She Took The House The Car And My Heart

Chapter 178

hapter 178 She Prefers Me Like This

Kristian pulled a crisp hundred-dollar bill from his wallet and passed it over with a casual flourish, saying coolly, "Keep the change."

"Damn you," Felipe snapped as he slipped the bill into his pocket.

Free money from Kristian? He wasn't about to say no.

The rest of the ride passed in complete silence, both men swallowed by their thoughts, burdened by whatever weighed on their minds.

Half an hour later, Felipe dropped Kristian off at the Shaw estate.

As Kristian stepped out of the car, the memory of what he'd witnessed at the hospital resurfaced. He paused, then said, "You might want to double-check what Farrah said about Jocelyn Watson."

"Wait a second," Felipe frowned, catching the odd note in Kristian's voice.

But Kristian kept that distant, unreadable air about him and responded coolly, "Is there something else?"

"What exactly did you mean by that?" Felipe asked.

"Nothing major. Just a word to the wise," Kristian said, his eyes unreadable. "Not everyone deserves your trust."

Something about that struck a nerve, and Felipe let out a sharp laugh.

Kristian arched a brow, confused by the reaction.

"So, let me guess. Because you misjudged Freya thanks to your first love, you think I'm misjudging Farrah because of Jocelyn?" Felipe said with a mischievous smirk.

Kristian's frown deepened slightly, clearly irritated by the jab.

But Felipe, hands resting easily on the steering wheel, seemed relaxed now. "Your problem was personal. Mine's professional. Whole different ball game."

"Is it really?" Kristian challenged.

"Of course."

"Then why did Farrah bring up Jocelyn right outside the hospital and look at you like you didn't have a clue?" Kristian pressed.

That wiped the smirk off Felipe's face.

Kristian really couldn't help himself-he always knew how to push just the right button.

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pause, he added, "If you can trust other women

know?" Felipe shot back, a

darkened, distant, cold. "Maybe I've just learned from

rolled

didn't bother

circling in his mind made his expression harden for a moment. He tamped down the emotions stirring inside him and headed toward

steps when he spotted

whatever emotion had lingered

with a face full of relief, as

twinkled with

hands hung loosely at his sides as he paused briefly before walking toward them with practiced calm. "What

"Failing once isn't the end of the world. What matters is learning from it

couldn't find the right

he said simply,

Melinda replied, clearly

momentarily silent again, but years of learning to keep a straight

firm pat. "Owning up to your past is

to take care of. I'll head inside," Kristian said,

his father's words. "You two

he turned and made

he possibly have to do this late? Isn't

We struck a nerve, and now he needs an excuse to duck

knowingly.

a grown man now. We should

"True."

but Kristian, overhearing it,

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he thought about how he'd once helped his

into his pajamas, and lay down

brought him a kind

stillness, far from the noise and rush, he felt something settle

that thought, he picked

eyes landed on Freya's avatar. More often than not, he had the impulse to text her-ask where she was, what she was doing-but every single

day

should attend the evening banquet, then left

to the

waste the trip or show up unannounced, she

time.

grabbed her gift and