A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 572

Would she?

Elissa had never really considered that question. Perhaps her experiences over the years had turned her into a bit of a pessimist.

The fact that her biological parents might not be drug dealers... was already a massive, wonderful surprise to her.

As for an even better outcome, she truly hadn't dared to hope for one.

She had even prepared herself for the possibility that her real family might not fully accept her.

She lowered her eyes in thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't think I'd be sad."

"Besides, if things had been different, I wouldn't have met you, right?"

If she hadn't gone through all those harsh experiences, she never would have had those nine years living under the same roof with Rowan.

She didn't have a single memory of her biological family, but for all these years, Rowan was the one who had genuinely been by her side.

He had personally taught her how to protect herself and how to become stronger.

Rowan froze. The ache in his chest only intensified. He gently pinched her cheek. "That's not necessarily true."

It was just that if they had met under those circumstances, it would have been an entirely different scenario with different identities.

She wouldn't have been the pitiful little girl kneeling at the funeral parlor, unwrapping a candy for him. She would have been standing brightly beside Rex as the beloved fifth daughter of the Wilkinson family, Vera.

His words puzzled Elissa. "Why do you say that?"

If she hadn't been mistakenly adopted by her foster parents, she would never have been brought back to the Murphy estate by Matriarch Paige Murphy.

And she definitely wouldn't have met Rowan.

Rowan was hesitating on how to answer when Ian stepped out of the car. He closed the distance with a few long strides and leaned in, lowering his voice. "After Ms. Wilkinson left Zephyr Manor last night, Jesse's men flew out to Germany. They're at the biological research institute right now."

"I had someone look into it. They dropped off a sample... though my contact refused to disclose exactly what the sample was."

"The Wilkinson family has already locked down this information tightly. I only managed to track it because they flew out of Vistapeak City. The director of the institute over there has been trying to get in Ms. Drummond's good graces, so he slipped me a tip."

Rowan's brows furrowed for a second before smoothing out. His voice was dark and low. "Understood."

"Are you sure no one else will catch wind of this?"

"Positive."

Once Ian gave his firm confirmation and saw that Rowan had no further orders, he tactfully stepped away.

Elissa assumed they were discussing company business. From the moment Ian had leaned in to whisper, she had consciously averted her gaze to give them privacy.

Now that Ian was out of earshot, the interruption made Elissa forget about pressing her previous question. She simply asked, "Is there an issue with the Group?"

In truth, Ian rarely hid things from her.

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