Echoes of Unrequited Love

Chapter 20

Before I even finished talking. Cecilia across from me suddenly stood up, staring past me, and stuttered. “Hogan.”

Her eyes were getting even redder as she spoke.

Hogan quickly moved to Cecilia’s side in just a couple of strides, shielding her with his body. and demanded, “What the heck have you two said to her?”

He said “you two.”

That included me too.

When Hogan spoke, a vein on his forehead was throbbing.

He was clearly peeved.

For someone as usually cool as a cucumber like him, this was a rare loss of control, especially with Hilary standing right there.

In my memory, those two, mother and son, had never had a heated argument.

But now, for Cecilia’s sake, even his tone with Hilary had an edge to it.

Hilary seemed blindsided by how things had escalated, pointing at Hogan and saying, “I’m doing this for you, don’t you know that?”

After saying that, she stormed out with tears in her eyes.

Just as I was about to follow, I heard Hogan say, “In a rush to brown–nose?”

in my tracks, torn between laughter and tears.

Cecilia, standing off to the side, spoke up, “Hogan, you’ve got it all wrong, it’s not Xaviera’s

gave me a skeptical

my bad for getting my hands dirty in

a while, I said, “I’m heading back to the

Hogan give you a lift.”

a smile, “Nah, it’s out of

the office, the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. After this afternoon’s drama, I figured my cover as the ‘ex‘

I had this

hope Wallis wasn’t right.

Chapter 20

of a notification snapped me out

and, lo

tempting digits, my

or commend him

a message caught my eye. [Tough day, compensation.]

no emotion to be

accepted the money without a second thought, pondering whether I’d stumbled upon a

all, Hogan was the finance whiz–kid with a Midas touch. He’d never let me get the upper

up my friends list and hit

balance, I felt

to me and asked, “Xaviera,

“Heading out

Darren’s birthday bash,” Jack said, then realizing something was off, he added in surprise. “He hasn’t told you

normal since we weren’t that