Chapter 67: A Confrontation With Daniel, and A Surprise
"What is this." Daniel’s voice carried the easy tone of a man who found most situations mildly amusing. He looked past Adrian’s shoulder, then back at him. "Where’s Rose?"
"Rose isn’t coming."
Daniel blinked once. Then he sighed, his smile faltering. "Ah." He pressed a hand to his chest. "She really sent her boyfriend instead. That’s cold."
Adrian looked at Daniel. Daniel looked back at him. For a moment, neither said anything.
"Well. This is quite disappointing." Daniel said.
"The feeling’s mutual." Adrian leaned up from the car as he held Daniel’s gaze. "We still need to talk, though."
The silence stretched for a moment. Then, Daniel’s smile returned.
"Okay." Adrian’s eyes widened. That was easy. Daniel gestured loosely toward the path that ran south along the building. "But first, come with me. I already had something planned for her. No reason to waste it."
Adrian raised a brow. "Something planned?"
Daniel’s smile widened. "It’s a surprise." He turned before Adrian could speak and started walking towards the path.
Adrian stared for a moment, unsure of what exactly he should have done in that moment. He sighed and followed.
The outdoor section sat past the main building’s east wing; a stretch of paved walkway with wooden benches set back from the foot traffic.
A man was already there when they arrived. Short and lean, standing beside the bench with his arms at his sides. He wasn’t doing anything, but anyone around could obviously feel his unnerving stillness.
As Daniel and Adrian approached, the man’s eyes moved over Adrian once, like he’d already made up his mind about him.
"This is Mr. Lee," Daniel said. "He’s the one who connected me to VJ."
Mr. Lee gave a small nod. No handshake offered. "You’re not Rose West."
"No," Adrian said. "I’m not,"
"She sends her apologies," Daniel added, entirely unbothered. "Scheduling conflict. He’s a close friend of hers."
Mr. Lee looked at Daniel, then he turned back to Adrian. "That’s disappointing." His tone remained flat. "The senior team at VJ has agreed to meet her. Directly."
He kept his gaze. "The piece they’re interested in is a commission; the terms we discussed previously still apply, but the ceiling has moved."
"Moved?" Adrian straightened. "Moved to what."
"Two hundred and fifty thousand. Pending the meeting."
The number landed and sat there. Adrian kept his expression where it was, which took a small amount of effort.
Two hundred thousand dollars. For a mural. For Rose.
"She’d have to confirm today," Mr. Lee said. "The window for the meeting is narrow. Their schedule doesn’t hold."
Daniel glanced at Adrian, a smug smile curving on his lips as he watched what happened next.
"Noted," Adrian said. "I’ll give her the message."
"Wonderful, news." Mr. Lee reached into his jacket and produced a card, and handed it to him. "This is my contact info."
Adrian turned the card over once. Damn. Even the card felt deliberate.
"When she’s ready." He looked at Adrian for another second, then at Daniel. "I’ll wait for the call."
Mr. Lee gave them one last nod and walked away.
Adrian hesitated for a moment, then he looked at the card in his hand.
The whole thing had been clean. Too clean. And as unsettling as it was, the offer itself was real. He was definitely missing something.
He turned to Daniel, who was already watching him. Adrian paused and shook off the thought.
"What’s your game in all this?"
Daniel’s expression didn’t change. "My game? What do you mean?"
"Why’d you recommend her for this."
"Hmm." He rubbed the back of his neck as though he was searching for a response. He turned and started walking, Adrian followed. "Because she’s talented, I suppose."
"That’s not an answer."
Daniel smiled. "Well, if you’re wondering what I get out of it." A pause. "I don’t have anything in mind. To be honest, I’ve seen what she can do. When this came up, recommending her was easy. She deserved the chance."
He glanced sideways at Adrian, staring a moment too long. "You look like you don’t believe me."
Not even slightly.
"I’ve heard more convincing explanations."
Daniel laughed, short and genuine enough that Adrian couldn’t immediately call it performed. "You know, I think we’d get along."
Adrian kept walking. "Not a chance."
"You sure?" Daniel looked ahead. "Considering you stole my girl, that seems like the least you should say."
Adrian stopped. "What?"
Daniel kept walking, that same smug smile on his face. Somehow, it looked worse now.
Adrian stared at his back. Daniel had said it so casually that it took a second for the words to register. He hadn’t sounded angry. That was almost worse. There was no accusation in his voice, no attempt to pick a fight. Just the quiet certainty of someone reminding Adrian that he hadn’t forgotten.
"I’ll be seeing you around, Adrian," Daniel said as he continued walking. "Contact Rose for me, will you?"
Adrian stood there, unsure what he was supposed to do next with the guy who’d supposedly opened a two hundred and fifty grand deal for Rose and acted like he wanted nothing in return.
But he knew one thing for sure. Daniel was hiding something. He just had no idea how to prove it yet.
Daniel had connections. He’d used one. Adrian had a cashback system built around investments, targets, multipliers, and Investment Potential ratings. Yet none of that told him what Daniel was actually after.
And right now, he had no idea what his next move was.
He looked at the card Mr. Lee had given him. Two hundred and fifty thousand, pending a call Rose didn’t even know she needed to make today.
Something about the deal felt wrong, but two hundred and fifty thousand dollars was still a life-changing offer.
Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars wasn’t a number he could casually ignore. Rose had spent years trying to get her work noticed, and now someone was offering her more money for one project than Adrian could comfortably process.
The least he could do was let Rose know about it.
He pulled out his phone and called Rose.
The phone rang longer than usual before cutting to voicemail.
Adrian stared at the screen for a moment before calling again.
The second call went unanswered too.
Adrian lowered the phone. Rose usually answered him.
’That’s new.’
’Was something wrong, or was she ignoring him?’
He considered going over. Then he remembered Sunday morning. Jenna sleeping over and apparently, getting sighted by Rose when she was leaving his apartment.
Fuck.
If he went to see Rose now, there was a very good chance the conversation would somehow find its way back to that subject. And this time, there’d be no Jenna to cut in and save his ass.
Adrian rubbed his forehead. That was going to be annoying.
Five thousand dollars. That was how much Mind Maze Runner cost him.
He hadn’t used it yet. Mostly because five thousand dollars was a ridiculous price just to find out what someone was thinking.
This time, it might be worth it.
At least as a contingency if things went badly.
If Rose cornered him about Jenna and he couldn’t come up with a convincing explanation, knowing what she was thinking could save him from making things worse.
Knowing what she was thinking would at least tell him how bad things were before he answered.
It wasn’t ideal, but it was useful.
Adrian locked his phone and slipped it into his pocket. Mind Maze Runner wouldn’t give him an explanation, though. At least he’d know where he stood.
He headed back toward the student lot. He barely noticed the students passing around him.
A moment later, he reached his car and got in.
Adrian rested his hands on the steering wheel and looked through the windshield. The first day of school had already given him enough problems to last the week.
’And this was supposed to be a normal first day.’
He started the engine and pulled out of the lot.
He went through every explanation he could think of. None of them sounded convincing. Jenna hadn’t been there by accident, but admitting that didn’t tell him what Rose would assume from it. By the time he reached home, he’d managed to eliminate several bad explanations without finding a good one.
By the time he reached the building, he’d pushed it aside. For now.
He looked toward Rose’s apartment.
Nothing looked unusual. He couldn’t see Rose.
’Because apparently today wasn’t complicated enough.’
Adrian closed the car door and started toward the building.
As he walked, Adrian pulled out Mr. Lee’s card and looked at the number again. Still there.
Maybe the deal would give him something else to talk about before Rose brought up Jenna.
He slipped the card into his pocket and took the stairs.
By the time he got to the second floor, the exhaustion from his first day at school was beginning to catch up with him.
Adrian stopped in front of Rose’s door. He stared at the door for another second before he straightened as though that’d aid his prep. He took a step closer and raised his hand...