Josefina's heart pounded as she pushed against Oliver's chest, trying to maintain some distance.
With a reluctant sigh, Oliver pulled away from her tempting lips. Josefina gave him a smoldering look. "Oliver, this is my house, remember?"
Oliver chuckled warmly, ruffling her hair playfully. "Alright, alright, it's your house. Now go get some rest," he teased, his affection evident.
He stepped out of the elevator, watching the doors close with a soft thud.
Back in his car, Oliver's phone buzzed—it was Rowan calling.
The second Oliver answered, Rowan's fury blazed through the line. "Oliver, did you send someone to harm your own brother? Have you lost all sense of humanity?"
"If I'm inhuman, what does that make you?" Oliver shot back, his voice icy.
Rowan spluttered, momentarily lost for words.
His anger boiling over, Rowan barked, "Tell me, Oliver, your brother's in the hospital, unconscious—was that your doing?"
"If I said it wasn't me, would you believe it?" Oliver's tone was dispassionately cool.
Rowan was speechless.
Oliver continued, "Why don't you consider that they're scheming against me—mother and son, working together?"
Fuming and tongue-tied, Rowan nearly threw his phone, but Sydney's gentle interjection stopped him.
Rowan's face was a storm cloud. "A girl from a humble background—what good can come of that? I get Oliver's curiosity for something different, a break from the usual luxuries. But marrying her? I won't allow it."
Sydney countered, "Oliver's running the company now, and he's always been rebellious. He'll defy any marriage you disapprove of."
"That defiant child, always clashing with me!" Rowan slammed his hand on the table, his frustration clear.
Sydney laughed lightly, almost consolingly. "Matters of the heart, we can't control everything. Don't worry yourself sick. The kids will find their own happiness."
Rowan was resolute. "I'll handle this! Josefina may have been found, but who knows where the Harrisons truly stand? Does blood really trump eighteen years of raising Lena?"
Sydney nodded in agreement. "You're right. Who knows what Oliver's thinking, that boy."

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