Chapter 417 - My Husband, My Secret Lover

Author POV

To clear up his misunderstanding about her relationship with Victor, Stela said, "I have nothing to do with Victor." After a pause, she added, "I had no choice but to lie to the police back then. Let me explain..."

"No need. I don't want to listen to your explanation," Hayden interrupted her.

"You must listen to my explanation. Hayden, haven't we had enough misunderstandings before? In the past, you refused to listen to my explanation and put all the blame on me. You said that you wouldn't repeat the same mistakes and taught Aelius to believe the person he loved. But why don't you let me explain to you now? Don't you believe me? Or don't you love me anymore?"

"How is it possible that I don’t love you?!" Hayden blurted out. As soon as he finished his words, both of them were stunned. After a short awkward silence, Hayden turned his face away and said, "All right. Explain if you want. I'll listen."

Walking toward him, Stela squatted down and gazed at him, saying gently, "At that time, Victor misled me into believing that he had placed explosives in the forest and he would detonate them by remote control if I asked the police to arrest him. There were many other innocent people in the forest. I couldn't let Victor detonate the explosives. Only by helping him get away with his crimes could I save you and the others."

Hearing this, Hayden took a deep breath and said, "Well, I've heard your explanation. I misunderstood your relationship with Victor. I’m sorry. Could you go out now?"

"You still don't believe me?"

"I believe you."

"Then why do you still show such an attitude to me?"

"Because..." Hayden was speechless and didn't dare to look into her eyes.

"Because of what?"

"Nothing. Please go out. I’m going to take a shower."

"You can take a shower even if I'm here," Stela said as she moved her hand which was holding the scissors to his trousers.

Seeing this, Hayden got anxious. Putting his hands on the armrests of the chair, he struggled to stand up but Stela pressed his shoulders and got him back on the seat easily.

"I don't need you to help me take off my trousers!" he said. The blue veins on the back of his hand stand out. He decided that if he couldn’t stop Stela, he would stand up and walk out regardless of his current condition.

Knowing what he was thinking, Stela said patiently, "Don't act rashly and hurt yourself because of me."

"I didn’t act rashly," Hayden blurted out as if the one who wanted to stand up just now was not him.

"Okay. I won’t force you anymore. I'll wait here until you agree to let me help you," Stela said and stood up. She knew Hayden well. If she couldn’t persuade him, he would do anything to stop her from helping him take a shower.

The two of them were deadlocked and neither of them was willing to give in. Staying in the bathroom with Stela in such a situation, Hayden felt uneasy. Five minutes later, he looked at Stela who was standing against the wall, and couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you tired?"

"I'm not tired. I can stand here all day," Stela said.

"Humph." Hayden was speechless and didn't know what to say. In the past five minutes, he forced himself not to look at Stela and looked at everything in the bathroom to divert his attention. He even read the instructions on the shower gel bottle next to him. However, he still couldn't help but think about Stela and wanted to look at her.

For convenience, Stela specially wore comfortable casual clothes today. With her hair swept back in a ponytail, she looked like a modern young girl, which reminded Hayden of the good old days in their youth.

After a long time, Hayden finally gave in, and his anger was completely gone. He casually leaned against the backrest of the chair and looked at Stela with his face full of helplessness as if saying “You win. You can do whatever you want to me now.”

Stela looked relaxed and calm, but in fact, she had been worried that Hayden would stubbornly refuse her help no matter what she did. Now seeing him compromise, she breathed a sigh of relief secretly and picked up the scissors again, saying, "I’ll start now. Don't move. I’ll be careful."

Shooting her a sideways glance, Hayden wanted to say something but stopped on second thought. Then he closed his eyes and thought to himself, Out of sight, out of mind.

However, his other senses grew more acute after he closed his eyes, especially his sense of touch and smell. Although he couldn't see Stela, he could feel the warmness and softness of her fingers more clearly when she touched him. And the familiar faint fragrance of jasmine on Stela’s body lingering around his nose soothed him.

Not taking his indifference seriously, Stela carefully cut the cloth around the plasters.

The bathroom was quiet and only the rustling sound of her cutting the cloth could be heard. As the cloth was cut off and fell on the ground,

Hayden’s legs were exposed and Stela saw the skin of his legs near the plaster look as white as the bandage. Not to let the cold scissors touch his skin, Stela squatted down in front of him and became more careful as she continued to cut his trousers.

Hayden could sense her carefulness and he was touched. He pretended to be calm but his slightly trembling eyelashes gave him away.

Stela, since you don't love me at all, why are you so gentle and considerate to me? Don’t be good to me, or I will not be able to control myself…

Since he didn't look at Stela, Stela felt more relaxed and she expressed her concern for him bluntly, "Do tell me if I poke you with the scissors accidentally or make you feel uncomfortable."

"Okay," Hayden said. He couldn’t contain himself anymore, opening his eyes and gazing at Stela.

Stela was wrapping his legs with the plaster wrap with her head lowered and didn't notice his affectionate gaze. After finishing that, she stood up and said softly, "You'd better try to clean your body with a towel instead of taking a shower. I'll check the water temperature for you. Wait just a sec."

Then she took down the shower head and turned on the shower. Because of Hayden’s current condition, it would take a long time to help him clean his body, so she adjusted the temperature of the water until the water was slightly hot. After that, she ran some water into the bathtub.

The bathroom door had been closed when Stela came in. As the temperature rose, the bathroom was filled with steam and Hayden’s breath became heavy and quick. In the bathroom with a high temperature, his beloved woman was so close to him, making him unable to calm himself.

When Stela began to wipe his body gently with a towel, he couldn't help saying, "I can clean my body myself except my legs."

"Are you sure?" Stela looked at him and asked. "Can you clean your back by yourself? If you can, I’ll leave you alone and let you do it yourself."

Hearing this, Hayden was speechless. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "At least I can clean the front of my body myself."

As soon as he finished his words, the warm towel fell on his shoulder. Stela gently wiped his shoulder as she said, "I have promised the doctor that I will help clean your body. I must keep my word."

When her fingertips touched the tattoo on Hayden’s heart, she felt his wild heartbeat and she paused subconsciously.