The Wrong Girl and the Wronged Girl (Stella and Ethan) novel Chapter 542

Chapter 542 The Price of Innocence

So… where exactly had this confidence come from?

“You sure?”

The man’s tone deepened.

Even with the door in between them, his voice carried a pressure that was hard to ignore.

The weight of it snapped Tessa out of her daze, like her drifting soul had suddenly returned to her body.

“I…”

The fear crept back into her voice.

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Finished

Victor raised a brow. He clearly noticed something was off. “Open the door. Let me see you.”

“I just want to be alone for a bit.”

Ugh…

She really did just want some quiet right now.

That one sentence made it even clearer to Victor that something wasn’t right with her.

“Open the door.”

This time, his tone was unmistakably firm.

Tessa instinctively rubbed her hands together. Her mind flashed with the image of him climbing in through the balcony.

Yeah, right–no way this door could actually keep him out.

After a few seconds of thought, she finally gave up and opened the door. The first thing she saw was the man’s solid chest.

His shirt was stained with blood…

She reflexively reached out. “You’re hurt again?”

But halfway through the motion, she suddenly remembered something and yanked her hand back.

Oh my god. What did his injury have to do with her? Stella had been crystal clear. Don’t interfere. Don’t get involved. No extra effort.

She wasn’t trained to treat wounds.

And as for taking care of people–yeah, definitely not her thing.

Victor saw every bit of her reaction. Her instinct, her hesitation, the slight changes in her expression.

The corner of his mouth lifted in a faint smile. “What? Thinking about stripping me again?”

Her mouth twitched hard.

She quickly shook her head. “No, no, no, I wasn’t thinking anything like that. I swear to god, I didn’t mean to last time either.”

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Chapter 542 The Price of Innocence

The more she explained, the more flustered she got.

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What did he even mean by that? Did he actually think she’d done all that on purpose? That was such a huge injustice. She really hadn’t meant to!

“No?”

His smile deepened.

But Tessa didn’t dare look up at him–her head was ducked the whole time.

Still, his teasing tone made her face flush red all over again.

“I really didn’t mean to…”

Ugh-

Even she didn’t believe herself at this point. Just like Stella had said, she had practically stripped every layer off Victor she could. Top to bottom, nothing had been spared.

Right now, Tessa’s insides were already crumbling. Why am I so dumb?

It was like her body went haywire whenever she was around him.

Seeing her small shoulders slump, Victor reached out with long fingers and gently lifted her chin.

Tessa instinctively tried to resist, but she couldn’t match his strength.

The moment he tilted her face up, he got a clear look at just how red she was.

His smile curled even higher. “You ruined my innocence. What are you blushing for?”

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That word-“innocence“-he said it so deliberately, so clearly emphasized, it was hard to tell whether he was joking or dead serious.

Tessa’s face, already tomato–red, turned positively burning.

“I–I–I really didn’t do it on purpose…” she stammered.

She was usually quick–witted, but under those deep, dark eyes of his, she could barely form a

sentence.

Victor didn’t respond–just smiled faintly.

And that smile made her even more nervous.

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Chapter 542 The Price of Innocence

“Um, so… did your people find anything?”

Oh my god. When are they going to clear my name? I want to go back to Stella so bad.

Victor still didn’t speak.

He kept smiling, but the way he looked at her was suddenly a little heavier.

That gaze made Tessa even more uneasy.

What does that mean? So his innocence mattered but hers didn’t?

Finished

She sniffled and spoke again, her voice tense. “So… you lost your innocence. Are you saying I have to take responsibility for that?”

She hadn’t missed it–he’d practically chewed on that word earlier.

So this was him asking her to take responsibility, wasn’t it?

Victor raised a brow. “Shouldn’t you?”

So he was asking her to take responsibility?

But if this meant paying compensation…

Sure, her mom had never let her lack for money.

Still, compared to the numbers Victor tossed around in business calls–figures she’d never even heard before–there was no way she could afford that.

“If it’s about money, I definitely can’t afford it,” she muttered.

Victor still said nothing.

He just kept staring at her in silence…

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That was the worst. Ever since she started living with him, she’d learned to fear this kind of silence.

When he went quiet, her brain completely froze.

te Home

She held back, held back again… then couldn’t anymore. She bit her lip and blurted out, “Then I’ll marry you, okay?”

Meanwhile, Marie had finally made it to the marriage bureau with Derrick.

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The Returned Heiress Who Never Fit In