Return of the Crowned Heiress novel 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, allowing those strange yet sweet emotions to churn within her. Then, she asked, "Can I rummage through your stuff?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Stephan sounded like he wanted to knock some sense into her.

Felicia chuckled.

She wanted to say more, but the unstable signal filled the line with static. Right before the connection broke, Stephan's voice came through clearly. "The signal might cut off. Wait for me to come back."

As expected, the call ended abruptly.

Staring at her phone, Felicia felt a pang of regret for wasting the call on casual chatter, once again forgetting to remind him to stay safe.

She would have to wait for next time, then.

She buried her face in the blanket. The room was spotless—almost unnervingly so—and the bed and pillows carried none of Stephan's scent. That clean, refreshing fragrance she was so fond of was absent.

Unable to sleep after the call, Felicia got up, grabbed some paper and a pen, and quickly jotted down a list of medicinal ingredients.

The herbs required to detoxify Imogen's eyes were rare. Since she would be staying for a few days, she decided to have the Russell family mobilize their resources to procure them. That way, all she needed to do was focus on preparing the antidote.