"I don’t wanna find out, Granny. It’s best that I don’t, not for him but for ." I pushed to my feet. "Soon all this will be over, and it won’t matter either way."
"What do you an?" she asked sadly. "It will be over...?"
I had no idea when she beca invested in the possibility of Ares; maybe it was my feelings I stripped bare for her.
"I an, when I quit or sothing."
"You’re quitting?"
I don’t know how to say this, and explaining the contract was certainly not a wise thing to do.
"I think I’ll have that redy now. I still feel like my bones are gonna crash in on ."
Granny looked like she still wanna talk, but she smiled, kissed my forehead and left.
I released a shaky breath and grabbed my phone to text Reed.
: I changed my mind, I’m attending the reunion. Still wanna co with?
I closed the chat and opened the group chat. They were texting plenty, but I can’t keep up with many of them. They were looking forward to that day. This was our first reunion, so I knew many would show.
I narrowed my eyes when I saw a ssage for that got lost in the clutter of chatter. She @ , so I found it on ti.
Can’t wait to see you, Cry-therine. It’s been such a long ti.
I clenched my teeth, almost seething. It’s been years since I’ve heard that na, but it still elicited a reaction.
There was a reason I wasn’t active in this chat. Most specifically, to avoid any attention. It was because of her.
Candice Turner.
~☆~
I took off my gloves when I heard my phone buzz in the back pocket. I was in the middle of feeding the chickens. It’s been half a day already, and Reed finally texted back.
Reed: I’m sorry, I can’t make it. I’m back at Midnight for an urgent assignnt.
Urgent assignnt? This slls like Ares. It gotta be. Granny was right then, Ares was jealous of the fact that I was taking Reed to my reunion.
This still baffles that the almighty Ares King would do sothing petty because I wasn’t bringing him along.
A smile tugged at my lips, even though I had no plus one anymore.
: It’s alright, guess I’ll be going solo.
I shoved my phone back in my pocket, took off my straw hat, and left the yard, heading straight for the barn.
Ares has been spending an awful lot of ti there, which used to be my spot, especially upstairs, where the view was. I had set up a space, hung fairy lights at the top, and made it my maze.
I walked through the entrance, my eyes passing through an empty spot. The tractor, seed drill, feed mixer, and the rest of the other things were packed neatly.
I eyed the stairs before I moved towards them, my hand pressing into the wood railing.
"Yes, that will do." Ares was on call, standing right at the wide window.
If he had been there the entire ti, because that spot overlooked the view of the house and farm. Has he been watching ?
Of course, I couldn’t be his entire attention, right?
I gulped. Why does a weird part of want yes to that answer?
I ca closer, the skies were darkened, signifying rain, and the fairy lights hung above the wooden ceiling, appearing brighter.
Ares turned, phone still at ear. "For life, and there will be rotation. Yes. The Lane Farm will be in their care under the watchful supervision of Walter Lane. Whatever he says goes in the managent; if disobeyed, they will be terminated, and a new team will be brought in."
I froze.
"That will be all..." He ended the call, and I wasted no ti coming at him.
"What was that about?" I demanded.
Ares eyed closely, as if morizing my face like he hadn’t seen for a long ti, even though it had been a day.
"Workers for the farm," he replied, absentmindedly.
In his earlier call, he ntioned life, which ant a lifeti of service.
"I-I can’t afford sothing like that."
"The expense is already taken care of. It’s charged to my bank account."
I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t find the right words to use. My eyes sting as the tears threaten to fall.
Gramps wouldn’t have to worry about anything more; he would be stress-free, and he would wake up each day knowing everything was taken care of.
A tear slid down my face before I could stop it. "W-Why did you do this?"
Ares didn’t reply and only used his thumb to wipe the tears away, and I closed my eyes.
Here I was about to confront him about Reed leaving on a sudden, urgent assignnt, and then he pulled this off like it was nothing.
But this was everything to . It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulder.
I stood there, unable to utter a word for a while before I forced myself to speak.
"Thank you..."
I felt his hand beneath my chin as he lifted so that he could see my face.
"You really shouldn’t have," I said again. "I’m not sure Gramps is gonna accept this."
"He doesn’t have a choice."
Typical.
Ares released , and I already missed the feel of his fingers, the lingering sensation tempted to co closer.
"I’m leaving for Midnight tomorrow."
W-What?
"I have so business to attend to. I’ll send the private jet to co for you when you’re done."
I tried to fix my smile, but it kept dropping on . "S-Sure..." I nodded. "Work is important, and you have been away for a long ti."
"Do you want to stay?"
His sudden question unleashed a swirl of feelings, and even though I spent the entire ti despising this devil, I was at my wits end.
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