Chapter 374: You’re Not My Puppet Master

“Time’s up,” Cleveland said, checking his watch. “See you tomorrow.”

Ellis stared after him, her expression twitching. What was that about?

Contrary to Cleveland’s assumption, she had no plans to work late tonight. She and Maya had already agreed to dinner and a little shopping—a reward for the chaos of the last few days. Plus, leaving Easton to stew in his own frustration for hours was an added bonus.

Sliding the files into a drawer, she grabbed her purse and headed out.

At the restaurant, she spotted Maya through the window, already waving. But as soon as Ellis sat down, Maya said, “Hey. I can only stay for dinner. I’ve got other plans tonight.”

“With who?” Ellis asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Cameron. Is this work stuff?”

“Sort of.”

That vague answer made Ellis pause. She looked up from the menu and narrowed her eyes.

“Sort of? Either it is or it isn’t. What, you are hiding secrets from me now?”

She wasn’t saying best friends had to share every little detail, but Maya was clearly being cagey. And that made her all the more curious.

Maya sighed. “No, nothing like that. He just said tonight’s not really about work. He wants to unwind.”

Landing clients was hard. Keeping them was harder. Being a lawyer was no easy job. If Maya wanted to keep a big-money client like Cameron, she had to show up when he called.

Ellis stared at her for a moment, then quietly went back to the menu. A guy asking a woman to “unwind” with him? Yeah. That was sketchy.

“He’s a guy,” she said flatly.

“Obviously,” Maya said with a smirk. “Unless he’s been hiding something from both of us.”

“I’m telling you, he’s not just here for business,” Ellis said. “You don’t feel like he’s into you?”

Chapter 375: You’re Seriously This Bored?

“Wait, what?” Maya blinked. “You really think that?”

“I’m not overthinking. You’re underthinking,” Ellis said, arching a brow. “Of all the times to ‘relax,’ he had to invite you out at night? Be honest—was it a one-on-one thing?”

“No, it was a group thing. He organized it.”

“Oh. Okay then.” Maya’s answer was clear enough. Ellis didn’t push further.

After dinner, they went their separate ways. Maya left for her meetup, and Ellis wandered the mall for a while before heading home.

She was already mentally prepared, so when the elevator doors opened on her floor and she saw Easton waiting outside her apartment, she didn’t even flinch. Not surprised. Just bored. Her ex really had nothing better to do than wait around outside her door.

Easton didn’t move. He stayed where he was, watching her approach. Their eyes met. Ellis resisted the urge to roll hers and calmly walked past him. She unlocked the door with her fingerprint and said without even looking at him, “Whatever it is, say it here. Don’t come in.”

She stepped inside, took off her coat, swapped her shoes for slippers, and casually sat on the bench like she had all the time in the world. Then she looked up at him with a stare that said: Well? Speak.

He finally opened his mouth. “Your previous jobs were mostly in tech. The Fox Group—”

“Stop,” Ellis felt a headache coming on. She seriously suspected the so-called career plan he gave her yesterday was something he wrote himself. Plans were great and all, but without money to back them up, they were useless. Reality was simple: bills don’t pay themselves, and money talks.

“I’ve been working all day, and you think I wanna come home and waste my free time listening to you ramble?” she said, glancing past him at the elevator. “Just admit it—you can’t stand seeing me do well.”

What Easton wanted to admit wasn’t that he resented her doing well. He wanted to admit he had feelings for her. But he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. His lips opened, then closed, then opened again—before he finally gave up and said, “I’ll come back another time.”

“What?” Ellis blinked. What kind of weird stunt was this? Was he starting to enjoy showing up just to sulk in front of her?

She stared after him as he turned and walked off like nothing happened. The way he carried himself looked totally normal—but only he knew how fast his heart was racing. That wasn’t just a retreat. That was borderline panic.

It wasn’t fear, really. He just wasn’t used to opening up. And based on her reaction, he didn’t want to push her away any more than he already had. That kind of rejection was hard to swallow.

Watching him disappear into the elevator, Ellis stood there for a moment, utterly baffled. “What the hell was that?” Shaking her head, she shut the door behind her.

Chapter 375: You’re Seriously This Bored?

Upstairs, Easton was still rattled. His heart hadn’t slowed down. The shame was real. He felt like a clueless teenage boy, fumbling through his first crush—no idea how to handle emotions or get close to the girl he liked. All of it was unfamiliar, frustrating, and deeply uncomfortable.

Downstairs, Ellis checked the time and went to take a shower. By the time she went to bed, Maya still wasn’t home. She drifted off without hearing a sound from the living room and slept until her alarm went off the next morning.

Sunlight filtered through the curtains. Ellis got up without snoozing once and got herself ready quickly. Right as she was about to leave, she expected Maya to come out of the other bedroom. Instead, Maya was walking through the front door—wearing the same clothes she had on the day before.

Ellis didn’t need to ask. “You didn’t come home last night.” It wasn’t a question. It was a fact.

Maya paused, hand still on the doorknob, and gave an awkward little laugh. Catching that laugh, Ellis raised a brow. “Cameron’s group hang, huh?”

“Well… yeah.” Maya mumbled, leaving the door open for Ellis to head out. But Maya stammering? That was a red flag. She never fumbled her words. Ellis turned and stared straight at her.

“What happened? Spit it out.”

“You’re gonna be late. Just go to work. I’ll tell you later,” Maya said with another nervous smile.

Ellis hadn’t smelled anything earlier, but now she definitely caught a strong whiff of alcohol. There was no mistaking it. She almost paused again, but she was already cutting it close. It was only her third day at this job, and being late—even by ten minutes—was not an option.

Still… something about this feels off, she thought, stepping out the door with a slight frown.