Chapter 1241

Rowan was in the garden, tossing fish food into the pond when his phone started buzzing. He glanced at the screen-Cole.

He picked up. "Hey."

Cole's voice was heavy, a little tense. "Dorian, there's something I should probably

tell you."

Rowan's brow furrowed. "What's up? Did something happen?"

Cole hesitated for a second. "I went to see Dad today. Oliver and Josie were both there. But they wouldn't let me in. Josie was inside playing chess with Dad, and..... I don't know, it just felt weird. Like they were hiding something."

Rowan didn't miss a beat. "What's that supposed to mean?"

That caught Cole off guard. He'd expected Rowan to push for details or at least wonder about it, but instead, Rowan sounded almost defensive.

Weren't Rowan and Oliver supposed to be at odds? After everything that had gone down between them, Rowan was actually standing up for Oliver?

Cole could hardly believe it.

He tried again, keeping his tone calm. "Dorian, don't you think it's strange? Oliver and Josie are definitely keeping something from us."

Rowan just gave a dry laugh. "Cole, you're overthinking things. Let's be real-Dad's always liked Oliver and Josie best. We have to admit it. I've done my fair share of dumb things, and you've always been the rebel. Can you really blame Dad for not being thrilled with sons like us?"

Cole was silent. Was Rowan just trying to rub it in?

He tried one last time. "Dorian, all I wanted was to see Dad. Oliver wouldn't even let me in. Does that seem normal to you? I'm his brother. Dad's own son. And I can't even go in?"

Rowan scattered the rest of the fish food and sat down on the bench. "Cole, it just means they're in the middle of a chess game. You know how Dad is about chess-he needs to focus. If you barged in, you'd just throwe everything off That's why Oliver stopped you. And if you' pushed it and Dad got mad, could you really handle the fallout?"

Cole clammed up. He wanted to argue, but nothing came out.

After a moment, he muttered, "You're right, Dorian."

Rowan kept going, almost like he hadn't noticed Cole's mood. "Cole, Oliver just comes off as cold. He's actually a softie on the inside. Look at how he is with Josie -he's got a good heart."

Cole nearly rolled his eyes.

Oliver, warm-hearted? Yeah, right.

But Rowan was still talking. "He means well, he's just clueless about people sometimes. Lucky for him you're his brother and cut him some slack. Anyone else would probably hold a grudge."

Cole bit back a retort. Was Rowan saying all this on purpose? Was he basically telling him to drop it, not to bring it up again? That if he did, he'd just look petty?

The whole calNeft Cole feeling

worse than before. He'd hoped Rowan would at least question Oliver, maybe find out what was really going on Instead Rowan, defended oliver at every turnpacting like the loyal son and brother.

It was the opposite of what Cole expected.

Defeated, Cole made up some excuse and hung up.

Across the

room,

Makiko had heard the whole conversation. She was

surprised too-Rowan really did

have liver's back. Maybe family ties eliver's weren't so easy to break after allino matter how things looked on the surface. Rowan still cared about Oliver, deep down.