Chapter 199

The voice sounded somewhat familiar. Eugenie turned with a sense of recognition and spotted the tall man standing among the crowd of onlookers.

Seeing him standing perfectly fine in the crowd, seeing that he was unharmed, Eugenie's emotions came undone.

She jogged forward. The crowd of onlookers instinctively parted, letting her rush into the man's arms without obstruction so she could release everything she'd been holding in.

"Nicholas, you're okay—why didn't you send me a message? Do you know how worried I was about you?"

Eugenie held tightly to his waist, her whole being wrapped in the relief of something nearly lost now found again. Her tears soaked into his shirt.

That choked voice was heartbreaking to hear. Nicholas watched her cry her eyes out, and even his normally hardened heart was softened by her tears.

"What are you crying for? I'm fine, aren't I? Stop crying—you're making my heart ache. Look at me, I'm standing right in front of you in one piece." He reached out and patted her back to comfort her, as if coaxing a child.

Eugenie calmed down a bit. With puffy red eyes, she lifted her head from his embrace and stepped back to look him up and down. Her heart finally settled.

He was fine. He hadn't experienced the car accident the way he had in her previous life. "You're okay, so why didn't you reply to my messages? Do you know how scared I was when I scrolled onto that accident video at home? What if you'd been in that car? What if the ambulance hadn't come in time?"

Even now, thinking back to that video, Eugenie still felt lingering fear. She'd truly believed Nicholas would meet the same fate as in her previous life. She still had so much to say, and she'd nearly thought she'd never get the chance to say it.

Seeing the lingering shock still on her face, Nicholas felt the same. When he'd learned of the accident ahead, recalling what Eugenie had told him—hadn't that been his own brush with death?

"It's not that I didn't want to reply. I've been swamped these past few days. The moment I finally relaxed I fell asleep—deeply. My assistant can vouch for me." Nicholas patted her shoulder and pointed in a direction. Eugenie looked over to see his assistant standing nearby, waving at her.

Under his boss's prompting look, the assistant stepped forward to explain. "Ms. Medici, I can vouch for him. The boss fell asleep shortly after getting in the car. I only woke him because the traffic jam was going on too long—I needed to ask if we should take a detour. Then not long after that, we spotted you running past our car."

So when she'd mistaken the car's occupant for Nicholas and tried to force her way into the scene, they'd both seen the whole thing? That was mortifying.

The assistant tactfully excused himself after explaining. Nicholas saw the tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes and reached out with his thumb to gently wipe them away.

He explained in a soft, quiet voice. "I was originally going to take that car before I left. But thinking of what you told me before you left—not wanting me to worry you—I ended up having my assistant go home to get another car, which is why we were delayed. I also just had someone take the car parked at the company garage in for inspection. Once the report comes back, everything will be clear."

Hearing how thoughtfully and thoroughly he'd arranged things, Eugenie felt relieved that he'd ultimately listened to her, that her words about taking extra precautions had, by some twist of fate, led him to miss this accident entirely.

"I told you my dreams always come true. Do you believe me now?"

Having just sobbed her heart out, leaving her eyes red and swollen, Eugenie didn't want him staring at her and turned her back to him.

Nicholas couldn't have been happier. The person he'd been longing to see had appeared before him in the very next moment. It had been worth deciding to set off overnight.

He stepped forward and pressed himself close from behind, wrapping his arms around her, holding her firmly at the waist as if afraid she'd be gone the next second.

"Didn't know you worried about me this much. How did you miss it though? That car was the same model as mine, but the license plate was completely different."

Nicholas's mood right now was sweeter than honey. With his reminder, Eugenie craned her neck trying to see the license plate of the car at the accident scene.

Seeing her struggling, he effortlessly lifted her by the waist. The sudden rise into the air made her instinctively grab hold of his neck as she steadied herself and looked over. Though somewhat deformed, she could still make it out—the license plate was indeed different.

As for the video she'd scrolled onto, the filming had been shaky, so she hadn't noticed the plate details. Then after arriving, she'd gone in with preconceived assumptions that it was him and naturally hadn't thought to check.

"I can see clearly. Put me down now." Connecting everything that had just happened, Eugenie came back to herself and patted his shoulder in demand.

Nicholas put her down but didn't release his hold. "When you came running over just now—what were you thinking?"

This single experience had, in a roundabout way, only made her more certain of her feelings. Eugenie held his gaze steadily and spoke from the heart. "I missed you. I was afraid you'd die here."

Surprised by her directness, Nicholas peeled back the surface and pressed further. "Why were you afraid of me dying here?"

"Because there's so much I haven't said to you. If you died, I'd never get the chance to say it. Nicholas, I like you. Will you be with me?"

Eugenie was utterly serious. This sudden confession caught the usually calculated Nicholas completely off guard.

Nicholas asked in disbelief, "Did I hear that right? You're not just saying it to comfort me?"

He hadn't been like this during all his subtle testing before. Once was enough to set the pattern—Eugenie repeated herself earnestly. "You heard right. Nicholas, I like you. So have you thought it over? Do you want to be with me?"

Hearing that she meant it, something he'd longed for had finally come to pass. How could he not be overjoyed?

"No need to think it over. I've been waiting for you to respond all along. My feelings have finally found their echo." Nicholas pulled her firmly into his arms, burying his face deep in her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her until it all felt real.

There were too many onlookers around. He couldn't do anything freely. Knowing she'd driven here, he immediately decided to split with his assistant, grabbed his luggage from the car, and left with Eugenie.

The Nicholas who'd claimed to be exhausted moments ago was now remarkably alert. Eugenie drove back while he watched her the entire way.

Back home, she took the food she'd kept warm in the pot out for him to eat, then went to return the car to the neighbor. After locking up and coming back to the small kitchen, she sat down and felt someone take hold of her hand.

"How are you going to eat like this?"

She glanced at her hand captured in his palm on the table. Nicholas confidently demonstrated by eating a bite in front of her. "Doesn't affect anything at all."

Seeing it truly didn't, Eugenie let him be, propping her other hand against her cheek as she watched him.

Right up until going upstairs to shower, Nicholas hadn't released her hand. They came back without disturbing Chase and Xanthe, slipping upstairs quietly.

Eugenie finished showering and returned to her room. Just as she'd settled onto the bed, the door was pushed open. Nicholas stood outside clutching a pillow.

"I won't do anything. Just let me sleep by you tonight, okay?"