Ice & Prejudice

Chapter 81

Ria's POV:

I was folding a pair of jeans and stuffing them into my suitcase, barely listening as Layla rambled about Jamal from the kitchen. The door was wide open, so I could hear her just fine over the clattering of pots and pans as she prepped for her night out. Silent disco downtown. Sounded fun, but I had zero energy for it. Not that Layla didn't try to drag me along, of course.

"Things are really going great with Jamal, you know? Like, he's so thoughtful. The other day, he sent me flowers just because I mentioned I like sunflowers. SUNFLOWERS, Ria! Can you believe that?" Her voice was full of excitement, completely unaware that I had zoned out for most of her speech.

"Oww, that's so cute," I smiled to myself, tossing a hoodie into the suitcase.

I was knee-deep in mentally planning which clothes to pack first when my phone buzzed on the bed next to me. I grabbed it without thinking, expecting maybe Blake or a random notification, but when I saw the name, I froze.

Eduard Wolves.

The man himself. Eddy, as he'd insisted I call him. It's a family thing. Layla had said to me. Family.

I hesitated before opening the message, still not entirely used to receiving texts from him, especially since my whole arrangement with his son had fallen apart months ago.

I finally opened it, half-expecting some kind of icy, formal reminder of our deal or worse, some veiled threat about how I'd failed. Instead, the message was... normal?

Eduard Wolves: "Hello Ria, could you meet me at The Ruby in 30 minutes? I'd like to discuss your scholarship abroad.

I stared at the screen, blinking a few times to make sure I was reading it right. No threats. No guilt-tripping. Just a request. A simple, business-like message about my grad school scholarship. The one I had assumed was long gone, considering I hadn't tutored Nikolai in months.

"Uh, Layla?" I called out, still staring at the screen in disbelief. "I think Eduard wants to meet with me. About my scholarship."

Layla poked her head out from the kitchen, a spatula in hand and a suspicious look on her face. "What? Didn't you think that was, like, dead in the water?"

"Yeah, that's the weird part." I sat on the edge of the bed, feeling a little disoriented. "He's asking me to meet him at The Ruby in thirty minutes to... discuss it."

Her eyes widened. "Are you sure this isn't some elaborate trap where you show up and Nikolai's sitting there waiting to be a complete asshole again?"

I shrugged. "Honestly? I have no idea. But I guess I'm about to find out."

Layla narrowed her eyes like she was trying to assess the risk. "Okay, well, if you don't text me in like an hour, I'm sending a SWAT team."

I chuckled, feeling the tension ease slightly. "You're so silly."

I fucking adored this girl.
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When I arrived at The Ruby, I spotted Eduard sitting in one of the booths, a cup of coffee in front of him, and his laptop open. He looked surprisingly casual, like he was just here for a friendly catch-up rather than what I had imagined-a tense confrontation about my broken agreement.

I took a deep breath, pushed through the door, and approached the table. Eduard looked up as I neared, a warm smile spreading across his face. Not the kind of forced smile you'd expect from a billionaire family patriarch. No, this was the kind of smile you'd get from a father who just found out his kid won an award or something.