An Old Acquaintance of Ella’s Mother

Lauren quickly followed after her. "Hey, why don't you let me call him for you? Just to check in."

Ella pressed her lips together, speaking coolly, "No need. I'll give it one more hour before I try again."

She'd give him one last chance. If there was no response, she'd stop caring altogether.

Lauren chuckled at her friend's contradictory words. Just moments ago, Ella had been adamant about not calling again, and now here she was, setting herself another time limit. The paradoxes of love.

An hour later, Ella tried Eric's number once more, but this time there was no answer at all—not even from the woman.

Her expression turned cold. This was the first time she and Eric had engaged in a "deep" cold war since they'd known each other. And he'd even let another woman answer his phone?

Fine. She'd had enough. Whatever connection they'd shared felt null and void.