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She hadn’t even taken her seat before she could sense the man’s irritation

beside her.

Turning her head, Elissa glanced at him, catching the frosty look in his eyes. In that instant, she understood.

The commotion at the restaurant entrance earlier hadn’t been a stray cat.

It had been a stray man.

Before he could say a word, Elissa hurried to explain, keeping her tone honest. “I only agreed to your grandmother’s request on the surface. I never intended to actually interfere with you and Secretary Lynn…”

Of course, she wasn’t about to admit she’d only agreed because she’d been pressured.

After all, no matter how strained Rowan’s relationship with his grandmother was, she was still his family.

Elissa, on the other hand, was just an outsider.

But before she could finish, Rowan cut her off, his voice cold and mocking as he curled his lips into a smirk. “That’s right. Someone as heartless as me–how would you dare meddle in my affairs?”

A chill raced down Elissa’s spine.

Still, she didn’t feel guilty. She met his gaze head–on, her eyes unwavering. “Did I say anything wrong?”

All these years, every word he’d ever said was still branded in her memory–clear as day.

She truly did think he was heartless.

She’d always thought he’d lose interest in three minutes flat.

She’d never dared, not for a second, to trust his feelings again.

She always imagined that talking about these things wouldn’t stir up any

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emotion in her anymore. Yet now, a wave of bitterness rose up anyway, thick and stifling, making her eyes and nose burn.

Rowan’s anger was fierce, but when his gaze landed on her reddening eyes, his frustration melted away in an instant.

Just like before, she stubbornly lifted her chin, refusing to give in, as if demanding an explanation from him.

Rowan met her stare quietly, finally conceding. “You’re not wrong. So, what do you want?”

Elissa could hear the emptiness in his reply, the way it sounded more like condescension than real agreement.

It was the same dismissiveness she’d come to expect from men used to being in charge.

She was so angry she could cry; in fact, tears sprang up before she could stop them. She wiped them away with the back of her hand, her eyes red as she stared at Rowan. “What I want–would you even listen?”

For a brief moment, Rowan’s mind flickered back to years ago.

She’d practically been a walking tear–jerker as a kid, crying over the smallest things.

Especially when he’d first taken her in–one wrong look from him and her eyes would turn red again.

But she was clever, too. Once she realized he couldn’t stand to see her

cry, she started using it to her advantage.

Whenever he ignored her, she’d stare at him just like this.

In the end, he’d always given in to her.

Girls like her, he thought, deserved nothing less than peace and happiness.

Even now, the trick still worked. Rowan’s voice softened, gentle in a way

no one else had ever heard from him. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

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He figured, there wasn’t much he couldn’t give her.

Elissa picked up on the change in his tone, and her confidence grew. “Could we tear up that contract?”

“No.”

Rowan’s expression darkened instantly. He spat out the word with a finality that brooked no argument–cold, unyielding, and absolute.

He might as well have told her to give up hope.

Seeing the resignation in her eyes, Rowan felt his chest tighten. “Didn’t you tell my grandmother I get these sudden whims and lose interest just as quickly? Well, then you can wait. When my whim runs out, I’ll let you go.”

Elissa looked at him, pressing the point. “And how long is this whim going to last?”

“Hard to say.”

Rowan’s eyes lowered, watching her intently. “People change as they get older, you know. Last time it was nine years. This time it could be twenty, thirty, even fifty.”

A lifetime.

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