Bound by the Past, Locked by the Heart novel Chapter 48

Oblivious to her shift in mood, Miles continued, "Randal never went into detail about what happened between you two, but I get why he did what he did. His relationship with his family was always a disaster. You probably don't know this, but he had a..."

"Mr. Zane," Willa interrupted, completely out of patience. "Please spare me the details of Randal's life. I have zero interest. If there's nothing else, I need to get back to work."

Miles choked on his words, swallowing back the rest of his sentence with a heavy sigh.

"Fine, I'll shut up." He waved his hand, sinking back into his chair. "Go on and get back to work."

"Thank you, Mr. Zane." Willa nodded and quickly walked out of the office.

The moment she stepped into the hallway, she felt dozens of eyes lock onto her. Catching her gaze, her coworkers instantly looked away, pretending to be deeply engrossed in their work.

Once safely back in her office, Willa's meticulously maintained composure finally cracked.

She knew exactly what Miles had been trying to say. But regardless of whether Randal had hidden his identity to protect her back then, there was no going back to the past.

He had a fiancée of equal social standing, and she was no longer that naive, sheltered girl.

Five years of harsh reality had smoothed her edges, teaching her the arts of compromise and endurance. It had also made the massive chasm between her status and Randal's glaringly obvious.

She refused to make the same mistake twice.

Right before quitting time, she received a text from Zack.

It was the first time he had reached out since she moved.

[Are you free tonight? A friend's new restaurant is opening, and he wanted me to test the menu. Do you want to come?]

Willa hesitated for a long moment before replying: [Sure. Send me the address, and I'll head over after work.]

When work ended, she deliberately waited until the rush hour cleared out before grabbing her bag and heading to the elevators.

Just as she reached the bank of elevators, a tall, imposing figure stepped out.

Willa halted, instinctively taking a step back.

By the time Willa took a cab to the restaurant, Zack had already been waiting at their table for quite a while.

Spotting her, he immediately stood up and waved, a warm smile spreading across his face.

"I'm so sorry, I got held up after work. Have you been waiting long?" Willa asked as she sat across from him.

"Not at all, I just got here myself." Zack slid the menu toward her. "My buddy recommended a few signature dishes. See if you want to add anything else."

Willa didn't have much of an appetite and just ordered a few random items.

Zack, however, was in high spirits. As he poured her a glass of water, he excitedly recounted funny stories about his friend's journey to opening the restaurant.

The food soon arrived. Zack carefully placed the tenderest piece of steamed fish onto her plate.

Willa thanked him and kept her head down, taking small bites. Suddenly, she felt a heavy gaze practically burning a hole in her back.

A cold shiver ran down her spine, and a sudden, inexplicable sense of dread made it impossible to sit still.