Chapter 480

Stephan didn't explain further, but the meaning was crystal clear. It was in that fleeting glance when he looked down from a high-rise and caught sight of her. It was in the helicopter when he watched her grit her teeth to extract a bullet from herself without uttering a sound despite the pain. It was when she, bloodied and battered, crawled step by step to grab the hem of his trousers and pleaded in a near-broken voice, "Mr. Russell, save me." It was in her defiant smile, framed by the slap mark on her face, as she stood homeless and abandoned—all while refusing to shed a single tear. It was in her gaze, her presence, her entire being. Sometimes, love began much earlier than one realized. It was silent and unnoticed, dismissed as irrelevant or even mocked. By the time one was aware of it, it was already a roaring storm that swept away everything in its path. Stephan didn't spell it out, but Felicia felt like she understood what he meant. Covering her eyes, she lay on the bed, a