A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 299

After handing her the wallet, Rowan slipped one hand casually into his pocket. His expression was calm and untroubled, showing not the slightest hint of guilt—just the same cool demeanor he always wore.

Elissa hesitated for a moment. But since she’d already asked for it, she figured she might as well satisfy her curiosity, no matter what she found inside.

Her lips twitched when she opened the wallet and saw how empty it was—not a bill in sight, cleaner than a college student’s bank account.

Still under Rowan’s watchful gaze, she slid her slender fingers into a hidden compartment and deftly pulled out a photograph.

There it was—the photo Lorraine had mentioned, the one Rowan kept tucked away as if it were a secret treasure. And now, it was right in front of Elissa.

She’d seen this coming, really.

That was the whole reason she’d asked for his wallet in the first place—to confirm what she already suspected.

But still, looking at the photo—the one of herself grinning boldly at the camera, eyes impossibly bright—Elissa felt her whole body go rigid.

Because she knew better than anyone.

Back then, she hadn’t been looking at the camera. She’d been looking at the person behind it.

At Rowan.

All those years she’d spent moving forward on her own, careful and guarded, had faded so many things to gray. But some memories, once triggered, came flooding back with a force that left her breathless.

Moments that belonged to them. The birthday that year—it all played out in her mind, frame by frame, like a slow-motion film.

She remembered standing in front of the cake, eyes squeezed shut, making a wish out loud to the heavens: “Elissa wishes she’ll never have to be apart from Rowan.”

She even remembered the dazed look in Rowan’s eyes when she opened hers.

At the time, Elissa thought he was moved, that he’d been wishing for the exact same thing.

That they were inseparable.

Looking back, she realized he’d probably been laughing at her for being such a fool.

He needed to be patient with this, he reminded himself.

Because if he pushed too hard, Elissa’s stubborn streak would only make her pull away from him.

Elissa blinked, then glanced down at the photo again.

Only now did she notice the little dog next to her in the picture, sitting perfectly still for the camera.

Max—her birthday present from Rowan that year.

While she was distracted, Rowan swiftly took the photo back and slipped it into the wallet’s hidden pocket as if it were something precious. His tone was light, almost casual: “That was the day Max first came home. Had to keep a memento.”

Elissa’s tense posture finally softened. Her voice was cool and even. “Then maybe you should cut my half out of it.”

“No way.”

Rowan’s answer was firm, almost self-assured. “That’s the best picture I’ve ever taken. The angle, the composition—everything’s perfect.”