Dusk Snow Hides All Return (Rowan and Adrienne) novel Chapter 1

Five years gone, and the fake heir Desmond Ashford was finally brought back to the Ashford estate.

His parents ached over every hardship he'd endured out there. His so-called fiancée, Adrienne Merritt, still couldn't shake the old feelings. And everyone waited, eyes locked on Rowan Ashford, the real heir, bracing for the meltdown—screaming, fighting, tears.

Rowan just stood there. Watched them haul in the luggage. Watched them strip his room and put it back together for someone else.

His parents eased into it. "Rowan, Desmond loves the sunlight in the master bedroom. We were thinking…"

"I'll take the guest room." He cut them off, his voice completely flat. "I will clear my room out for him right now."

The next day was his birthday dinner with Adrienne.

He waited at the restaurant until eight. Then his phone buzzed.

"Sorry, Rowan. Desmond got lost at the mall. I—"

"Fine." His voice didn't shift. "Go get him. I'll handle my birthday alone."

Day three. Adrienne's test results came back.

Pregnant.

His parents and Adrienne reached the same verdict within minutes.

Get rid of it.

His parents pleaded tearfully, "Rowan, we can't keep this baby. Desmond found out about Adrienne's pregnancy and cried so hard it tore us apart. He said… he is scared there won't be any room left for him in this family once the baby is born."

Adrienne stayed quiet a beat longer, then spoke, careful and measured. "Rowan, after we found out you and Desmond were switched at birth and swapped you back, you became my fiancé on paper. Desmond has already endured so much, and now that he has just returned, seeing me pregnant... it is psychologically too hard for him to accept."

"We can have a baby later. Just not now. The timing's wrong."

They chimed in one after another, talking about nothing but Desmond's grievances, Desmond's fears, and Desmond's hardships, as if Adrienne carrying Rowan's child was some wildly inappropriate mistake that needed to be corrected.

Everyone waited for him to snap.

His father had rehearsed the speech to calm him down. His mother had prepared her arguments to persuade him in case he insisted on keeping the baby. Adrienne had already picked out a compensation gift.

Rowan set the report on the coffee table. Nodded once.

"Okay. When is the abortion? Today? Then I'll accompany Adrienne to the hospital."

He grabbed his coat off the chair, stood, and pulled Adrienne toward the door.

"Rowan!"

His mother jolted, the name flying out before she could stop it. "You… you're really just… agreeing?"

Rowan paused. Tilted his head a fraction. "What else is there?"

His father shifted, thrown. "You've got nothing to say?"

"None of you have changed at all."

Same as always. Heart, eyes, every last thought—all reserved for Desmond.

The irritation in Adrienne's chest thickened, coiling with something she couldn't name. A low, creeping unease.

She reached for his hand, her voice softening before she caught it. "Rowan, don't be like this. We'll have another baby. I promise."

Promise?

Rowan smiled and pried her fingers loose. "Your surgery's starting."

She turned and walked toward the operating room.

In his head, he answered her. One word at a time.

No.

There would never be a child between them.

Because he'd already signed the severance papers and the engagement dissolution.

End of the month, his immigration paperwork would clear.

And then he would completely leave this place and leave them for good.