Chapter 1728
The room plunged into a suffocating silence.
Keaton’s brow furrowed, his face dark as he stared silently at the glass of water in front of him.
Winona sat across from him, her brow equally furrowed as she studied him with deep suspicion.
His hatred for Shane seemed entirely based on the false assumption that they were dating.
But even if she was dating Shane, what did that have to do with him?
Was he p>
Good lord, did he have feelings for her p>
Was Keaton Huber falling for her?
The sheer magnitude of the thought terrified Winona, her eyes going wide.
Her heart rate spiked, her stomach twisting into knots.
After taking a moment to steady her racing pulse, Winona cautiously probed,
“Do
you
have a problem with Shane because you think he’s dating me p>
Keaton stayed rigidly quiet.
Their eyes locked for a moment before Keaton was the first to look away. Scowling, he muttered,
“I genuinely consider you a friend. Seeing you throw away your dreams for him is just frustrating! Plus, I don’t think he’s good enough for you. That kid just screams bad news p>
Winona was dumbfounded. Shane was an impeccably raised, outstanding young man, and Keaton was seriously claiming he looked like a criminal.
A saying suddenly flashed through her mind:
A lover sees perfection, but a rival only sees garbage.
Keaton was viewing Shane as a romantic rival!
Which meant… he actually liked her!
Winona’s heart dropped into her stomach. God in heaven p>
Before she could utter a single word, Keaton pushed up from the sofa.
“Whoever you like, whoever you want to date, that’s your business. Nobody else can dictate your life. I’m just offering some friendly advice. Nothing more p>
“Since my presence upsets him so much, I’ll keep my distance from now on p>
“But I’m going to say this one last time: a woman’s happiness is in her own hands. Don’t go banking your life on a man p>
“Lovesick fools rarely get happy endings p>
With that final bitter remark, he turned and marched out of the apartment.
Winona sat frozen in shock for a long time before scrambling up and rushing to the door to look out into the hallway.
The corridor was completely empty. Keaton was gone.
In a complete state of panic, Winona swallowed hard a few times, hurried back into the living room, and dialed Elysia’s number.
“Elysia, we have a massive problem p>
Elysia was at home prepping dinner. Tarquin, Elliot, Evan, and Elijah were
due back soon, so she was geet.
head start on the meal.
Hearing the sheer panic in Winona’s voice, Elysia instantly dropped what she was doing.
Her mind immediately jumped to the pregnancy. “What’s wrong p>
Winona stammered, “Elysia… I… I p>
Elysia’s heart began to pound. “Don’t panic. Just breathe and tell me what happened p>
Winona’s breathing was erratic. “I just figured out something terrifying p>
Elysia braced herself. “What is it p>
Winona swallowed heavily again before forcing the words out in a single breath.
“I think Keaton Huber is in love with me p>
Elysia froze. “What p>
Winona rushed to explain, “I’m serious! I swear I’m not just being delusional p>
Elysia took a second to process it. “Did he confess his feelings to you p>
“No! But he came to see me today, The way he was acting, the things
he said it’s so obvious! He thinks I’m dating Shane, and he completely lost his mind over it p>
Elysia was bewildered.
“But Tarquin asked him about this recently, and Keaton swore up and down that you two were just friends. He explicitly said he didn’t have. feelings for you p>
Winona paced the room frantically.
“That’s exactly what I thought! But today proved that’s totally false! He didn’t say the
words out loud, but he might as well have p>
“You have to believe me. My intuition is never wrong about this kind of stuff p>