A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 268

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Rowan pressed his lips into a hard, thin line, his tone unmistakably irritable. “Why don’t you count for yourself—how many times have I denied it?”

Elissa almost missed what he meant. When it finally dawned on her, the guilt that had been weighing on her chest eased, just a little.

He had denied it, over and over again.

Almost every time she was tempted to believe the rumors, he would shut them down immediately.

Elissa bit her lip. “A lot of times.”

“And yet?”

Rowan’s voice took on the stern, almost scolding note he’d used when they were children. “The minute someone else says something, you believe them instead.”

“You’ll take anyone’s word for it—except mine?”

That last line hit her right in the chest, leaving her feeling inexplicably suffocated.

How much had she trusted him, once?

So much that even after he abandoned her, she couldn’t believe it—she’d chased after him, begging for an explanation, crying out, “Don’t leave me, big brother—don’t abandon your little Elissa.”

She wasn’t sure how, but now, none of that trust was left.

A sharp ache rushed up behind her eyes. Elissa turned her head away, staring hard at the back of the driver’s seat, blinking away the shimmer in her eyes. After a long moment, she muttered, completely off-topic, “Well, you came back to the country and didn’t tell me either…”

Rowan couldn’t quite catch her mumbling, but when he saw her slip back into her usual quiet, docile self, he let out a faint, crooked smile. “So, what’s your explanation?”

“I didn’t stay at Greenwood Manor on purpose.”

This time, Elissa didn’t retreat into silence. “Frank wouldn’t let me leave.”

—I called you, but you never called me back.

Maybe it was the years spent under the same roof, but Rowan immediately picked up on the faint trace of resentment in her eyes. “What else? Go on, say it all.”

Elissa dropped her head, drew in a silent breath, and forced herself to ignore the risk of being laughed at. Summoning her courage, she blurted, “I called you, and you didn’t call me back.”