Chapter 3The Tycoon’s Vow: Claiming the Fallen Rose

"Elena Thorne? It really is you!"

Another man at the door shouted in surprise.

"Yeah." I nodded and offered a small smile. "Liam, it’s been a long time."

I didn't acknowledge the heavy, dark stare Silas was leveling at me. I stepped aside to let them pass.

As I walked out, I heard Liam’s boisterous voice behind me. "Silas, Elena is back. Why are you acting like you’ve seen a ghost?"

I gripped my napkin tightly, my lips curving into a hollow smile.

What reaction was he supposed to have?

I was just a reminder of a humiliating past when he was "lesser." Seeing me probably only deepened his resentment.

Silas’s arrival turned the lively reunion into a stiff, quiet affair.

He sat directly across from me.

People at the table kept sneaking glances at him, then at me, before returning to their food in silence.

The power dynamic had completely flipped, and no one knew how to handle it.

After all, I used to be the one on the pedestal.

Liam, being the social butterfly he is, noticed the tension and smirked. "Hey, let's play Truth or Dare."

The idea was met with immediate approval from everyone desperate to break the awkwardness.

Even away from the table, Silas sat directly across from me.

His long legs were stretched out lazily. He leaned back against the sofa, his eyes half-closed, his gaze flickering over me as if I weren't even there.

But every time I looked up, he was looking elsewhere. It made me feel like I was hallucinating.

After a few rounds, the atmosphere finally lightened.

Until...

The beer bottle on the table spun and pointed its neck at me and its base at Silas.

I looked up. Our eyes met.