Escape from Mr. Whitman (Emma and Theodore) novel Chapter 307

Hanley frowned. “Wait, what? What happened?”

Lately, Hanley had been spending less time with the group—his wife was pregnant, so he’d missed a lot and was out of the loop.

“It’s nothing,” Jared replied. “Emma’s come back. Cici’s worried she’ll get the wrong idea, so she doesn’t dare hang out with Theo anymore.”

Theodore pressed his lips together for a moment, then said, “That’s a bit much. Just bring her along—say she’s a company assistant.”

“Alright,” Jared agreed. “Should I buy her a dress then?”

“Yeah,” Theodore nodded. “I’ll transfer you the money.”

Jared just gave a grunt in response.

—

The next day, at Ellis’s studio.

Emma had called ahead to let Ellis know she’d be coming in to pick out a dress, so the studio assistant had prepared a whole row of dresses in her size and style preferences. Ellis himself was waiting at the shop, ready.

The moment Emma walked in, arm in arm with Larson, Ellis sprang to his feet.

Emma startled—since when was Ellis so outgoing?

But, to her surprise, Ellis had leapt up to greet Larson.

“Hey! Look who finally made it back from abroad!” Ellis crowed, and then, spotting Emma on Larson’s arm and remembering they shared a last name, he blurted, “Wait, you two—?”

“Yep, she’s my sister,” Larson said with a grin.

“Cut it out,” Larson laughed. Truth was, he’d just been swamped lately.

“Alright, you can try on the dresses now,” the assistant called Emma over.

Emma, who’d been laughing so hard at their banter she could barely breathe, followed the assistant to the fitting area as the dresses were brought down.

Ellis leaned over to Larson and lowered his voice. “Your sister seems a lot happier now.”

Larson’s expression darkened slightly. “Was she not happy before?” Was it that obvious—even to someone outside the family?

Ellis shook his head. “It was heartbreaking. She’s gifted at whatever she does. When she used to dance, people called her ‘Little Linnet.’ But then, after she got hurt, she started coming here to manage her husband’s wardrobe—she was determined to give his suits a signature touch, so she started designing cufflinks. You wouldn’t believe how many people love them.”

“Cufflinks?” Larson said, surprised. He hadn’t known about that.