Chapter 7

Elise lingered outside the other study, the one Merrick used exclusively.

He had come home unusually early tonight and gone straight inside.

He hadn’t confronted her about his first love dropping by, which left Elise unsure of where she stood.

Had Selena not tattled to him?

Unable to read Merrick’s mood, she decided to test the waters herself.

Her foot, wrapped in those oversized charcoal slippers, paced back and forth at the doorway—stepping in, pulling back, clearly hesitating.

Merrick sat at the desk in a suit, typing.

His peripheral vision caught her tentative movements, and he closed the laptop, leaning lazily into the chair as his gaze drifted down to her feet.

He hadn’t found his slippers after returning home.

Now he knew why.

“Come here,” he said quietly.

His tone gave nothing away.

Elise hesitated before walking toward him.

The moment she got close, she caught the scent of Selena’s perfume.

Burying the unease curling in her chest, she slid into his arms with a stack of test papers. “Merrick, I’m stuck on two questions. Do you have time to teach me?”

Merrick had an entire wall of certificates—skipping grades domestically, advancing abroad, trophies from international math competitions, debate championships, physics tournaments.

His abilities were unquestionable.

He glanced down at the wrinkled exam papers clutched in her hands, then lifted his eyes again, studying her with a faint, unreadable smile.

A chill ran down Elise’s spine.

She knew every one of these questions, and even if she didn’t, the answer key was right at hand for her to check.

She ducked her head so he wouldn’t see her expression.

Just when she thought he would see right through her, he picked up a fountain pen, pulled over a sheet of blank paper, and cleanly wrote out the solutions to both problems.

Merrick set the pen down. “Anything else you want to ask?”

The words carried another meaning.

She couldn’t tell if he meant the questions or the fact she’d snapped at Selena.

The two clearly had met.

Rather than wait for him to interrogate her, Elise decided it was better to feign jealousy and magnify what happened.

“Yeah.”

With her face buried against his chest, Elise murmured, “I actually knew how to solve those two questions. I just wanted an excuse to talk to you…”

This man was already hard to read, and after arriving in Crown City, he became even harder to understand.

After recounting what happened that morning, she looked into his eyes and asked carefully, “Merrick, I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?”

A faint smile softened Merrick’s otherwise unreadable expression as he brushed her no-longer-dry hair, petting her with the idle ease of someone indulging a small pet.

Her heart tightened in her throat, and Elise felt like a prisoner awaiting judgment, her whole body tense.

His fingers tipped up her chin, the motion gentle yet carrying an undeniable pressure and restraint.

His gaze was deep. “Elise, don’t provoke her. And don’t make her angry. The consequences aren’t something you can handle.”

His voice was slow and unhurried.

It was a warning that dragged her suspended heart straight to the bottom.

Her lashes trembled as she asked hoarsely, “So this is a threat?”

His eyes darkened. “If you think it is, then it is.”

Meeting the abyss-like calm in his eyes up close, Elise realized nothing escaped his notice.

The light in her eyes dimmed, and her faint smile faltered, every trace of hurt slipping into Merrick’s view.

Yet he still offered no comfort.

“Got it.”

Elise pulled away from him abruptly.

Her vision blurred as she stood and made for the door.

When he still didn’t call after her, bitterness welled up, and her deliberately steady steps quickened in spite of herself.

Only after entering the master bathroom did the disappointment on her face fade.

Of course, his heart still leaned toward Selena.

Elise splashed cold water on her face, forcing her emotions back on track.

If even a small retort to Selena earned Merrick’s warning, then faced with something truly serious, he would most likely abandon her without hesitation.

The sharp ache in her chest stirred a sense of caution.

Before meeting Merrick, Elise had never been around someone so handsome and accomplished.

After spending so much time with him in the Fourteenth District, sharing intimacy she hadn’t experienced before, she found her heart unknowingly softening toward him.

Fortunately, she could still pull herself back in time.

Merrick’s thoughts ran too deep, and Elise chose every word carefully around him, afraid that one slip might give away what she truly felt.

No, she couldn’t keep getting tangled up with him.

She doubted her heart could take it.

Elise decided that once she was admitted to her dream university, she would move into the dorms as soon as possible and cut her losses early.

In the study on the other side of the house, Merrick loosened his tie and stared at the forgotten test papers on the desk, his dark eyes revealing nothing of what he felt.

He called Desmond. “Arrange a few tutors.”

Just before hanging up, Merrick added, “…make them all women.”

Early the next morning, Desmond delivered a large box of practice exam papers and the schedule for all the tutors who would be giving her lessons at home.

Learning it was arranged by Merrick, Elise didn’t know how to describe the mix of emotions in her chest.

Merrick really knew exactly how to pull a person’s strings.

Days passed, and every morning she woke to study.

Little by little, that lingering ache in her heart faded into the background.

When she finally walked out of the examination hall, the tension in her nerves eased at last.

Elise felt confident her results wouldn’t be worse than last year’s.

Leaving Borderfall and getting into her ideal university—everything was finally moving in the direction she had once imagined.

A smile slowly surfaced on her face.

A black Maybach waited in a discreet corner of the street.

The moment she opened the door, she saw the man who was supposed to be abroad on a business trip.

Elise blurted, “Why are you here?”

Sunlight filtered through the window, tracing over him.

Merrick opened his eyes, the visible red veins making it clear he hadn’t slept well in days.

He narrowed his gaze. “Came to take you to dinner.”

Ever since that tense moment in the study, the air between them had cooled.

She buried herself in exam prep, while he flew from one place to another for work.

Before they knew it, several months had slipped by.

Seeing the light bother his eyes, she slipped into the car and closed the door, shutting out the harsh glare.

Merrick ruffled her hair. “Congratulations.”

Other students finishing their exams had parents waiting to pick them up.

Elise didn’t mind, but a faint disappointment lingered, and his words stung her eyes with an unexpected heat.

So, he rushed back just to pick her up?

Her heart softened. “Thank you.”

Without Merrick’s help, she might never have earned this chance to start over.

She was grateful, even if she rarely said it.

Elise spoke stiffly and chose the farthest spot from him, neither leaning close nor offering a hug.

It made Merrick glance at her again.

The car cruised steadily toward home, the backseat wrapped in silence.

Summer in Crown City burst with life, and Elise found herself unknowingly lost in the scenery.

When the car turned sharply, her body flew toward Merrick.

A hand closed around her waist, pulling her firmly into his hold.

“Sit properly.” His voice was as cold as ever.

The driver apologized at once. “I’m sorry, Mr. Grant.”

Merrick answered with a faint, composed acknowledgment, sounding gentler than he ever did with Elise.

She hadn’t thrown herself at him on purpose, and she had her own temper.

She settled directly onto his lap, lifting her brows in challenge. “I won’t sit properly. What can you do about it?”

Merrick’s gaze shifted instantly, darkening into something dangerous.