Chapter 21 Dangerous Arrangement

Chapter 21 Dangerous Arrangement
Elsie's Pov

I stared at the email for so long that the words started to blur.

Scholarship Review – Final Evaluation Pending.

I shut my laptop and pressed my palms against my eyes. I couldn’t lose this scholarship. My mother didn’t have that kind of money. My stepfather wouldn’t offer and even if he did, I would rather drop out than accept it.

A knock came at my door. I knew it was him before I opened it because Adrian never knocked twice.

When I pulled the door open, he was standing there in a dark coat, his expression unreadable as always. He rarely looked nervous or rushed. He looked like someone who had already thought five steps ahead.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

I nodded and stepped aside for him to come in.

I still wasn’t used to him being in my space. For years, we had lived in the same house like polite strangers, but after that night, everything felt different.

I shut the door gently behind him.

“What is it?” I asked him

“You look tired,” he said instead.

“I’m fine.”

He glanced at my desk, then at the printed scholarship documents.

“Your review is coming up,” he said.

I stiffened. “You don’t have to monitor my life.”

“I’m not monitoring you.”

“It feels like it.”

He didn’t react to my tone. He rarely did.

Instead, he slipped his hands into his coat pockets. “You need something strong on your CV.”

I folded my arms. “I’ll find something.”

“You don’t have time.”

The truth of that made me angrier than his calm voice.

“I don’t need your help, Adrian.”

He studied me for a long second. “You’re not tutoring Ryan anymore.”

That made my chest tighten for a different reason. He had made sure of that.

After everything blew up, after the humiliation and the lies, Ryan’s family tried to keep me tied to that arrangement quietly, but Adrian stepped in. I never knew exactly what he said or who he spoke to, but within days, I was removed completely, I wouldn't be tutoring anyone from now on and I wouldn't be dragged back into that mess.

I was grateful but I hated that I was. “I know,” I said softly. “And I appreciate it.”

He nodded once, like appreciation was expected, not celebrated.

“There’s an opening at father’s foundation,” he said.

I blinked. “What?”

“A paid research assistant position at the Policy analysis division. You’d work directly under the senior researchers.”

I stared blankly at him, “That’s not funny. You know I don't like it when you joke around like this.”

“I’m not joking.”

My stomach twisted. “Adrian, that’s your father’s foundation.”

“Yes.”

“Which means it’s your family’s.”

“It's your family now too.”

“No, you don't understand. I can’t just walk in there.”

“You won’t walk in. You’ll apply and I’ll make sure your application gets reviewed.”

I laughed humorlessly. “That’s the same thing.”

“No, it’s not.” he conflicted.

“It is to me.” I replied.

He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “You’re qualified, Elsie, and you know it.”

“I don’t want charity.” I stated.

“It isn’t charity.”

“It is if you’re arranging it.” I pointed out to him.

His jaw tightened slightly. It was one of the only signs he was irritated.

“You need this,” he said.

“I need to earn things on my own.”

“You have. Your grades speak for themselves.”

I shook my head. “People already think I slept my way into opportunities. I won’t give them another reason.”

The words tasted bitter on tongue.

He went quiet for a moment before he said evenly, “This position has nothing to do with rumors.”

“It has everything to do with perception.”

“Then let them perceive whatever they want.”

“It’s easy for you to say that.”

He held my gaze. “You think I care what they say about me?”

I hesitated for a second then swallowed. “That’s different.”

“How?”

“Because you don’t need anything from them.”

He didn’t answer immediately.

Then he said something that made my skin prickle. “You wouldn’t owe me.”

“I would.” I replied.

“No, you don't have to.”

I shook my head again. “I can’t work under your father. I can’t sit in that building knowing I’m there because of you.”

“Just consider it as a repayment,” he said quietly.

“A repayment for what?”

He didn’t look away. “For that night.”

My breath caught in my throat, the room suddenly smaller.

“That night,” I repeated, barely above a whisper.

“You were drunk,” he said. “I know you hated yourself the next morning. You’ve carried it like a stain.”

I didn't say a word. He continued, his voice lower now. “If you think you owe me for that, you don’t. If anything, I owe you.”

“For what?” I asked, my throat tight.

“For not stopping it sooner.”

My heart thudded painfully. “You said I insisted.”

“You did.”

“Then why would you owe me?”

His eyes darkened slightly. “Because I shouldn’t have let it happen at all.”

Silence filled the space between us.

I didn’t know what to say. I had replayed that night a hundred times in my head. The shame and the confusion.

He wasn’t apologizing in a dramatic way nor was he begging, he was just offering balance.

“This isn’t about guilt,” he said. “It’s about fairness.”

“You think giving me a job makes us even?”

“No,” he said. “I think giving you an opportunity you deserve makes things right.”

I looked down at my hands.

The foundation was prestigious and competitive. If I had that on my record, no one could question my capability again. No one could reduce me to a rumor. And I hated that he was right.

“I don’t want people thinking you’re taking care of me,” I said.

“I’m not taking care of you.”

“It looks like it.”

“Then let it look that way.”

I looked up sharply. “Why would you want that?”

He held my gaze without hesitation. “Because I don’t mind being seen standing next to you.”

My chest tightened.

He wasn’t smiling, he didn’t seem like he was flirting this time, he meant every word of what he said.

And for a second, I didn’t feel like the girl people whispered about.

“You made sure I stopped tutoring Ryan,” I said quietly.

“Yes.”

“Why would you do that, how you even able to do that?” I asked.

"How I had done that is not of concern but why i did it was because he didn’t deserve access to you.”

His words landed heavily on me, I felt heat rush to my face. “That’s not your decision to make.”

“No,” he agreed calmly. “But I made it anyway.”

I should have been angry at him but I felt safe, and I hated that too.

“If I apply,” I said slowly, “and I get rejected...”

“You won’t get rejected.” he assured.

“That’s not the point. If I get rejected, I don’t want interference.”

“You won’t have it.”

“And if I get accepted,” I continued, “I want to work like everyone else. I don't want any special treatment.”

“You’ll work harder than everyone else,” he said.

I almost smiled at what he said, I took a slow breath. “Send me the application details.”

He nodded once, as if he had expected that answer all along.

When he turned to leave, I stopped him.

“Adrian.”

He turned to look back at me.

“Thank you,” I said. "For cutting Ryan out of my life when I was too weak to do it myself."

His expression softened in a way that was almost invisible.

“Don’t thank me yet,” he said. “You need to earn it.”