Janet’s POV
The restaurant was alive with bright lights and louder laughter. Conversations spilled over each other, filling the air with cheer. But for me, it felt suffocating. Each step I took felt heavier as I walked through the door, searching. And then, I saw Rowan.
Rowan, naturally, stood out among them, effortlessly handsome and composed; his thick black hair, slightly drowsy eyes, straight nose and thin irresistible red lips surrounded by well-groomed beards.
He sat at a table near the back, surrounded by a group of people. Flora was right next to him, smiling. Laughing. Her hand rested lightly on the table beside his. My chest tightened, and heat crawled up my neck. I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat.
I stood there, frozen, while one of the men sitting across from Rowan leaned over and clapped him on the shoulder. His voice carried across the room.
“I can’t believe we’re all here again!” he said. “Honestly, we thought you and Flora would end up together.”
I stopped breathing. The words hit me like a slap. Together? Rowan and Flora? My mind scrambled to make sense of it, but the man kept talking.
“You two were the perfect campus couple,” he added with a laugh, nodding toward Flora.
Another man at the table chimed in, shaking his head as he sipped his drink. “I remember Jared almost losing his mind over you two. He was always so protective of Flora. Who’d have thought things would turn out like this?”
Campus couple? Rowan and Flora?
Why hadn’t Rowan ever told me this?
My hands clenched into fists at my sides, and my heart pounded against my ribs. This whole trip, his excuses, his concern for Flora—it all made sense now. They had a past. A past he’d never mentioned to me.
Rowan’s voice cut through the fog in my head. It was firm, almost defensive.
“We were young and stupid, Paul,” he said, glancing at the man who had spoken. “That was a long time ago. Jared and I became good friends after that, and there’s no point bringing it up now. It’ll just upset Flora.”
I saw Flora’s face crumble as tears welled in her eyes. She looked down, her expression soft and innocent, like she was the victim in all of this.
“Sorry, Flora,” the first man—Henry, I assumed as Rowan called him before said quickly. He reached out to pat her on the back. “We didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Yeah, we’re sorry,” Paul added, his voice quieter.
Then Paul turned to Rowan, grinning. “Anyway, Rowan, are you married now? Or are you still the same old bachelor we knew back in the day?”
My breath caught. My pulse roared in my ears.
Married? Of course, he’s married! To me. For three years. It was arranged, yes, but it was a marriage after all!
But the way Paul asked that question—it was like he didn’t know. Like none of them knew.
Rowan’s perfect smile never faltered. He turned toward me, his eyes narrowing for just a moment before he recovered, extending his hand as if I’d always been right where he expected me to be.
