he knew all too well: when you’re asking for help, you need to y the part. You need to offer something the other person actually wants.


    Carm was desperate for her to keep the divorce a secret, so that was easy–she could promise Carm to keep quiet for as long as she


    wanted.


    As for Frank, his heart was never really in their sham of a marriage. She could cooperate, let him sneak around with Marcia without a fuss, give


    him all the freedom he craved.


    But Rowan…


    Rowan was a different story.


    She’d thought about this for a long time beforeing here. <b>In </b>the end, the only thing she had left to gamble with was herself.


    She was betting–betting that Rowan’s attitude that night at the professor’s birthday wasn’t just her own wishful thinking. Betting that this young prince, who’d once whimsically “adopted” her as a little sister <b>for </b>nine years, had suddenly be interested in her in a way a man is interested in a woman.


    Or, to put it bluntly, in a way that was purely physical.


    She’d already had to fight tooth and nail just to marry Frank; she never deluded herself into thinking she could be Rowan’s legitimate partner.


    So, the moment she saw the flicker of surprise on his face, she lowered her eyes and spoke softly, obediently, “Rowan, I could be your lover. I’ll do whatever you want.”


    Just… please, help Tanya Foster. Please.”


    She didn’t even dare to look at his expression.


    In those few seconds of silence, her heart was about to pound out of her chest, her fingertips trembling uncontrobly.


    If she’d bet wrong, there was no telling how cruel Rowan’s mockery might <ol><li>be. </li></ol>


    He could sneer that she was a frog trying to eat swan meat.


    Or, with that superior, icy tone, ask her: What on earth made you think I’d ever be interested in someone like you?


    But Tanya Foster was in trouble because of her–if she had to endure a little humiliation, so be it.


    If she lost this gamble, she’d ept her fate.


    Rowan’s gaze drifted downward, taking in her shaking hands and bare feet. His brows furrowed, just for a moment, almost imperceptibly. “Come in.”


    With that, he opened the shoe cab, pulled out a brand–new pair of women’s slippers, and tossed them onto the floor.


    Elissa hesitated, unsure of what he meant, until his cold, brisk voice rang out again. “Go wash your feet.”


    “…Alright.”


    She almost forgot–he was a neat freak.


    Her feet had juste straight from the elevator. Of course he couldn’t tolerate her bringing dirt into his immacte home.


    She bent down, slipped on the slippers, and stepped inside, careful not to let her dirty feet touch a single inch of his spotless floor.


    Theyout was the same as hers.


    She walked straight to the guest bathroom, turned on the shower, and didn’t even wait for the water to warm up before dutifully washing her feet.


    The sound of running water filled the quiet. The frosted ss door creaked open.


    She’d just finished, setting the showerhead aside, when she looked up at


    <b>2/3 </b>


    <b>09:20 </b>


    Chapter


    him, nervous and uncertain. After a moment’s hesitation, she finally asked, “Can you really help Tanya Foster?”


    She already knew the answer–at least, she thought she did. But she needed to hear it from him, needed that certainty.


    Rowan’s long, clean fingers rested on the door handle. His tone was unreadable. “Is Tanya Foster really that important? Important enough. that you’d sell yourself for her?”


    Thest time Elissa had felt this humiliated, she was standing outside a private club in another city, moments before she decided to leave Frank–overhearing that his lover was her own sister–inw.


    No. This time was even worse.


    But aside from Rowan, there was no one left she could turn to.


    She curled her toes, eyes fixed on the floor, not knowing where else to look. “Yes. She’s very important.”


    For eight years–eight long, lonely years after this man had abandoned her–Tanya Foster was the one person who stayed by her side.


    Tanya had nothing either. But she never left Elissa, never gave up on her.


    If Tanya hadn’t been so desperate to save up enough money for them both to leave Vistapeak City together, she never would have taken on such a dangerous case. She wouldn’t have given te the opening he needed.


    “If I say no?” Rowan’s dark eyes searched her, as though he wanted to see. straight through her soul. “Who’s next? Who are you going to throw yourself at after me?”