Chapter 405

Elissa stopped dead in her tracks. She turned back to face him. "What did you say?"

Finn's expression was unchanged, his tone flat. "Work with me, and I'll help you wipe the Murphy family off the face of the earth."

Despite his calm demeanor, Elissa saw a blaze of intense hatred in his eyes. She frowned. "Do you have a grudge against Rowan?"

Finn shook his head, a faint smile on his lips. "Like you, I have a grudge against the entire Murphy family. And for that, the entire Murphy family must be destroyed."

A chill ran down Elissa's spine. She instinctively took a step back. "I'm not like you."

"And how are we different?" Finn's gaze was piercing, his voice seemingly gentle but his words relentless. "You're right, we're not quite the same. The Murphys only killed my mother. In your case, both of your parents died because of them." His voice dripped with mock sympathy. "You've suffered far more than I have, yet you still show them mercy. Ms. Drummond, you truly are a saint for returning their cruelty with kindness."

Every word he spoke made it clear he knew her history inside and out. Yet all she knew about him was a single name. He had come prepared.

Elissa clenched her fists. "That was Paige Jensen's doing. You can't blame the entire Murphy family." If she did, then the very drug she had developed-the culmination of her own dreams-was also a tool that strengthened her enemies.

Finn chuckled. "The connections and power Paige used to murder your parents... didn't they belong to the Murphy family? Ms. Drummond, your sense of justice is a bit too black and white." His next words were designed to wound. "Or is it that your relationship with Rowan makes you unwilling to admit the truth? You have to concede, the drug you developed for them has certainly made your path to revenge much more difficult, hasn't it?"

Elissa's hands tightened into fists. She had no energy to argue with him. She turned and fled toward the restroom, his words echoing in her mind, taking root and refusing to let go.

Was her enemy Paige Jensen, or the entire Murphy family?

For a moment, she couldn't tell if she had been naive before, or if this man's influence was making her overthink everything now. Until this point, her focus had been clear: the one who committed the crime was the one who should pay.

Or was Finn right? Had her personal feelings for Rowan caused her to subconsciously blame only Paige for her parents' deaths?

A crack appeared in the foundation of her beliefs.

Her pace quickened. As she rounded a corner, she collided head-on with

someone.

Rowan steadied her, his hands gripping her arms. Seeing her dazed and distraught expression, he couldn't help but ask, "See a ghost?"

"No," Elissa muttered, frantically pulling away from his grasp and stepping back. "I'm just going to the restroom."

He didn't release her, his eyes scanning her face. "What's wrong?"

Elissa looked up at him, a question on the tip of her tongue. But the memory of him defending Paige at the conference silenced her. She swallowed the words

"I said it's nothing." Her voice was cold and distant. She had been like this with

him often lately, quick to put up her walls.

Rowan's brow furrowed. Annoyed, he let her go, his own voice turning chilly. "Fine. Then it's nothing."

He'd been a fool to bother asking.

Elissa seemed not to notice his displeasure. As if granted a pardon, she disappeared into the restroom without a backward glance.

As the hem of her dress vanished from sight, Rowan pulled a cigarette from its case and placed it between his lips He didnt light itusothea, Rex walked over.

"Serves you right."

Rowan shot back without missing a beat, "You're one to talk. Weren't you looking

for Tanya Foster? How come you're back alone?"

Rex snatched the unlit cigarette from Rowan's mouth, ignoring the jab.. "It was obvious Elissa was planning to expose your grandmother today. Did you really think she'd be happy with you after you stopped her?"

***