The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Tinsley felt a little awkward and said, "It's nothing. We're family."

"Wasn't your company looking for more partners recently?" Zane asked, his tone slower.

Tinsley wasn't sure why Zane suddenly brought up work, but she answered frankly, "Yeah."

"Are you free right now?" Zane asked casually.

Tinsley thought for a moment. It was late, and she didn't have much going on. So, she said, "Yeah."

"I've got a few projects I'm teaming up with Steven on. After assessing it, I think your company would be a great fit. Come by my place, and we'll talk it through," Zane said.

Tinsley was so pumped that she almost leaped out of her seat. "I'm on my way, Zane!"

"Okay."

Tinsley hung up the phone and rushed upstairs, practically buzzing with excitement. She burst into Rowena's room and shouted, "Mom, you won't believe this!"

Rowena was still chatting with her friends about how to get back at Chloe. When she heard Tinsley, she quickly turned around. "What's up?"

"I told Zane what Chloe did, and then he gave me a ton of projects!" Tinsley beamed, stepping forward to give Rowena a hug. "Look, as long as we stick with Zane, there'll be all kinds of opportunities! But if we go against him, we'll have nothing!" "He's willing to back you up, so he's got to be a pretty solid guy," Rowena said, clearly happy about it.

"So..." Tinsley put a hand on Rowena's shoulder and said earnestly, "From now on, don't let anyone else steer you away from sticking with our family, okay?"

Rowena was fond of Tinsley, mostly because she was meek and knew how to stay in line. But Zane? No matter what Rowena said, he was never the type to listen.

Rowena was pretty annoyed with Zane, so she didn't really want to take Tinsley's advice, but she didn't want to upset her either.

In the end, Rowena finally muttered, "Fine."

After that, she couldn't help but vent, "That nasty Chloe must really hate seeing me do well! How dare she come to my place and try to set me up?"

Tinsley didn't say anything when she

noticed Rowena change the subject. Instead, she just took her hand and said, "Yeah, so Mom, if you ever run into something and aren't sure what to do, just come to me. I'll help you figure it out.

"People who aren't close to you will try to take advantage, but I'm your daughter, and I've always got your back, no matter what."

Rowena saw the sincerity in Tinsley's eyes and felt a little better. "Okay."

Today, Howard showed up a bit later

than usual. He explained that he'd been checking in on Willow and Penelope's physical assessments. After making sure they could handle the current training load, he planned to step it up a notch.

Willow didn't mind at all and actually jumped at the chance. Seeing her reaction, Zane and I exchanged a smile and went along.

Penelope turned to Suzy, who bit her lip and said firmly, "We're fine with it, too."

Everyone was on the same page.

Howard had them kick off their training right after that. The run was pushed to two kilometers, and the training was extended to half an hour. By the end, Willow and Penelope were so wiped outnoveldrama

elin

collapsed on the lush, green grass.

Over time, my fitness had really improved, and I even had enough energy to scoop Willow up and carry her back to the living room.

Suzy was wiped out, too, but she knew if she didn't help Penelope, no one else would. She stepped up to carry Penelope.