She Turned Her Grief Into Wings novel Chapter 6

The familiar scent of cold cedar drifted into Shera's nose as she was gently pulled into an embrace, a deep voice murmuring in her ear. "Shera, I'm back."

Shera's mind remained completely blank, her thoughts violently pulled back to that summer when she and her father first "picked up" Rhys Jewell by the entrance of a scrapyard.

From age ten to twenty, he had appeared without warning and vanished just as abruptly. After that car crash, he disappeared without a trace. When they met again, he was the CEO of Ryland.

Looking at the man she had spent years thinking about, she saw a tender warmth crinkling the corners of his eyes. His fingertips brushed against where her ring finger rested, his voice stripped of any readable emotion. "I won't leave again."

Shera met his gaze. It was familiar yet alien. He had shed his youthful awkwardness, the angles of his face turning sharp and undeniably aristocratic. Even behind the gold-rimmed glasses, those dark eyes held a profound depth she still couldn't decipher.

Who would have thought this untouchable aristocrat standing before her had once fought wild dogs for scraps in a dumpster?

He leaned down slightly, pulling her into his arms once more.

The sudden intimacy made Shera incredibly uncomfortable, perhaps because it had been too long, or perhaps because of his newfound status. She pushed him away, forcing a polite smile onto her lips. "That's great."

The man faltered slightly at her deliberate distance, but he recovered quickly. He took her hand, led her to the table, and considerately pulled out a chair for her.

Seeing this, she didn't act coy and gracefully sat down.

"I hear you're getting a divorce?"

Shera stiffened. She didn't respond, simply pulling a business proposal from her bag.

"Let's talk about Evegrace." She looked up. "Ryland didn't just acquire Riverbend Textiles to expand domestically, did they?"

Seeing her evasive attitude, Rhys simply curled his lips into a smile. He leaned back in his chair, taking the folder from Shera and flipping through it. "I'm fully aware of Evegrace. It was the brand Dad built with his own two hands. It may have been shelved for a few years, but its foundation is solid, and the loyalty of its old clientele is real. What Ryland wants to do is bring it back to life."

Dad...

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