<b>Chapter </b><b>132 </b>


    “Grandfather said Miss Elissa should deliver it herself.”


    to be now.”


    [Miss Elissa, Mr. Murphy is avable right now. Please bring it over.]


    [We’re at Rivercross Estate.]


    Elissa blinked at the two messages, momentarily stunned.


    They seriously meant it?


    Still, after everything that happened that night, she owed Rowan a thank you, face to face. This was as good an excuse as any.


    She carefully folded the suit jacket, grabbed her keys, and drove toward Rivercross Estate.


    Somehow, despite the high security, the guards waved her through without a single question.


    She took thekeside drive straight to the mansion, her nerves tightening


    as the house came into view.


    To Rowan, her actions that night must have seemed utterly pathetic. He probably had her pegged with every lovesick lábel in the book. She braced herself–he’d be sure to mock her again today.


    “Miss Elissa, you’re here!”


    For a fleeting moment, it felt like nothing had changed, as if she were simplying home like she used to.


    10:42


    Chapter <b>132 </b>


    Elissa hesitated, picking up the suit jacket as she got out of the car. “Juice is fine, thank you,n.”


    “No need for thanks,”n replied with a smile, not wanting her to be so formal. “We’ve looked after you since you were little. That’s just how it’s always been.”


    They’d all been handpicked by Rowan from the orphanage–loyal, with no weaknesses. When Rowan first brought Elissa home, everyone was fascinated by the sweet, quiet little girl and treated her like a cherished younger sister.


    Despite everything that happenedter, to them, Elissa would always be their Miss Elissa. That had never changed.


    Suddenly, Elissa felt a tightness in her chest and nced away, blinking back the heat in her eyes. “Yeah. You all have taken care of me for so many years.”


    “Alright.”


    Elissa nced up at the second floor, anxiety curling in her palms as she squeezed them together.


    She’d known every inch of Rowan’s old house–even down to the ant hills in the backyard. But this was her first visit to Rivercross Estate. Everything here was unfamiliar.


    Just like her rtionship with Rowan now.


    She climbed the stairs and paused at the study door, raising her hand to knock. “Mr. Murphy, I brought your suit back.”


    “Come in.”


    The space was new, but the voice was achingly familiar. Rowan’s cool, detached tone drifted from inside. Somehow, it steadied her nerves a bit. She turned the handle and stepped in–then stopped short.


    10:42


    Chapter <b>132 </b>


    The study was decorated almost identically to his old one: the same crisp, minimalist style, radiating an air of aloofness.


    Except for one thing. Hanging above the tall windows was a powder–blue seashell wind chimepletely out of ce among the severe lines


    and dark wood.


    That-


    The summer before she started middle school, Rowan had just finished his college entrance exams, and he’d taken her to the coast for a few days. She’d collected shells, tinkered with them after they got home, and made that wind chime. Rowan had frowned and called it ugly, but he’d still let her hang it in his study.


    Now Rowan sat sprawled in his chair, following her gaze to the wind chime. His voice was as dry and indifferent as ever. “Well, Miss Elissa, aren’t you here to return my suit? Cat got your tongue?”


    “…Right.”


    Shaking herself, Elissa set the suit on the sofa nearby. “It’s been dry–cleaned,” she added, remembering his need for cleanliness. “But if you’d rather, Mr. Murphy, I can buy you a new set–though it probably won’t match your custom tailoring…”


    “That’ll do.”


    He cut her off before she could finish.


    Elissa blinked, caught off guard that he’d actually ept. “Alright, I’ll find time in the next couple of days to pick one out.”


    Rowan’s lips twitched in a barely–there smile. “You know my measurements?”