The Wife He Forgot to Marry (Winona and Yule) novel Chapter 540

Winona grabbed his hand, putting on a fierce scowl. "Excuse me? Since when are you on dog duty? Sit back down."

She marched over to change Biscuit's water and clean the pads herself.

Stefan's phone buzzed on the counter. He glanced at the incoming text, and the playful warmth in his eyes instantly hardened into a cold, lethal glare.

The next morning, before heading to the lab, Winona was sorting the laundry basket so Lexie could run it to the dry cleaners.

As she pulled out Stefan's dress shirt from the day before, she noticed a faint, unmistakable pink stain on the cuff.

Even though he had scrubbed it out, she knew exactly what washed-out blood looked like.

A cold pit formed in her stomach. He was hurt. Why would he lie to her about a tennis injury?

Stefan was at the stove, flipping pancakes.

Winona walked straight into the kitchen, grabbed his arm, and firmly pushed up the sleeve of his sweater. There, stark against his skin, was not a sports scrape, but a brutal, jagged laceration running a solid five inches up his forearm. It had clearly been made by a blade.

Her eyes instantly swam with furious tears. "Stefan Goddard! Why didn't you tell me?!"

Stefan gently pulled his arm back, lowering his sleeve. "It was an accident, Win. Let's just have breakfast, alright?"

She glared at him, refusing to back down. "You're hiding something. Start talking, right now."

Seeing that he wasn't getting out of this, Stefan let out a heavy sigh. "My mother came to my office yesterday. She was... highly agitated. And..."

Winona's jaw dropped. "Your own mother cut you?!"

The Goddard family was a magnet for absolute psychopaths. First Maeve, then Ophelia, and now his own mother taking a knife to him?

"Listen to me," Winona said fiercely, poking a finger into his chest. "You belong to me now. If you don't start protecting yourself, I'm going to be genuinely furious with you."

Stefan reached up and gently pinched her cheek. He found it incredibly endearing how fiercely protective she was when she was angry. "Understood. The next time a psycho comes within a ten-foot radius, I'll run the other way."

She was still seething. "I'm calling your grandmother. Her daughter-in-law just assaulted my husband, and I'm not letting that slide."

Pulling out her phone, she bypassed Stefan entirely and dialed Violet.

Stefan didn't even try to stop her. Leaning against the counter, he just watched her.

Having someone fiercely defend him—having someone worry over his safety this aggressively—felt incredible. He was a ruthless billionaire to the world, but he was still a man, and being loved by her like this was addictive.

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