The Day I Stopped Waiting Was the Day He Started Begging novel Chapter 219

"But if you're really going to lose sleep over this and feel the absolute need to settle the score, do me a tiny favor. How about that?"

Hunter offered a flawless, comforting smile.

Madeline nodded instantly.

He lowered his gaze, expertly hiding the dark, possessive shadow in his eyes.

This obsessive need to keep the scales balanced felt like a cold corporate transaction.

He despised this dynamic between them.

The old Madeline used to demand things from him with fiery entitlement. She used to tell him that he was her family.

The longer he stayed, the more a toxic, suffocating regret clawed at his throat.

Because some fractures were too brutal for mere time to heal.

Madeline gripped her glass tightly, bracing for his request.

After years of being ruthlessly dragged through the mud of reality, she was no longer that naive, headstrong girl.

She had learned exactly when to swallow her pride and when to bow her head.

She knew the brutal rules of adult social chess.

Most importantly, she understood the dark art of managing leverage.

In this cutthroat world, owing a favor meant surrendering your power.

And no one liked being helpless.

Even though she had known Hunter for years, and even though they had kept in touch during his five-year absence.

Things were undeniably permanently altered.

Hunter flashed a gentle, disarming smile, his gaze calm beneath his gold-rimmed glasses.

"Grandma Holt's birthday is coming up. I want you to come back with me and visit her. She's been asking about you for years."

"Going with me would be the greatest favor you could possibly do."

"Is... is she doing well?"

Madeline felt a painful lump form in her throat.