?Chapter 521:


    Reassured by this new conclusion, Jason turned his gaze elsewhere and drove off without another nce.


    Once Jason’s car vanished around the corner, Damian exhaled hard, jaw tight. Jason was sharper than he’d thought. Next time, he wouldn’t get the benefit of the doubt. The game had just gotten a lot more dangerous.


    Meanwhile, in the living room, Elliana had just finished her meal when Heather, ever efficient, whisked away the dishes and returned momentster with a steaming cup of tea.


    Elliana remained nestled on the plush sofa, every bit the picture of regal ease.


    Across from her, Lance and Jeff stared, ck-jawed. They’d never seen anything like it—someone being doted on so thoroughly, so reverently. Even Ruben, who normallymanded everyone’s attention, didn’t receive this level of devoted service. They couldn’t help but think Elliana had truly mastered the art of rxation. Not that they resented it. On the contrary, anything she delighted in, they were more than happy to adopt.


    With her legs tucked under her, tea in hand, Elliana looked entirely at peace, while Lance and Jeff sat across from her like well-behaved students in a sacred seminar, their gazes practically glowing with admiration.


    Jeff’s adoration, at least, made some sense—he was only eight. His infatuation still wore the harmless costume of childhood. Lance, however, was a different matter. At twenty-three and three years older than Elliana, his devotion had taken on a tone so exaggerated that it teetered into the ridiculous.


    And yet, Lance showed no embarrassment. Hutton, a man in his sixties, still blushed like a schoolboy around his mentor, Elliana, while Lance, barely in his twenties, didn’t find anything strange about feeling the same. To Lance, age was irrelevant in the presence of true greatness. He would remain Elliana’s protégé for life, even if silver started to streak his hair. With this justification in ce, his reverence only deepened—until it bordered on the theatrical.


    Oddly enough, no one ridiculed Lance. Instead, the entire room seemed to fall in step with his energy, as if Elliana were the gravitational center pulling all reverence her way.


    At first, the overwhelming attention made Elliana squirm. However, when it became clear that resisting was futile, she chose to surrender instead. Halfway through her cup of tea, she nced up at the two men across from her. “So, when are you nning to head back?” she asked casually. After all, their reason for barging in had been to “check on her.” Now that they’d seen her—alive, well-fed, and clearly in no distress—it was time for them to leave. Or so she thought.


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    “I’m moving in,” Jeff announced without preamble. “For good!”


    Elliana gawked at him, stunned into silence. She was gearing up to demand what made him think he could just nt himself in her home like a housent when Lance casually chimed in, “Same here. I’m staying.”


    Her expression twitched, somewhere between a smirk and a scowl. She turned to Jeff first. “This estate is my property now. What on earth makes you think you have squatters’ rights here? Did your family even agree to your intention of moving in?”


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