Time-Limited Love: A Contract Expired, Not Renewed novel Chapter 43

He cleared his throat awkwardly and said, “I came straight to see you after dropping Noelle off. I... I haven’t changed my mind.”

It sounded like he was trying to explain himself to her.

Maybe he realized he was in the wrong—his earlier righteous indignation had lost some of its edge.

Zinnia nodded, not interested in revisiting the argument. All she wanted was to get through the next two months in peace, nothing more.

Still, she couldn’t help noticing that Landon was acting strangely today.

Usually, when he bailed on her, he wouldn’t even bother coming up with an excuse—let alone explain himself. But today, unexpectedly, he did.

Zinnia pressed her dry lips together and said, “Sorry for wasting your time, but I’ve already had dinner. Go get something to eat yourself.”

She was clearly trying to send him away.

After her therapy session with Naomi that afternoon, her aversion to Landon had eased just a little. But the longer she stayed in the same room with him, the more that familiar irritation crept back in.

Landon seemed to pick up on her annoyance; he paused, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes.

He fixed Zinnia with an intense stare before finally speaking. “Come eat with me.”

Just four words, but they landed with the force of a command. It was the sort of pressure that came naturally to someone used to being in charge, and it made Zinnia frown.

She rubbed her forehead, forcing down her growing impatience, and pointed to the clock on the wall. “It’s my night shift. I can’t leave my post—my patients could need me at any moment.”

Her reasoning was flawless, but Landon wasn’t used to being turned down, especially not repeatedly. Frustration simmered beneath his calm, and he finally snapped.

“Then I won’t keep Dr. Quinn any longer,” he said stiffly.

His eyebrows furrowed unconsciously, but he finally answered. “Hello? Noelle?”

Noelle’s frantic voice crackled through the line, trembling with panic. “Landon, my—my brother was in an accident. He—he was in a car crash and now he’s in the hospital. Landon, I’m so scared. My parents aren’t here. What should I do?”

“Your brother was in a car accident?” Landon’s frown deepened as he started walking toward the parking lot, trying to calm her down.

“Don’t panic. Do you know which hospital he was taken to? I’ll be right there.”

“I think... I think it was Veridian University Hospital. Landon, is he going to die?”

Veridian University Hospital?

That was Zinnia’s hospital.