Adelyn’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Mr. Warren, that would be inappropriate," she said, suddenly unable to shake off a strange sense of fear rising in her heart.

She didn’t know what exactly was scaring her.

But there was something she simply couldn’t ignore.

An instinct, perhaps —urging her to refuse the idea as soon as possible.

A voice telling her to keep her distance from the man who, on the surface, seemed entirely harmless to her.

Dylan studied her expression, but he didn’t insist.

"It’s not inappropriate," he said calmly. "However, if you don’t want to stay, there is no pressure."

Adelyn finally relaxed.

Calming whatever unrest lingered inside her, she said,

"Mr. Warren, I know that given our relationship, it’s not really inappropriate for me to move into your place."

She paused, looking straight into his eyes.

"I won’t lie to you. I’m not comfortable moving into your place."

This might have been the first honest thing she had said to him.

But she was fine with that—

At least she had started somewhere.

Now that the first step had been taken, the second and third wouldn’t be as difficult.

"I really like Eira," she continued. "But I can’t let her grow too used to me. After all, things between us are still not confirmed."

She had said something similar the first time as well.

So saying it again didn’t scare her anymore.

Even so, she still waited for Dylan’s reaction.

But when he simply sat there, watching her calmly—

She took his silence as agreement.

"Kids tend to get attached quickly," she added. "But they don’t detach easily. And I don’t want Eira to get hurt later if things don’t work out between us. So ... it would be better if I keep some distance from her."

Dylan looked calm—

But there was something dark swirling beneath his gaze.

"You’re waiting to end things between us?" he asked.

Adelyn’s breath hitched.

She swallowed hard.

Had she made her intentions that obvious?

"No—no, Mr. Warren," she quickly denied, her voice turning urgent. "How can I mean something like that? We’ve barely started anything. How could I even think about ending it?"

Dylan’s jaw hardened.

"But everything you just said makes it sound like you’re simply waiting for the right time to end things."

Of course, Adelyn had thought about it.

But ...

"Mr. Warren, I was really just thinking about Eira," she said, trying to steady her tone. "She’s too young to get entangled in adults’ matters."

Dylan stared at her for a moment longer—

But he didn’t say anything further.

He simply turned his gaze away.

Seeing him like that, Adelyn didn’t know what to say.

Was he upset with her?

She leaned forward slightly, trying to check his expression.

And from the stoic look he wore, she knew—

He was.

But she had no idea how to coax him.

Just what have I gotten myself into?

Lies and complications.

She couldn’t escape them—

And she couldn’t ignore them either.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she tried to think of something.

But nothing came to mind.

In the end, she simply stared at him.

Unable to come up with anything better, she suddenly scooted closer and grabbed his face —making him turn back to look at her.

When their eyes met again, she blinked at him innocently and said,

"Mr. Warren, I told you before —I have no experience in relationships. If you get upset like this, I won’t know how to coax you. You’ll have to help me."

Dylan’s brows furrowed slightly as he looked at her.

"You want me to teach you how to coax me?"

It was a shameless request—

But Adelyn didn’t seem to mind at all.

She nodded.

"If not you, then who else will teach me?"

Ford, who was driving, caught that through the rear-view mirror.

A faint smile tugged at his lips —one he couldn’t quite hold back.

Dylan shot him a brief look, and Ford immediately looked away, focusing on the road again.

When Dylan looked back at Adelyn, the darkness in his gaze had eased.

Something softer lingered beneath it now.

He didn’t say anything immediately, and for a moment Adelyn thought, he wouldn’t say anything at all.

However—

"The best way to coax me," he said slowly, "is not to anger me in the first place."

Adelyn listened and nodded seriously, as though she truly understood.

But then, she asked,

"What if I still end up angering you?"

Even if she tried her best to be careful, there was still a chance she might offend him.

If that happened, she needed to know how to fix it.

So she didn’t hesitate to ask.

Dylan could read her thoughts clearly.

For a moment, he even felt the urge to pinch her cheek.

But he restrained himself.

"Then do what you’re doing now," he said.

Adelyn was about to nod—

But she paused and looked at him in confusion.

"What am I doing now?" she asked, genuinely puzzled.

She was just sitting in the car with him.

Holding his face.

Those couldn’t possibly be the things that could calm him down ... could they?

She waited for him to explain.

But Dylan only looked at her and said,

"Figure it out yourself."

Adelyn’s brows furrowed.

She pouted slightly, but didn’t press him further.

Instead, she asked,

"Does that mean you’re not upset with me anymore?"

"What do you think?" Dylan countered.

She thought for a moment before answering,

"Since you said what I did just now could coax you ... it means it already worked. So you shouldn’t be angry anymore."

Dylan didn’t confirm it.

But in the front seat, Ford couldn’t help but shake his head slightly.

Adelyn might have forgotten—

But he hadn’t.

Nothing she said or did could keep Dylan angry at her for long.

If that weren’t the case, then after what she had done four years ago, there was no way he would have allowed her back into his life.

The fact that he did—

... meant he had never truly blamed her.

Not even for hurting him in the worst possible way.

—————

Soon, the car pulled up a short distance away from ZX Media.

Ford spoke politely,

"We’ve arrived."

Adelyn looked out the window, then turned back to Dylan.

"Mr. Warren, thank you for dropping me off. I won’t keep you any longer —I’ll head in first."

Dylan gave a slight nod.

Adelyn stepped out of the car.

She turned and gave a small wave before hurrying toward the building.

However—

Just as she reached the entrance—

A voice stopped her.

"We meet again, Adelyn Grace."