Chapter 503
"N-No, I don't mind."
Elissa found it a little hard to adjust to this sudden role change.
Her patient had suddenly transformed into Rowan's grandmother.
Janice breathed a sigh of relief before glaring at Rowan. "How long are you going to keep holding her hand? Let her eat properly."
"Alright, alright." Rowan chuckled, finally releasing Elissa's hand. "Eat up. The old lady is a great cook, it's all your favorites."
Elissa suddenly remembered something.
No wonder the meals she had eaten at Rowan's place previously tasted exactly like Janice's cooking.
It was because Janice had cooked them all along.
Including those dumplings from that morning!
And he had blatantly claimed he made them himself.
Sensing her resentment, Rowan's lips curved upward. "What are you wanting to scold me for?"
"..."
His grandmother was sitting right across from them; Elissa wouldn't dare curse at him.
Unexpectedly, Janice didn't take his side. Instead, she added fuel to the fire. "Elissa,
if
f you want to scold him, go right ahead. A granddaughter-in-law ranks way higher in my book than a grandson."
The older woman's blunt words made Elissa lower her head in embarrassment.
Rowan burst into laughter. "The boss has spoken. Come on, what did you want to say?"
"I didn't want to scold you."
Emboldened by Janice's support, Elissa gave him a side-eye and asked directly, "Did you know all along that Mrs. Garrett and I knew each other?"
Rowan gave a noncommittal nod. "Yeah."
What a sly fox.
Elissa pressed, "When did you find out?"
"Before I went on that business trip to Meridia Country."
Adopting a policy of full transparency, Rowan confessed everything. "The night before I left, you cooked my grandmother's dumplings for me, remember?" Elissa vaguely recalled it.
She remembered not just cooking the dumplings, but also telling him a bit about Janice.
So he had known everything the whole time.
She was the only one kept in the dark. Oh wait, Janice was too.
This time, Elissa didn't have to scold him,
bace Janice couldn't holde
brat,
I you knew
all along
why didn't you give me a heads-up?"
Throughout the meal, Rowan was attacked from both sides, though his temper
remained impossibly good.
After dinner, Elissa figured the
grandmother and grandson had a lot
to catch up on, so she excused
herself,
claiming she had work to
finish, and turned to her own
apartment.
The door closed behind her. Rowan rolled up his sleeves and helped Janice clear the dishes.
As they cleaned up, the older woman's tone turned serious. "Elissa is that little girl you used to raise, right?"
Rowan didn't shy away from it. "Yes."
So what if he had raised her?
They weren't blood siblings.
Janice took the dishes from his hands. "Are you really sure about this?"
Rowan paused, looking up at her with a slight frown. "What is there to think about?"
Ever since he brought that little girl into his courtyard all those years ago, he had made up his mind to take care of her for the rest of his life.
Later, as they both grew older, certain feelings had spiraled out of control.
That only made things clearer.
It wasn't that she needed his care; it was that he needed her.
He needed her in every possible way.
Janice studied him for a long moment before gently reminding him, "Elissa is still pregnant."
"So what?"
Rowan could openly admit that, selfishly, he desperately wished the child was his.
But even if it wasn't, he wouldn't hesitate for a single second when it came to their relationship.
The worry in Janice's eyes faded slightly, though she still asked, "Are you sure this won't become a thorn in your marriage later on?"
She was asking about marriage.
She knew her grandson's character.
For him to stay single all these years and suddenly bring someone
straight to her without hiding
anything meant he had chosen
Elissa as his wife. '
She also knew Rowan wasn't the type to act on impulse, but as an elder, she had to warn him.
Elissa's marriage had already failed once. If it failed again, the poor girl might never
recover.