My Amnesic Ex Married My Sister, So I Married His Uncle-Chapter 77: My Kisses Are Not Perfunctory

Stella was oblivious to the schemes running through Owen’s mind. She naively believed him when he said he "minded a little."

Not only did she believe him, she even attributed his unhappiness to herself... and to Ethan Rhodes.

Ethan was responsible for ninety-nine percent of it, and she was responsible for one percent.

Stella thought Ethan Rhodes was insane.

’Doesn’t he love Kiana? Doesn’t he insist it has to be her? Fine! I let go. I graciously let them be together. So what the hell is he doing now?’

’Then again, Ethan really is insane. Maybe his brain wasn’t fully healed when he was discharged from the hospital, leaving some side effects.’

’So, when it comes down to it, Ethan is just insane.’

’As for the remaining one percent... well, what could she do? She was one of the parties involved.’

Stella genuinely didn’t want Owen to misunderstand. She looked up at him, her expression serious as she asked, "Really?"

’If he really doesn’t mind, I’d do more than just give him a kiss. I’d even be willing to drag Ethan back here and slap him a couple more times.’

Owen had just been teasing her, but when he saw the seriousness in her eyes, the words on the tip of his tongue died.

In the end, he could only go along with her. "Really."

The moment he spoke, Stella stepped toward him, grabbed the fabric of his shirt at his waist, and rose onto her tiptoes, pressing her lips to his.

It was a fleeting kiss, gone in an instant.

Her movement was so quick that Owen instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.

Her body heat seeped through the thin fabric, and he could feel the subtle vibration in her chest as she spoke.

"How was that? Do you feel a little better?"

Owen’s eyes darkened. After a brief internal struggle, he said, rather ungentlemanly, "No."

The kiss Stella gave him was like a piece of candy given to placate a child—completely selfless.

Hearing him say no, Stella decisively leaned in and kissed him again.

She pulled away even faster this time.

"How about now?"

Her eyes were clear, without a single trace of guile.

A flicker of annoyance went through Owen. The hand on her waist tightened slightly.

He stared at her rosy lips and leaned closer. "Mrs. Rhodes, that can only be called a peck. What I want is..."

Owen gently captured her slightly parted lips. The lingering taste of mung bean soup made the kiss incredibly sweet. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

A long while later, when he finally pulled away, Stella’s eyes were glistening as if they’d been washed by rain. A shy blush colored their depths, and when she glanced up at him, Owen felt his very soul being drawn out of him.

His thumb brushed the corner of her mouth. Unable to resist, Owen lowered his head and gently took her lips once more.

The sound of students passing by, laughing and chatting, startled the kissing couple.

In her nervousness, Stella accidentally bit down on his lip, a little too hard.

Owen released her, watching her pant lightly. "Like that. Understand? You can’t just brush me off next time."

Stella was still catching her breath. Owen’s arm was still around her lower back, and she leaned on him for support.

They were standing very close. As Stella caught her breath, she connected what he had just said with his earlier words.

After a moment, she looked up indignantly. "My kisses aren’t a brush-off!"

Owen paused, then let out a soft chuckle. "Alright, my mistake. As punishment, how about I give you a kiss in return?"

Stella snapped back to reality, realizing she and Owen had just done something so intimate right on the hallowed grounds of the university campus.

Students were still passing by. Her cheeks instantly flushed red, and she hurriedly tried to pull away from Owen, but his arm remained around her waist. "No way!"

Owen’s expression grew serious. "You don’t like it?"

He had been too forward tonight. If she said she didn’t like it, he would never kiss her on his own initiative again.

Under the dim yellow light, the blush on the tips of Stella’s ears was hidden.

She clutched the fabric of his shirt at his waist. After a long moment, she whispered, "It’s not that... This isn’t the right place..."

It took Owen two seconds to understand what she meant.

It wasn’t that she disliked his kiss, but that the setting was inappropriate.

Owen smiled. He couldn’t resist pulling her into his arms. The movement was gentle, yet filled with a longing to meld her into his very being.

Suddenly, a figure blurred past them.

Someone yanked Owen away. The scent of alcohol hung in the air.

The next second, a clumsy fist landed on the corner of his mouth.

All Stella saw was a white shadow flash past. The arm Owen had around her was suddenly yanked away, and the momentum made her lose her balance, nearly causing her to fall.

Fortunately, someone caught her.

It was Leo Quinn who steadied her.

By the time she was steady on her feet, Owen had already taken a punch.

And standing before him was Ethan Rhodes.

The man who had left perfectly fine just moments ago now had scrapes on his exposed elbows. Even his white T-shirt was smeared with patches of black and gray.

Ethan’s low growl echoed from nearby. "Don’t you touch her!"

Ethan’s punch wasn’t actually that heavy, but the impact caused Owen’s teeth to cut the corner of his lip and the inside of his cheek. Blood trickled from his mouth, making it look quite serious.

Stella rushed back to Owen’s side, her heart aching as she watched him spit out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

She spun around and glared at Ethan. "Ethan Rhodes, are you out of your mind!"

Furious, Stella kicked Ethan hard in the shin. He cried out in pain, clutching his leg as he squatted down.

He looked up at Stella, but the streetlights above began to spin. His vision blurred uncontrollably before fading to black...

Ethan Rhodes collapsed, unconscious.

Stella jumped in fright and hid behind Owen. "Is... is he trying to scam me? I didn’t kick him that hard..."

Kiana Sterling rushed over, and the moment she saw Ethan collapsed on the ground, tears began to stream down her face as if they cost nothing.

As the only "outsider" at the scene, Leo Quinn felt completely overwhelmed.

He called Ethan’s name twice to no avail. Looking at his scraped-up body, Leo apologized to Owen while dialing for an ambulance.

He didn’t even know what to do about the first one, but just then, as if to make matters worse, Kiana also fainted.

While they waited for the ambulance, Leo finally explained what had happened.

Ethan had received a call from Kyros Headquarters that afternoon and had left Veridia to return to Jandor.

He must have been in a terrible mood, because that evening he called Leo and a few friends out for drinks.

They had just helped him into the car to leave when, for some reason, he started shouting that he had to go back and find Owen and Stella.

The car had already pulled away, but Kiana, who was in the back with him, couldn’t hold him down. The guy actually opened the door and jumped out of the moving car.

Luckily, they were still in the university district, so the car wasn’t going very fast. Still, for a drunk man to jump out and take a fall like that, he must have gotten pretty banged up.

That explained his disheveled state.

After jumping from the car, he chased after them, and when he finally found the two of them, they were... well, kissing.

And that’s when Ethan charged at them.

As for what happened next... well, everyone saw it.

Staring at the two unconscious people on the ground, Stella felt a fire of pure rage burning in her chest.

’Why didn’t I check my horoscope before leaving the house today!’