Obedience No More He's the One I Deserved novel Chapter 225

Brogan lifted his brow with an air of ease and chose silence.

The stillness in the room stretched long and heavy.

At last, Alex couldn't stand it. He dropped onto the seat beside Jonathan and burst out, "Man, what on earth is going through your head? If you were chasing some princess from Unkerston, I'd understand that. But Dawn? Why her?"

She was everything to Ethan.

From the time they were kids, even when he went overseas, he carried her in his heart.

No one could have guessed that after Ethan took down that useless Austin, he would still end up stabbed in the back.

Jonathan turned his eyes toward Alex, his look cold and merciless, like he could pull a gun from his pocket without warning.

Only in front of Dawn had he ever shown the smallest trace of feeling.

But tonight felt different. Even Brogan's face grew grim. "Boss, you shouldn't have kept this from us. Ethan even asked you to come home to take his wedding pictures."

There were only two men Ethan called brothers.

Neither of them wanted to see a woman rip that bond apart.

Jonathan rolled a lighter between his fingers, his eyes steady and hard. "They're already married."

That meant even if he did have feelings, it was already too late.

Alex sucked in a sharp breath. "When did that even happen? You left for Meriaxx before finishing high school. Wait—" His eyes flew wide.

"You've had a thing for Dawn since high school?"

Back then she had been 12.

Or maybe 13.

Either way, she had been just a kid. A man thinking like that made no sense.

As Alex's mind spun in darker places, Brogan shoved him hard with his boot. "Watch your mouth."

He didn't know the full story, but from their reactions it was clear something had happened between Jonathan and Dawn.

The boss always looked like ice, but when it came to feelings he was no different than Brogan. He could cling to one memory for years. That part made sense.

What Brogan couldn't wrap his mind around was this.

If Jonathan had cared that much, why had he stayed away all this time?

He wasn't like Brogan, patient and kind.

If Jonathan wanted someone, he would drag her into his life no matter what it took.

Jonathan kept quiet. He stood there like a man born from shadows, sharp and unreadable.

With no reply from him, Brogan and Alex could only let it go. They tossed back a drink, then turned to leave. At the door, Brogan looked back one last time, his voice heavy. "Boss, there are plenty of women out there. You don't need to fixate on one. Especially not her. Ethan will never allow it."

Ethan had fought too hard to win her. No one else would be allowed to take her.

"Then what do you want me to do?" Ethan frowned.

Dawn wet her lips and thought before speaking. "We should wait until after the launch. We have all the time in the world. Once the work is finished, we can go anywhere we want."

We have all the time in the world.

She didn't know how deeply those words struck him.

Ethan's lips curved in a quiet smile. "Alright."

They held each other a little longer before finally climbing out of bed.

Convincing Ethan felt like a small victory to her. She even let the holiday pass without notice, throwing herself into the new season's launch.

Her days filled with work until Jonathan faded from her thoughts.

Until the moment she ran into him at the entrance during an inspection.

Her steps faltered. The colleague beside her thought she had forgotten something.

"What's wrong, Dawn? Did you leave something behind?"

She adjusted her glasses and shook her head. "Go on ahead. I'll be right there."

After a few nights of thought, she could finally face him with calm. When she stripped away the heavy air he carried, all she saw before her was a familiar stranger.

Jonathan stood with one hand in his pocket, his face cold and striking, like a machine without a heart.