Please Come Back, My Love novel Chapter 201

16:23 Thu, Jun 18 MM.

Belonging To Lockhart

Chapter 201

I sat at the long table elevated on the dais, a line of microphones pointed at me like a row of loaded guns. Facing the press had

never unsettled me until now. Everything about the scene was oddly familiar: the restless sea of reporters crammed into the hall,

the charged hum of anticipation thickening the air. Yet one element felt wildly out of place the woman beside me.

Zinnia.

I shifted in my seat, slowly studying the carefully painted smile on her red lips, the cleavage screaming for attention, and the glittering diamond ring that screamed even louder. I hadn’t bought that ring. It was either a self-indulgent purchase or something

gifted by my father to lend credence to the farce we were performing.

I clasped my hands together on the table, fingers interlocked. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Zinnia/leaning closer.

“Your hand,” she murmured.

“What about it?” I replied flatly, eyes forward.

“You’re supposed to hold mine. We’re a couple, remember?” she said under her breath..

Turning to her with deliberate slowness, I met her gaze. “This is a strategic engagement, not a romance. No one’s expecting sparks. They’re expecting a united front. That’s what they’ll get.”

Her jaw tensed. “You agreed to make this look real.”

“No,” I corrected coolly, “I agreed not to sabotage it. That’s not the same as helping you spin a fantasy.”

I noticed her fists tightening just before she muttered something sharp in Chinese, likely a curse. Then she flicked her chin toward the man pacing near the podium. Corwin if memory served gave a curt nod and stepped forward to formally begin the press

conference.

The first question came quickly.

“How long have you two known each

other?”

asked

a blonde

woman in the front row, eyes fixed on me but Zinnia beat me to it.

“We were high school sweethearts,” sho madly in love back then but got torn apart.

said, covering he

a giggle that was too rehearsed to be charming. “We were

brought us full circle.”

She held her gaze on the reporters, even

a

blush. A small part of me ha

to admire the effort. The rest of me felt sick.

Can you share more about your high school romance?” another voice asked,

Zinnia inhaled, already prepared to elaborate, but the reporter turned to me. “Mr. Lockhart?”

She threw me pointed glance. I ignored it and smiled smoothly. “We were your typical golden couple. She cheered on the

วก..

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16:23 Thu, Jun 18 M M

Chapter 201

sidelines; I threw touchdowns. We started dating after one of the games. That’s… the gist.”

“And what drove you apart?” someone called out from the back.

Zinnia drew a breath, clearly poised to tell her version which would undoubtedly involve my mother. But I wasn’t going to let her go

there, not when I hadn’t even heard my mother’s side yet.

“She had family issues,” I cut in calmly. “Zinnia and her mother had to move unexpectedly. We lost touch for a long time.”

Her glare burned into the side of my face, but I didn’t flinch. If she’d gotten the chance, she might have claimed she’d been pregnant and that my mother forced her into an abortion a scandalous tale, no doubt, but one only she could tell. And only her!

version of it.

“So… did the old flame rekindle?” a voice asked, too amused for my liking.

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