She was so angry she was nearly in tears.


    Harassed by this man in the middle of the night, startled out of her wits, then almost fully exposed in front of him-how could she be so unlucky? Burning with


    resentment, Amara spun around and rushed back to her bed, snatching up a robe and wrapping it tightly around herself, on the verge of crying.


    Finnian realized just how furious Amara was; his actions tonight had definitely crossed the line. He hurried over to apologize, "Amara, I''m really sorry. I didn''t mean to scare you, and I truly didn''t mean to... see you like that..."


    "Enough!" she snapped.


    Why was Finnian even bothering to exin? Did he not realize how awkward and mortifying that sounded?


    Her cheeks were zing. Amara bit down hard on her lip, forcing herself to calm down. After securing the belt of her robe, she turned and demanded, "How did you get up here?"


    "I climbed," Finnian answered truthfully.


    "I did some rock climbing back in college, so getting up to the second-floor window was easy. The railing outside doesn''t have any sharp edges, so it wasn''t hard at all. Maybe I should change out that railing for you."


    He had a key to the estate''s gate and used it to get into the yard, but Amara had double-locked the main door, making it impossible to get in even with a key or the code. So, desperate to get inside, he''d had to improvise.


    Amara closed her eyes for a moment. "You don''t need to rece it for me. I''ll handle it."


    Then she added, "Why are you here in the middle of the night, anyway? You already came by earlier, didn''t you?"


    Finnian looked at her and said, "There''s something I''ve been wanting to ask you. Back then when you found out you were pregnant, no one knew. You could''ve chosen not to have the baby. Why did you decide to keep him?"


    Amara instantly dropped her gaze, taken aback by the question.


    She thought for a moment before answering, "No special reason. It just happened to be a time when I really wanted a child. Since I was getting divorced and as you know, my family might as well not exist I basically have no one-I wanted someone of my own. So decided to keep the baby."


    Finnian studied her for several seconds, then gently lifted her chin. "Is that really all there was to it? Was there no other reason?"


    He looked into her eyes, not wanting to miss a single flicker of emotion.


    "When you chose to have the baby, wasn''t even part of you thinking about me?"


    His voice was low and calm, but there was a subtle, almost maic undertone, as if coaxing her toward honesty.


    Amara''s heart lurched. She


    immediately quashed that flutter of panic and let out a coldugh. "Mr Everly don''t tter yourself.


    were in the process of divorcing me. Why would I keep a child because of you?"


    "Besides, Lagreed to the divorce without hesitation. I never intended to use the baby to get anything from you kept the child sofely for my own reasons. It had nothing to do with you, so please don''t overthink it.”  sw?ovels


    Still shaken from the earlier shock, her tone was undeniably sharp.


    Finnian regarded her silently for a moment, then said, "But you used to like me." Amara''s fists clenched tight.


    Yes, she did used to like Finnian. Back then, she couldn''t have made it more obvious.


    She brought him lunch every single day at the Everly Group. If that didn''t count as liking someone, then what did?


    So of course, after some reflection, Finnian could figure out her feelings.


    As Finnian remembered those times Amara brought him lunch, a warmth suffused his heart, and his expression softened.