Rowan nced at his silver watch. “They’re still handling the paperwork. Once you finish breakfast, go pick her up. The timing should work out.”


    “Wait, you mean Tanya cane home today?”


    Elissa’s eyes widened with a mix of disbelief and delight, the exhaustion. ofst night melting away. She looked at Rowan with a spark of hope.


    She’d known he’d find a way to resolve things, but she hadn’t expected him to get Tanya Foster out this quickly.


    Rowan pulled out a chair and sat down, sliding a bowl of warm soup in front of her. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his tone nomittal. “Eat your breakfast first.”


    “Alright.”


    Elissa obediently sat beside him, picked up her spoon, and began sipping the soup.


    The omelet was delicious too.


    Eight years apart, living under different roofs, they’d both changed so


    much.


    Rowan–he actually knew how to cook now.


    After breakfast, Elissa headed straight for the police station to bring Tanya Foster home.


    Rowan had already arranged everything. When she arrived, Murphy Group’s top attorney was just finishing up thest of the paperwork.


    It wasn’t long before the police released her.


    When Tanya Foster finally emerged, she looked more disheveled than Elissa had ever seen her.


    Since starting her career, Tanya had always taken pride in her appearance–always the picture of a polished, brilliant youngwyer.


    09:20


    But now, her wless makeup was streaked and patchy, her glossy brown waves tangled and unkempt.


    Elissa’s eyes filled with tears the instant she saw her. She rushed over and threw her arms around Tanya, repeating, “I’m so sorry, Tanya. I’m so


    sorry…”


    Tanya shrugged it off, squeezing Elissa’s hand as she gently pulled away. “Hey, I’m fine. Seriously. Let’s just go home. I’m dying for a hot shower.”


    The more Tanya downyed it, the guiltier Elissa felt.


    On the drive back, Tanya easily noticed something was off. “If you feel that bad, why not just wire me a million or two to make up for it?”


    “Okay.”


    They were stopped at a red light, and Elissa immediately reached for her phone to transfer the money.


    Tanya burst outughing and snatched the phone away. “Babe, do your even remember the first time we met?”


    Elissa hesitated for a moment. When the light turned green, she pressed the gas and said softly, “Of course I do.”


    “Well, by that logic, shouldn’t I be the one wiring you a few million?”


    Tanya could never forget that day. If anything, the memory had only grown sharper over the years.


    She’d grown up in Vistapeak City, but her family lived on the outskirts, crammed into a tiny apartment–four people squeezed into barely four hundred square feet, waiting for their building to be torn down.


    Tanya had wed her way into Vistapeak Academy–a ce overflowing with overachievers and trust fund kids–by studying day and night for a schrship.


    She was pretty and matured early, but her clothes always looked worn, her white canvas sneakers yellowed, her bangs chopped unevenly by her own hand. She stood out as hopelessly uncool.


    The boys stared at her; the girls, sharper and meaner, loved nothing more. than tearing her down with cutting remarks.


    She first met Elissa on a day when she’d finally snapped, exchanging insults with a pack of girls in the bathroom.


    She must’ve pushed them too far, because they–wealthy, notorious<b>. </b>bullies–grabbed a filthy mop bucket and threatened to dump it over her.


    That’s when Elissa stepped out of a locked stall and, somehow, managed to trip one of them.


    The filthy water ended up all over the ringleader, which only made things worse; the group turned on both of them, beating them soundly.


    It wasn’t the first time Tanya had taken a beating.


    And, as it turned out, it wasn’t Elissa’s first time either.


    But it was the first time Tanya hadn’t faced it alone.


    Elissa nced over at Tanya and the two shared a wry smile. “Alright, let’s


    call it even.”


    “I noticed thatwyer back there–he’s from Murphy Group, isn’t he?”


    Tanya recognized most of the prominent attorneys in town. “You asked Rowan for help, didn’t you?”


    The question caught Elissa off guard. Her grip tightened on the wheel, and she nodded, a little too stiffly. “Yeah.”


    “What’s got you so tense?”


    Tanya didn’t miss the shift in her friend’s mood. “You didn’t do anything. crazy to get me out, did you?”


    “No, of course not!”