Chapter 5
The next day, Serena and I were supposed to visit the orphanage together.
I arrived to find her already standing outside the gate, carrying bags and staring into the courtyard instead of going in.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “Why aren’t you going inside?”
Then I followed her gaze.
Two luxury cars were parked inside.
And standing among the children were two men I had never seen in these bodies before but somehow recognized immediately.
One was tall, elegant, and distant.
The other carried the same dangerous polish as Ethan had in the novel world.
We didn’t need the system to tell us.
We both knew.
It was them.
Adrian.
Ethan.
Only now they wore different faces.
The children noticed us first.
“Candy! Serena!”
They came running in a swarm, grabbing at our bags, asking why we hadn’t visited in so long.
We smiled, greeted them, and let the older kids help carry the things inside.
By then, the two men had turned fully toward us.
My stomach tightened.
I wanted to back out through the gate and run.
Instead, Serena stepped forward first with a perfectly professional smile.
“Are you here for the orphanage?”
The man watching her—Ethan, though he introduced himself later under another polished face—answered first.
“Yes. My friend and I are interested in supporting charitable organizations.”
I could feel his eyes practically glued to her.
I had to resist rolling mine.
In the novel, I knew exactly how he treated her.
What did it matter if he looked remorseful now?
Trash didn’t become treasure just because it crossed dimensions.
The orphanage director came out then.
She was the closest thing either of us had to a mother, and she looked between us and the two men with immediate concern.
When she heard they wanted to sponsor the orphanage, surprise flashed across her face.
“Really?”
The man beside Ethan stepped forward—Adrian’s counterpart—and smiled in a way that made my skin crawl because it was too gentle.
“Of course.”
The director asked their names.
The man looking at Serena said, “Ethan Cole.”
The one looking at me said, “Adrian Hale.”
Even though I already knew, hearing the names aloud still made my body go stiff.
But I kept my face calm.
I had learned how to lie very well.
The director, perhaps sensing the tension, quickly asked Serena and me to bring tea to the office.
The second we got into the kitchen, I opened my mouth.
Serena immediately shot me a look and whispered, “Walls have ears.”
So we said nothing.
We made the tea.
We delivered it.
And once we found an excuse to slip away again, we went and sat on the swings in the little garden while the children played nearby.
We talked instead about Noah.
When his surgery might be. Whether the sponsorship could help the orphanage long term. Whether we could finally stop worrying about every dollar.
Eventually, the director came out again with Adrian and Ethan beside her.
Her smile was strained.
“Candy. Serena. The gentlemen say they feel an instant connection with you both and would like to invite you to dinner.”
I looked into her eyes and saw the apology there.
She wasn’t pushing us.
She was trying to let us choose.
So I answered first.
“We don’t have time lately. Work is busy, and Noah’s still in the hospital.”
The relief in the director’s face was quick but unmistakable.
Before she could smooth it over, Adrian said, “Then perhaps I can at least have your contact information. If our company wants to sponsor the orphanage again, I’d like to reach you directly.”
Damn him.
That was a good angle.
I couldn’t say no without potentially affecting the orphanage.
So I gave him my number.
He smiled at me the same way he used to smile at Vivian in the book.
Soft. Spring-bright. Dangerous.
“If you’re ever free,” he said, “I’d still like to take you to dinner.”
I smiled back without warmth.
“When I’m free, maybe.”
Which was not a promise.
Beside me, Ethan tried the same thing with Serena.
She looked him dead in the eyes and said, “I have a boyfriend. It’s inappropriate to exchange numbers with strange men.”
The look on Ethan’s face nearly made me laugh.
I’d never seen a rich, arrogant man get shut down so cleanly in his life.
The children were merciless once the men left.
“Serena, since when do you have a boyfriend?” “Candy, you got tricked into giving your number!” “Serena’s so smart!”
She grinned shamelessly while I glared at her.
“Yes, little ones,” she said solemnly, “sometimes lying is necessary for personal safety.”
“Then was that a lie?” one of the older girls asked.
Serena thought for two seconds.
“Yes,” she said. “Lying is bad. But not as bad as letting dangerous men get too close.”
That, at least, I couldn’t argue with.
When I left the orphanage that night, I felt the first real pinch of trouble.
They had found us. They had come prepared. And unlike us, they weren’t here to survive.
They were here to win us back.
Too bad for them.
Neither Serena nor I belonged to them in the first place.