Edward looked tired, rubbing his brow. “She gave me two conditions last night.”

“What conditions?” I asked, surprised but not really caught off guard.

Edward looked at me, sympathy and guilt written all over his face. “Let’s not get into it right now. Those are just her terms, not mine.”

“I want to know,” I pressed. Nora grew up in a family like hers–you can’t just brush off what she says as childish.

“It’s better if you don’t know. I don’t want you getting hurt,” Edward said, still refusing to tell me.

I threw off the covers and stepped in front of him, stopping him from leaving. “You promised we’d always talk about things right away, remember?”

Edward gave me a helpless look, his expression shifting. “Nora said we can’t get married, but we can stay together for the long haul. And if you have a child, the kid would only get a third of my inheritance.”

I was stunned. ‘No marriage, but she wants me to have a kid? She basically wants my child to have no name, no status,’ I thought.

“Edward, she’s clever, but I can’t accept either of those,” I said, my voice firm. “We got together because we wanted to, no one forced anyone, no one got hurt. We met as single people, and if I have to put up with these random rules just to get married, that’s not fair to me.”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t agree to her terms,” Edward said softly, trying to comfort me.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

After Edward finished his shower, he asked if I wanted to stay with him for a while and maybe get some more sleep together–he hadn’t slept well last night either.

I didn’t want to go back to sleep, scared the nightmares would haunt me again.

I was just killing time on my phone, lounging on the couch. The housekeeper was super friendly.

Around noon, the landline started ringing.

The housekeeper picked up, then came over looking a bit surprised. “Hey, Ms. Murphy, this call’s for you.”

That caught me off guard. ‘Wait, someone’s actually calling me on Edward’s house phone?’ I thought.

I hurried over and grabbed the receiver.

Ryan’s voice came through, sounding a bit manic. “So, you really are at his villa.”

“You called just to see if I was here?” I replied, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

Ryan’s behavior lately was getting weirder and weirder.

Even if he wasn’t married, this kind of pestering would still be out of line.

“He really drags you everywhere with him, huh? What, is he afraid someone else might snatch you up?” Ryan said with a mocking laugh.

I frowned. “That’s between me and him. It’s none of your business.”

“Do you actually like the guy, or are you just after his money?” Ryan shot back, his tone sharp.

“Yeah, both. Got a problem with that?” I snapped, my temper flaring.

Ryan went quiet for a few seconds. “I really regret ever letting you meet Edward.”

My heart skipped a beat.

“If you’d never met Edward, you two never would have fallen for each other…” Ryan said.

“You’re just wasting your breath,” I said with a bitter laugh. “If Edward hadn’t come into the picture, you’d still be chasing some arranged marriage for your family’s sake, wouldn’t you?”

“I’m sorry. I lied to you. Fiona and I–it’s just a contract marriage, nothing real between us. I actually wanted you to wait for me for two years, but I know I have no right to ask that of you,” Ryan said, his voice suddenly soft and sincere.

“Let it go, Ryan. Time moves on. We’re not who we used to be,” I snapped, feeling my frustration rising.

Just then, Edward reached over and took the phone right out of my hand.

I flinched, turning to see an elevator behind me.

Edward stepped out of the elevator.