expect him to know anything. All she knew he could see was a black Mercedes downstairs but that wasn’t any evidence as anybody could owned it.

"Where is he?"

"What he?" she asked evenly. "I was getting ready for a bath."

Adrian took a step closer, his eyes sharp with wounded superiority. "I saw him. I saw you kissing him. Stella... You kissed him?"

Stella’s lips parted in shock then realization dawned on her and she held his gaze. "Where?"

"On the CCTV." The response tumbled out of Adrian’s mouth before he realized the consequences of it.

That stopped Stella for half a second. Not the accusation of the kiss - the source of it. Her expression changed, shock cutting cleanly through the performance.

"You’ve been monitoring me?" she asked.

Adrian gulped. Since the thing was out in the open like this, he did not even try to soften it. "I installed it for your safety."

Stella let out a short, disbelieving breath. The affair was suddenly no longer the only issue in the room. She seized the opening with sharpness.

"I never took you for a stalker," she said. "Congratulations. You’ve finally managed to surprise me." she let out a dry chuckle.

Adrian’s pride flared hard at the word.

"Stalker? Watch your mouth, Stella."

"No, a lowly stalker, that’s what you are. You had no right to put cameras on me behind my back." Stella shot back, her voice still controlled but edged.

"And you had no right to kiss another man when you are marrying me," Adrian retorted. The polish was gone now, scraped down to ego and possession. "I mounted those cameras because I always knew you were wild. I knew that much. I just didn’t think you would stoop low enough to open your door to a man like that. A man who holds nothing beside me. No name. No position. Nothing."

The contempt in his voice was plain. Tom was not a rival in Adrian’s mind. He was an insult.

Stella’s eyes hardened, her nostrils flared but if she was asked why she got so angry at those words, she wouldn’t say whether it was because of the insult hurled at Tom or the harshness in Adrian’s voice.

"Get out of my house," she snarled.

Adrian stared at her as if he could not believe the sentence had been aimed at him.

"This is your response?" he asked. "After what I just saw?"

"As far as I am concerned, this is my house," Stella said. "And I want you out of it at the moment so leave."

Adrian’s hands curled at his sides. He looked at her with pure, pride-choked fury, the kind that came from a man who was used to being the one with leverage and was now being dismissed in a space he could not command.

"You will regret this," he said.

Stella did not blink, instead she repeated; "Get out."

For a moment he remained there, breathing hard, pride and rage locked in a fight under his skin. Then he turned and walked toward the door, each step stiff with the humiliation of being ordered out by the same woman he had just caught on camera with another man.

He shut the door hard behind him.

Only after the silence settled did Stella move.

She walked back to the bathroom and opened the door. Tom was still there, upright, composed, waiting exactly as she had told him to. Their eyes met. For a second neither of them spoke.

"He’s gone," Stella finally said.

Tom studied her face. The control was still there, but it sat thinner than before. Something underneath it had been scraped raw.

"You look upset," he said.

Stella did not bother denying it. "Yes."

Tom watched her for a moment longer. "Should I do something to lift your mood?"

"No." Her answer came quickly. Then, after a brief pause, quieter but firm: "I need you to leave too."

Tom’s brows lifted slightly. The surprise was clear on his face. A minute ago she had pulled him into the house with her own hand. Now she was sending him out into the same night that had just nearly exposed them.

Stella looked away.

That small break in eye contact said more than another explanation would have. Whatever calculation she was making; maybe concerning her image, fallout, Adrian’s threat, her own rattled control, it did not include keeping Tom in the penthouse any longer.

Tom held the look of the side of her face for a second more, then nodded once.

"Alright."

"Have a great night." He added lowly.

He stepped past her, crossed the quiet living room, and left the house without another word.