The café had emptied by the time Mya finally gave her answer. She stared at the results one last time, then folded the paper neatly and slid it back into the envelope. Her voice was steady, though inside she trembled.
“I’ll move into the estate,” she said. “But only after I settle something first.”
Alexander’s brows lifted. “Settle what?”
Her gaze dropped to her lap, where her fingers twisted around her clutch. “My landlord—Pike. He let me stay even when I was behind on rent. He didn’t have to. He could have thrown me out weeks ago, but he didn’t. He told me to keep trying, to show initiative. He treated me like I wasn’t a lost cause.”
The words came in a rush now, fragile but certain. “If I leave without repaying him, I’ll feel like I’m abandoning the only person who believed in me wh
