A few days later.

A message from Ernest popped up on Hadley’s phone. He had already taken care of all the arrangements for her. The message showed the scheduled meeting time with both Chelsey and Ayla.

Hadley typed back, “Thanks, Ernest. I’ve received the details.”

“Do you want Quentin to send someone to pick you up?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Hadley replied, turning down the offer. She could take care of herself.

“I’ll drive over. It’s not a problem. Ernest, I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Alright.”

That morning, Hadley made sure Joy was settled at home before heading out. Her first stop was the Flynn Group office. She needed to drop off documents for Joy’s school enrollment and wanted to hand them to Ernest personally. She had also packed a few things for Locke and brought those along.

Before she left, she worried that Ernest might be tied up with work, so she sent a quick message to Quentin instead.

“Heading over now. I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

As soon as she reached the Flynn Group, Hadley let the security guard know she was only stopping by for a moment after she parked near the entrance. She then grabbed her backpack and another bag and walked straight into the lobby.

Meanwhile, up in the executive suite on the top floor, Quentin glanced at Ernest and spoke in a low voice.

“Mr. Flynn, Hadley just arrived.”

“Alright,” Ernest replied with a nod.

“Go ahead and meet her downstairs.”

“Yes, sir.”

At that moment, the office wasn’t empty. Eric was there too. As soon as Quentin finished speaking, Ernest turned his attention to Eric.

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“We’re done here. Aren’t you about to head out as well?”

“Yeah, I should get going,” Eric said with a nod, catching the cue. He had stopped by to handle some business with Ernest, but now that everything was sorted, it was time to leave. There was still a busy day ahead of him.

“Ernest, I’ll get going now.” He rose from his seat, then glanced at Quentin.

“Mind if I ride down with you?”

“No problem, Mr. Scott.”

For a split second, Quentin glanced over at Ernest, a trace of confusion in his eye. There was something deliberate about the timing. Was Ernest really sending Eric down just as Hadley arrived? It crossed Quentin’s mind—maybe this was Ernest’s plan all along. Maybe he actually wanted Eric to run into Hadley, hoping the two would keep crossing paths and Eric would eventually remember everything he had forgotten.

After taking the private elevator, the two of them quickly reached the ground floor.

“Mr. Scott, I need to take care of something over there, so I’m afraid I can’t walk you out,” Quentin said, gesturing toward the waiting area.

“Okay,” Eric nodded, continuing toward the entrance.

“Go ahead.”

“Take care, Mr. Scott.” Quentin gave a brief nod before heading to the waiting area.

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