THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 381: Careful With The Promises

"But I want to be that man and even more. Maybe this time, we can build something even stronger."

Tears slipped down Lauren’s cheeks at Steffan’s words. She let out a shaky laugh as she wiped at them with the back of her hand. "You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to hear you say that. I was so afraid of pushing you too hard and ruining whatever chance we might have had."

Steffan shook his head. "You’re not pushing me, Lauren. You’ve been more patient with me than I probably deserved."

They sat there in silence for a few more moments with their hands still intertwined lost in their separate thoughts.

Finally, Steffan broke the silence with a playful grin. "Now, you really should go inside and get ready. We’ve got a dinner to attend, and I don’t want to be the one responsible for the heroine of the party being late," he joked.

Lauren laughed but almost immediately a pout appeared on her rosy lips.

"Did I say anything wrong?" Steffan asked

"I still haven’t forgiven you for not checking on me for almost a month. If not for Geo..."

"I’m sorry, truly sorry," Steffan cut in, not giving Lauren any chance to mention the name of the man who appeared to be his number one contender.

He knew he had a lot of work to do to completely erase that man’s influence in Lauren’s life and unseat him from the position he had cunningly installed himself in her heart.

Her heart belonged to no one else and doesn’t have space for any other man especially those whose names started with the letter ’G.’

"How do I prove to you that I am sorry? Tell me and I’ll do it," he said with a serious expression.

"Well, let me inform you beforehand that my demands are always not easy, so be careful with the promises you make to me," Lauren warned, feigning an equally serious expression.

"If that’s meant to scare me, you did. But I still stand by what I said earlier."

He was sure no matter how hard Lauren’s demand was as long as she didn’t ask him to recollect their past together, he’d be able to meet it. What could be more hard compared to that.

"Are you sure?"

"Try me," Steffan said with confidence.

"It’s so unfortunate that I don’t have any requests for now, but when I do, remember what you said today," Lauren said with a mysterious glint in her eyes that made Steffan doubt himself for a moment.

"Since you haven’t come up with my punishment yet, I suggest you go freshen up. Do you need help in getting ready?" Steffan asked in a teasing yet warm tone.

"Nope, I can manage on my own," she said but didn’t fail to wonder what help he could possibly render since he also needed to get ready.

"Alright, I’ll be back at seven sharp," Steffan said.

Lauren nodded and watched as Steffan helped her to unbuckle her seatbelt. She reached for the door, but before she could step out, she felt Steffan’s hand on hers again, stopping her. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

She tilted her head slightly to stare at his impeccably handsome face. Their faces were so close that she thought he was going to kiss her the next minute.

"Lauren," she heard him say, his voice soft but serious, "Thank you, for not giving up on us."

Lauren stared into Steffan’s sincere eyes for a few more seconds. "As long as you don’t, I won’t," she said and with one last smile, she stepped out of the car and made her way to her apartment.

As she closed the door behind her, she leaned against it, letting out a deep breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

It still felt like a dream that she had finally been able to clarify to Steffan the relationship between them and contrary to what she had feared, he took it perfectly well.

She could tell that he was happy at the revelation and couldn’t wait to share the good news with her family and Steffan’s family who had been dying to see this day.

It turned out they’ve all been scared for nothing, delaying precious time. But it’s still okay that it has finally happened.

But she had barely an hour before Steffan would come pick her so she hurried to her bedroom and went straight into the shower.

Within ten minutes, she was done showering but the problem was in the choice of what to wear.

This was no ordinary party and as the winner of the show, she needed to look befitting for her new status and dared not throw anything casually on her body.

The announcement for the party had been so sudden that she didn’t have time to prepare a befitting outfit in advance.

She rummaged through her wardrobe again. Should she dash down to one of the high end stores to get something new and befitting? but there was barely time for that.

She regretted not listening to her mother’s advice.

"Lauren, you should at least have something handy for emergencies," she had told her one day when she found herself in a situation similar to this.

"What emergencies can come up, mom? I’m always busy and don’t have time for parties," she had turned down the advice and now it was too late.

Then the party had been with a blind date her mother had arranged for her so she was able to maneuver her way out as she had no intention of impressing the guy.

But today was different. What was she going to do now?

Just when she was at a crossroad, a message popped up on her phone screen. She wasn’t in the mood for those spasm messages so she decided to ignore the light that flashed briefly on her phone screen.

But somehow, her curiosity got the best of her. ’What if it was important,’ she thought and unlocked her phone and her eyes quickly scanned the message: "Step outside."

The sender was Steffan. Puzzled, she looked at the time; he wasn’t supposed to be here yet.

Still in her bathrobe, hair wrapped in a towel, she padded downstairs in her slippers. The house was unusually quiet, save for the gentle hum of the AC and the occasional soft padding sound from her flip flops.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she glanced at her reflection in the hallway mirror. Her face was still flushed from the hot shower and her skin glowed faintly. Despite the rush she was in, she couldn’t help but smile at her reflection.

It was rosy and attractive as usual. She didn’t know whether the added depth to her hue was as a result of the excitement of going to meet Steffan dressed like this. What if he couldn’t stand it and decided to be naughty?

But the smile faded into uncertainty. What was Steffan up to, showing up before the scheduled time.

The soft sound of the doorbell startled her out of her thoughts. She hurried toward the door, half-expecting to see Steffan leaning against the doorframe with a grin. But when she opened the door, her breath caught in her throat.