Time-Limited Love: A Contract Expired, Not Renewed novel Chapter 216

Looking back now, she realized that the obsession she once clung to so tightly was, in the end, nothing more than that. It vanished as easily as it had come.

“That’s enough.”

Pushing aside the thoughts swirling in her mind, Zinnia spoke, cutting through both her own distraction and Landon’s brooding regret.

She reached for the basin of water at her feet and tried to stand. But her legs, numb from crouching too long, betrayed her; she staggered, and the basin tipped.

Water sloshed out—dirty, grimy water meant for cleaning up after Dapper.

Without thinking, Landon dropped down, shielding Dapper with his whole body. The filthy water splashed out, drenching Landon from head to toe.

Landon: “…”

Zinnia: “…”

Zoey and Chandler: “…”

Landon slowly lifted his head. His hair, soaked with dirty water, dripped down his face. At that moment, he looked so pitiful and lost that he seemed less like the high-powered executive he was and more like a stray dog no one wanted.

Zinnia hadn’t expected Landon to shield Dapper like that; he could have dodged easily, just moments ago. Instead, he took the brunt of it, leaving himself utterly drenched and disheveled.

She pressed her lips together. “Sorry.”

Landon dropped his gaze and fell silent. After a moment, he gently set Dapper down in his bed, making sure the little dog was comfortable before turning back to Zinnia.

“Mind if I take a shower first?”

Zinnia, feeling guilty at the state he was in, could hardly say no. She pointed toward the bathroom down the hall.

“It’s over there.”

If she were still a teenager, she might have entertained that fantasy. But she wasn’t. She was twenty-five, and she’d come close to death once already. She didn’t have room for such childish illusions.

She smiled, brushing it all off. “Whatever his reasons, he did get himself filthy saving Dapper, and I just soaked him with another bucket of water. I couldn’t exactly send him home like that, could I?”

There was one thing she didn’t say out loud: When Landon had climbed down into that storm drain without a word to rescue Dapper, she’d been genuinely shocked. Those drains were dangerous—filled with toxic gases from years of neglect. He’d gone down anyway.

To say she felt nothing in that moment would be a lie. But it was just a flicker, a brief pulse of emotion. Nothing more.

“Zinnia?”

Landon’s voice echoed from the bathroom.

The sound of running water drifted down the hall.

Chandler shivered. Just hearing that voice made his skin crawl.