The Wife He Forgot to Marry (Winona and Yule) novel Chapter 367

The lead car was undeniably familiar.

Squinting, she quickly realized it was Stefan's car.

She asked the driver to pull over, paid the fare, and stood on the sidewalk waiting.

As Stefan stepped out of the Maybach, Winona immediately noticed the thick bandages peeking out from beneath his collar. Her eyes filled with tears.

He walked toward her, his gaze an agonizing mix of deep affection and intense restraint. "I just came to thank you for the gifts... and to drop you off at the airport."

Remembering that he had been beaten so shortly after recovering from his burn injuries, she asked softly, "Do your wounds still hurt?"

"Not anymore," he replied quietly.

But the pale, washed-out color of his face betrayed his lie instantly. The injuries had to be severe.

She looked at him, her heart aching.

Suddenly, Phoebe's words echoed in her mind: 'If you don't even try to fight for it, you're throwing away your only shot at happiness.'

She had suppressed her feelings so many times, utterly terrified of getting hurt again. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't lie to herself anymore.

She was truly in love with this man.

She wanted him.

She knew the gap in their social standing was massive, but she was going to work relentlessly until she was undeniably worthy of standing beside him.

With that thought, a surge of raw courage flooded her chest.

Moving faster than her rational mind could stop her, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.

Stefan froze.

All the intense emotions he had kept locked away in the darkest corners of his heart suddenly roared to the surface. Out of sheer respect for her, he had constantly suppressed his desires, forcing himself to play the perfect gentleman.

But in this moment, her embrace shattered every last ounce of his self-control.

He dipped his head and kissed her.

A long, breathless moment later, he pulled back just enough to whisper against her ear.

Winona nodded.

Once they were in the car, Rhea relentlessly grilled her for details, but Winona remained dead silent.

Her brain was still completely short-circuiting over the proposal.

Sensing something was off, Rhea glanced over and noticed her dazed, spaced-out expression. "Win, did something happen?"

Winona slowly pulled the necklace out from under her shirt. "Rhea, what do I do? I think he just proposed."

Rhea slammed on the brakes, swerving the car safely to the side of the road.

She whipped around to stare at her friend, stuttering in pure shock. "What?! He proposed?! You guys aren't even officially dating yet and he wants to put a ring on it? Damn, the man does not play around! What are you going to say?"

Winona didn't answer, but the deep crimson blush spreading across her cheeks said it all.

Rhea grinned from ear to ear. "Winona, I think you should go for it! Take the leap! If you marry him, you literally never have to worry about the Locke family's toxic drama ever again!"

Knowing exactly what was holding her friend back, Rhea laid it out for her. "I know you're stressed about his mother and the Mallory family making your life hell. But you're forgetting your biggest asset! The Goddard family is pivoting hard into the pharmaceutical industry. They desperately need a genius like you. Margaret is obsessed with transactional value, right? What you can bring to the table completely eclipses whatever trust fund those heiresses have. As for the Mallorys, Stefan literally threw Ms. Mallory out like trash. There is zero chance anything is happening there."