It was ti for her to leave.
Eira looked up at her Mama, her eyes brimming with emotion, yet she stubbornly refused to let the tears fall.
Shaking her head, she said softly, "Eira must go with you. If it’s Uncle Ford ... Eira has to leave with him."
There was nothing wrong with her words. They were perfectly reasonable —expected, even.
And yet, they made Adelyn’s heart feel inexplicably heavy, as though a quiet weight had settled deep within her chest.
"You don’t have to —"
She was about to say sothing, but the words faded before they could even form.
Sothing important still hadn’t changed between them.
The little one was still a stranger —just one who felt far more familiar than before. It would be better if she let it remain like that itself.
"Let’s go and see who is at the door," Adelyn said with a faint smile before leading the way.
Adelyn was taken aback when she opened the door and saw the person standing outside.
Although she had expected soone to co and pick up the little one, she had least expected him to show up himself.
"Mr. Warren?" Adelyn almost swallowed the words that were at the tip of her tongue. "I didn’t think you would personally co to pick her up?"
"Why won’t I?" he asked directly, staring at her as though genuinely waiting for an answer.
Adelyn looked at him, montarily at a loss for words.
He asked upfront, staring at her as though genuinely waiting for an answer.
Could she even explain her surprise?
"Well ... you are the President of Warren Corp. Your schedule must always be busy. I can’t expect —"
"Then start expecting."
He cut her off with ease.
For a mont, his words made Adelyn blink blankly.
What did he an by that?
Start expecting what?
Him showing up like this?
"I am not just the President of Warren Corp," his gaze flicked to his daughter standing beside her before returning to Adelyn, "... but also a father."
A brief pause.
"And a boyfriend."
Adelyn almost choked.
Coughing lightly to compose herself, she forced out a small laugh. "Mr. Warren, you don’t have to force yourself into anything. I understand your position and responsibilities, and I know how difficult it can be at tis for you. Even if I don’t get to see you frequently, I won’t complain. I’ll accept and move on with the days, weeks, and —"
Before she could finish, the air around her shifted.
She paused and looked at him.
Although he still appeared calm and composed, his eyes had darkened slightly —as though her words had struck the wrong nerve.
Did she say sothing wrong?
She thought back, but even from the perspective of the lie she had weaved earlier, her words should have made her seem like an understanding girlfriend.
And don’t n like him prefer won who aren’t clingy or troubleso over such trivial things?
Then why did he look as though she had offended him by giving him her understanding?
She didn’t have the courage to ask.
Instead, she chose to run from the entire confusion. Turning to Eira, she smiled.
"Baby, look —your father’s here. Weren’t you waiting for him?"
Eira glanced at her before shifting her gaze to her father.
There was clear resentnt in her eyes, as if blaming him for arriving too soon.
If only he had co later, she could have had dinner with her mama.
"Bad Dada," Eira muttered in a whisper.
Yet sohow, both adults heard her clearly.
Adelyn was stunned.
"Did she just ... call her own father bad?
Embarrassed to have witnessed it, her eyes darted toward Dylan, only to find him already watching them.
An awkward smile tugged at her lips as she quickly explained, "Mr. Warren, don’t get this wrong. I swear I didn’t say a word against you. She must be —"
She paused, unable to co up with a reason.
"... Well, I really don’t know what you did to make her think that way. But trust , I didn’t badmouth you at all."
Dylan seed mildly amused. "I trust you.’
"Really?" she asked, finally feeling relieved. If he hadn’t trusted her, she wouldn’t have known how else she would have made him believe her.
He nodded and let his eyes linger on her for a mont before shifting them to his daughter.
"What were you doing all this while?" he asked.
Eira pouted.
"Eira was about to go and have dinner with Aunt Ade-lyn."
But now that you have appeared, Eira won’t be able to have it anymore.
Dylan understood her complaint too well.
He turned to glance at Adelyn before repeating, almost casually, "Dinner?"
Adelyn paused for a mont before nodding. "Oh yes, it was getting quite late, so we thought of having dinner."
Dylan lifted his hand to check his watch.
"It’s indeed getting late," he said before glancing back at her. "It’s only right that we finish our dinner on ti."
Adelyn nodded with a smile.
Of course, she understood that —which is why she wasn’t planning to hold them back any longer.
They could leave and —
Suddenly, her thoughts halted as she finally registered his words.
She looked at him, her brows furrowing slightly.
"Our dinner?"
Dylan slipped one hand into his trouser pocket while the other held his suit jacket. Humming, he said, "Didn’t you say it was getting late?"
She nodded slowly.
Yes, she did say that.
But she never invited him to stay for dinner.
Wasn’t he being a little too shaless by inviting himself like this?
"What? Is there a problem?" Dylan asked, his brows knitting slightly.
If Adelyn could, she would have nodded imdiately.
But even her instincts warned her against offending soone like Dylan Warren over sothing as trivial as dinner.
Shaking her head, she replied, "Not at all. What problem could there be? In fact, I was just about to ask you to stay, but I hesitated, wondering whether it would be appropriate."
"Everything about us is appropriate," Dylan said, his eyes glinting with sothing unreadable.
"... Ms. Grace."
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