Chapter 103

I glanced quickly at Hayden, then turned to Demi. "You're just rambling because you're exhausted."

"I'm not rambling. You two are total workaholics. I can't keep up," Demi mumbled, slumping in her car seat.

"Whether you can or not, you have to hang in there. We're almost done," I said, trying to sound reassuring. Earlier, I'd assessed what remained. At our current pace, we should finish in about ten days.

"How much longer?" Demi whined, as if she couldn't endure another day.

"About ten days," I replied, sneaking another glance at Hayden in the rearview mirror.

"Ten days…" Demi groaned, her voice laced with defeat.

By the time we reached the hotel, Demi was asleep. I called her name several times, but she remained unconscious. Finally, I leaned close and whispered, "If you don't get up, I'll make Hayden carry you." "Fine, carry me," Demi mumbled, extending her hand.

I laughed and gently tugged her. "Come on, let's go."

Demi, barely awake, allowed me to guide her into the elevator and to our floor. Just as we reached our rooms, Hayden, who had been silent the entire ride, spoke. "Keira, I need to talk to you."

My heart skipped a beat at the use of my first name. "Okay."

Too exhausted to care, Demi shuffled into her room. I turned back to Hayden. "What's up?"

"I talked to the company. I'm staying to finish the job," Hayden said. All I could manage was an "Oh." I wasn't surprised. If he left, I would have, too.

The amusement park's lighting could technically function without us, but they wouldn't meet the deadline. And frankly, the quality would suffer without our expertise.

Besides, I suspected Jace still didn't want me to quit. His failure to pressure Hayden's company for a replacement suggested he feared I might actually leave.

"Okay," I replied concisely.

"You planning to leave RiverwaveCorp after this?" Hayden's question surprised me. I hadn't expected him to realize that.

"Yeah," I admitted, without attempting to play it cool.

He nodded. "We can speed things up."

"Huh?" I was confused.

Speeding up meant more overtime, and while Hayden and I could probably manage, I doubted Demi could.

Chapter 103 +25 BONUS

"No need for extra hours. We'll stick to our schedule and still finish ahead of time," Hayden explained, making me laugh.

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious," Hayden said, his expression equally serious.

I pressed my lips together. "There's no need. Finishing on time is good enough."

"You wanna leave, right? Let's finish early so you can leave sooner," Hayden's words struck me.

But I retorted, "No need. Even if we finish early, I'm not leaving until the whole park passes inspection and opens to the public."

Hayden's gaze intensified, but I offered nothing more. I didn't plan on becoming involved with him, so there was no point in revealing my thoughts.

The next morning, Demi and I arrived at the amusement park to find Hayden already working. I asked a staff member, who said Hayden had started at five a.m.

He truly seemed determined to finish early. He wasn't burdening Demi and me with extra hours—he was taking it all on himself.

"Good morning, Ms. Kay!" a voice called from behind me.

"Morning!" I replied automatically, but something felt wrong the moment the words left my lips.

I turned, and there stood Wayne, in a work uniform, complete with hard hat. I froze.

Chapter 104