Chapter 374

"What happened to setting me up with the doctor?" Rowan asked.

"You dragged your feet, and now it's too late. She's already..." *Pregnant.* Janice caught herself just in time.

Rowan grew suspicious. "She's already what?"

"Nothing, nothing. Anyway, I can introduce you to someone else."

Rowan pinched the bridge of his nose, a headache forming. "Who is it now?"

Rex couldn't resist twisting the knife. "Grandma, you just make the arrangements. If he won't go, I'll personally drag him there."

"It's the young doctor's best friend," Janice recalled. "Her name is Tanya Foster..."

Rowan let out a sudden cough, shooting a pointed, mocking look at Rex. "You'll drag me there?"

Rex's face went pale. He'd only meant to stir up some trouble, and now he'd gotten himself caught in the crossfire.

Janice, oblivious to their exchange, continued, "She seems like a very cheerful girl. I asked, and she's single. I hear she's a lawyer, too..."

"Grandma!" Rex lunged for Rowan's phone, clearing his throat. "We were just kidding! Listen, Rowan's love life is actually very stable right now. He's going to bring your granddaughter-in-law home any day now."

"We have to go to a meeting. We'll talk later. You be safe!" He quickly ended the call and tossed the phone back to Rowan.

Rowan caught it effortlessly, arching an eyebrow. "Lying comes so easily to you now."

"I learned from the best," Rex shot back, completely unrepentant. "Besides, after all these years, your devotion to this one-sided crusade has been nothing if not stable."

"Get lost," Rowan muttered, a wave of irritation washing over him.

Back in the apartment, Elissa found that Tanya had already cleared the dining table. She couldn't help but smile. "Taking your fatherly duties seriously, are we?"

"Obviously." Tanya dried her hands and flopped onto the sofa. "I can't just laze around and let a pregnant woman do all the chores. God would probably strike me down with a bolt of lightning."

She was only four when her mother was pregnant with her little brother. The fragmented memories she still held were of her father lounging on the sofa watching TV while her mother, her belly swollen, mopped the did the laundry, and cooked every meal. If a dish wasn't to his liking, he would yell at her.

Tanya had decided long ago that the man she married would be nothing like her father. And after learning last night that Elissa was keeping

baby, she was determinedre

her best friend would never have to live like her mother did. Elissa deserved to be cared for to feel cherished as she joyfully awaited the arrival of her child.

What Rowan couldn't do, she would.

"Don't say things like that," Elissa chided, disliking Tanya's casual talk of lightning bolts. "God sees how good you are. He'll make sure you live a long and happy life."

She picked up her phone, intending to send Janice a thank-you message, but an incoming call lit up the screen. The caller ID read: Carmela.

Elissa frowned, noticing several missed messages from the same number. The moment she answered, Carmela's voice, sharp and seething, cut through the phone.

"Elissa, are you deliberately ignoring me?"

For days, Carmela had been trying to convince Frank to back down from his fight with the Murphy family, but

he wouldn't listen. She was convinced that witch Elissa must have put him under some kind spell.

whe

Elissa's brow furrowed. "Why the urgency? Is the Atwater family going bankrupt?"

That hit a nerve. Carmela's greatest fear was that Frank's crusade against the Murphys would indeed bankrupt them.

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