Bound by the Past, Locked by the Heart novel Chapter 178

"Oh, right, Sean." She pulled a bank card from her purse and slid it across the table. "There's roughly thirty thousand dollars on this card. I know you've spent a lot hiring people to track down Jonathan. You shouldn't have to foot the bill."

Sean looked down at the card, his brows knitting together in instant disapproval.

"Willa, what is this?" He shoved the card back toward her, his tone stern. "I didn't help you for money."

Willa slid it right back. "I know that, but I can't let you sacrifice both your time and your savings for me."

Sean ran a modest small business. He must have drained a significant chunk of his own finances trying to investigate this case for her.

She couldn't pretend she didn't know that.

"Sean." She took a deep breath, pressing her fingers against the plastic as she pushed it toward him. "If you don't take this, I'll never have the face to ask you for help again."

Sean's face hardened, growing agitated. "Why are you so stubborn? When I say I don't want it, I mean it!"

The two of them found themselves at a complete standoff across the table, sliding the bank card back and forth.

"Take this money back and build a nest egg for your dad. Once he gets out, he's going to need it."

Sean trapped Willa's hand beneath his, refusing to let her slide the card any closer.

Their hands were stacked together over the card in the center of the table, neither willing to yield.

"Sean, let go."

"Only if you promise to take the card back."

"No way."

"Then I'm not letting go."

Willa couldn't help but laugh at his sheer stubbornness. With unshed tears still glistening in the corners of her eyes, a genuine smile touched her lips. "Sean, how are you even more stubborn than my dad?"

"Alright, enough." Sean suddenly grew serious, pinning her hand down so she couldn't move. "If you really feel that bad about it, just buy me a drink when your dad gets out."

Defeated, she finally slipped the card back into her purse.

"Come on. I'll give you a ride home."

*He's a little old, but he's got this rugged charm. No wonder she's into him.*

The moment Randal's eyes landed on that photo, the breath seized in his lungs.

He recognized that face. He could never forget it if he lived a thousand lifetimes.

Five years ago, at the airport, Willa had given him one last look before turning around and following this exact man through international security.

Refusing to accept it, he had ordered Miles Zane to investigate once he got back.

The result? While he was lying in a hospital bed after a brutal car crash, Miles had brought him several photos.

The background was clearly somewhere overseas.

Willa was walking intimately close with this man.

Miles had told him that this man flew out to see Willa every single month, and that their relationship was far from strictly platonic.

He had felt complete and utter despair. From that moment on, he refused to hear a single word about her, cultivating a bone-deep hatred in his heart.