Time-Limited Love: A Contract Expired, Not Renewed novel Chapter 345

Freed from the prison of “love,” Zinnia found herself looking at things differently. She’d traded three years of marriage for over a hundred million dollars. Even if she considered it hush money, the fact remained: her life was worth that much. Any lingering resentment simply melted away.

The thought made her feel lighter.

“Thanks to Mr. Ford, I’ve made it onto the rich list,” she quipped.

“Mm. Congratulations,” Landon replied.

“Thank you.”

Their exchange was dry, weighed down by an awkward silence that stretched between them.

“I should get to class. See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

Landon’s deep voice carried a trace of reluctance.

Zinnia didn’t say anything more. She ended the call.

Landon stared at his phone, the dial tone already buzzing in his ear. The smile in his eyes faded, replaced by a shadow of something softer.

He knew she didn’t want to be tangled up with him any longer.

That much money was bound to feel like a burden.

Yet, when he’d half-jokingly, half-threateningly told her he intended to withdraw the divorce application, she’d agreed almost instantly—without a flicker of hope or hesitation.

Not even willing to give him a scrap of false hope. Typical.

The next day.

Since Zinnia didn’t have class that morning, she and Landon had agreed to meet at the property office to finalize the transfer.

“Zinnia!”

Yuri was coming down the hall, arms full of textbooks, and called out to her.

“Heading out?” he asked.

He hung up and slipped the phone back into his pocket. Leaning casually on the corridor railing, he looked down and caught a glimpse of Zinnia heading off campus.

He watched her until she was out of sight, then turned away, face unreadable, and walked off.

“Leanna, what are you staring at?”

Leanna Ford jumped as someone clapped her hard on the shoulder.

She pointed in Yuri’s direction. “Who’s that?”

“Oh, you mean Prof. Ford? He’s got the same last name as you,” her friend replied.

Leanna’s heart skipped a beat.

Another friend chimed in, “Prof. Ford just joined us from overseas. He’s teaching neurosurgery in our department. Why, you got your eye on him?”

Noticing Leanna’s thoughtful gaze lingering on Yuri’s retreating figure, her friend teased her with a laugh.

“Ford, huh? What a coincidence…” Leanna mused. Rolling her eyes at the teasing, she shot back, “You know I only have a thing for puppy-dog types.”