I Walked Away And He Lost His Mind (Zephyra and Steven) novel Chapter 530

I suddenly stopped struggling. I looked at the obsessive expression on Steven's face. It was the same obsessive look he'd had in my past life when he insisted on divorcing me.

That intensity, that look in his eyes… it was so similar.

My gaze drifted to the dishes on the table and the lopsided cake. The meals he had cooked for me recently, the things Rachel had mentioned—they were all things Steven only started doing late in our past life.

Scene after scene played out in my mind. There were so many inconsistencies. Even though the biggest piece of the puzzle was still missing, the man before me was overlapping almost perfectly with the Steven from my past.

I had wanted to ask Gordon about Steven's strange behavior before, but then Rachel's family had their crisis, and Steven had kept me trapped in the hotel. I never got the chance.

So… had Steven been reborn, too?

This was the third time I'd suspected it. Three times was a pattern.

It seemed highly likely that the Steven from my past life was back. If Horace, Verna, and I could all be reborn, why not him?

The only thing that didn't make sense was why he wasn't with Verna. Why was he so obsessed with me? Had he regretted it after I died in our past life? Or was his rebirth incomplete?

A chill ran down my spine. My face went pale, and I abruptly stood up and headed for the stairs. Maybe I was moving too fast, or maybe I was just too panicked, but I suddenly missed a step and lost my footing, tumbling uncontrollably down.

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around my waist, and my head was pulled securely against his chest.

After a dizzying spin, I landed at the bottom of the stairs on a human cushion.

The fall didn't hurt. I looked down and saw Steven beneath me, his handsome brow creased in pain.

I stared in disbelief. “You…”

Steven had shielded me without a second thought!

I looked at his arms and legs. They were scraped up, with several bloody gashes where his clothes had been torn.

I frowned.

Steven pursed his lips and released me. “Are you hurt anywhere? Why weren't you watching where you were going?”

“I'm fine.” He had cushioned my fall, so I was just a little dizzy—nothing compared to the beating he'd given me earlier that day. I pushed myself off him and reached for his wrist. “Can you stand?”

Steven grunted in affirmation.

Just then, all the lights around the manor flashed on.

I was in the middle of a rose garden. I had almost reached the center. My arms and legs were covered in thorns. No wonder it hurt so much—I'd run the wrong way and blundered right into the bushes.

My clothes were filthy. The ground in the rose garden was muddy from the rain, and I was covered in it.

I stood up to keep going, but every step was agony. I looked down and saw that my knees were scraped and bleeding, and my hands and feet were all cut up to varying degrees.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to limp onward. But there, standing directly in my path, was Steven. He wasn't wearing a jacket either, just the same loungewear as me. He was glaring at me, his face a mixture of fury and alarm.

It looked like he had run out after me the second I pushed him down.

He strode into the garden, the rose thorns tearing at him as if he couldn't feel them. I backed away, but the ground was uneven and slippery, and I lost my footing and fell again.

He was even more furious now. “Stay right there. Don't move.”

I was about to lose my mind. I had just scrambled to my feet when Steven grabbed my arm. I struggled, trying to wrench my arm free. “Let go of me! I don't want to go back with you! Steven, I hate you! I hate you!”