<b>Chapter </b>48


    “Mm,”


    Frank hesitated a moment before answering, “I’ve got a meeting tomorrow afternoon. It might runte.”


    Elissa felt her heart sink, slow and heavy.


    “I see…”


    “What do you see? Let me finish,” Frank’s voice was gentle but firm. “I just won’t make it back in time to pick you up. We’ll meet directly at Murphy Manor, alright?”


    The tension in Elissa’s shoulders eased in an instant, and the corners of her mouth lifted almost involuntarily. “Of course, that’s fine.”


    As long as she didn’t have to go back alone, she’d be alright.


    “Mm. Are you almost home?”


    She dropped her gaze to the floor. “I’m close.”


    Frank’s tone softened further. “I bought you some cupcakes. Left them in <i>the </i>fridge–don’t forget to have one.”


    Elissa froze.


    He’d given her plenty of expensive gifts before–those never surprised her. But bringing <i>home </i>cupcakes just for her? That was new.


    She was caught off guard. “Thank you, Frank.”


    But that little flicker of surprise faded quickly.


    She scrolled through her phone and saw Marcia’s post:


    [This morning I just mentioned craving cupcakes, and tonight he brought some home!]


    Her cupcake.


    12 13 #


    It must have been something Frank picked up on a whim, just because Marcia wanted them.


    She tossed her phone carelessly onto the bed and copsed after it, staring at the ceiling. The thought of the Murphy family dinner tomorrow night tangled her nerves all over again.


    If she was honest, Matriarch Paige Murphy had done her a real kindness.


    When her parents died, those two months in the orphanage had been nothing short of nightmarish for a five–year–old.


    There’d been a girl there, only a year older, the undisputed queen of the orphans‘ little kingdom. Elissa had barely arrived before the girl <i>took </i>a dislike to her.


    She’d been banned from ying with anyone else, had her dresses snipped up, found tacks hidden in her shoes, turtles drawn on her face with markers, and even lost the jade pendant she’d worn since birth–snatched right off her neck.


    Elissa tried to tell the teachers, but every child insisted she was making


    things up.


    The teachers, of course, believed the crowd.


    She’d hidden in the backyard, sobbing in a lonely corner, aching for her mom and dad. That’s when Paige Murphy had arrived.


    If Paige hadn’t taken her in, if Rowan hadn’t brought her to his own part of


    the house…


    She probably wouldn’t have even made it to adulthood.


    As a child, Elissa had been the picture of well–behaved–so obedient it was almost foolish.


    And the world is unkind to the foolish.


    So someone spent nine years teaching her how to be clever. How to fight back.


    014


    12:130


    Elissa stared up at the ceiling, the light stabbing at her eyes until they


    ached.


    —


    “Sir, we’ve arrived.”


    Rowan was lounging in the back seat, eyes closed, pretending <i>to </i>nap. Atn’s words, he cracked an eye and nced out the window. The usual sharpness in his gaze softened–just a little.


    A momentter, another emotion flickered across his angr features: a rare, fleeting exasperation.


    He made no move to get out of the car.


    Rowan shot him azy look, then swung his long legs out and stepped from the car.


    “Grandma.”


    Inside, Janice Garrett–nearly eighty–peered behind him, confirmed he’de alone yet again, and her face fell into stern lines.


    “Why are you by yourself again? I told youst time, if you don’t bring me a granddaughter–inw, don’t bothering home.”


    Rowan strolled over, hands shoved in his pockets, and dropped onto the sofa. “Grandma, if you really want, I could bring you a new one every day.” “Don’t you dare.”


    Janice didn’t miss a beat; she grabbed her cane and smacked him with it, all seriousness lining her wrinkled face.


    “When ites to love, you ought to be devoted. If you ever mess around with a girl’s feelings, you can forget about calling me Grandma.”


    “Alright, alright, I’ll do as you say.”


    Rowan let her scold and whack him until she was satisfied, only then


    <b>3/4 </b>


    Chapter <b>48 </b>


    gently setting her cane aside.


    If anyone else saw this, they’d be stunned speechless.


    The infamous Rowan, tolerating a lecture without a word of protest.


    He frowned at the mug on the coffee table, its dark contents unappetizing. “What’s that?”


    “Medicine,” Janice dered, picking up the mug andunching into her usual melodrama. “I’m so worried every night I can’t sleep. Had <i>to </i>see a doctor. Some nice youngdy told me that if I keep this up, I won’t have long left. She wrote me a whole stack of prescriptions.”


    “Where’d you dig up such a quack?”