The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman)

Herman had no idea someone had been following Anastasia. She hadn't

mentioned it-figured, why worry him if nothing happened? But now it had slipped

out, and there was no point hiding it.

She came clean. "On my way home from work this afternoon, someone was

following me..."

She gave him the short version, then quickly added, "I'm fine. The guy's name

was Ben, I think-he was pretty clueless. Total rookie move. He's at the police

station now."

Anastasia knew Herman would worry, so she made sure he understood she

hadn't been hurt.

When Herman heard about the close call, his stomach twisted. "If people are

going that far, whatever's on that chip must be important."

He didn't dare shrug it off. He grabbed his laptop and tried to crack the chip, but

after two tries, no luck.

It was seriously encrypted.

If even Herman couldn't break in, that was saying something. Nelson had always

called him a computer genius. If this stumped him, they were in trouble.

"This thing's a hot potato," Anastasia said, her tone all business. "No idea where

Rowan got it, but we need to get rid of it fast. Can you find him and give it back?"

Herman blurted out, "I haven't heard from Rowan lately either."

"Lately? Either?" Anastasia zeroed in, raising an eyebrow.

Herman hesitated, coughed awkwardly into his fist. "Um, I've run into Rowan a

few times. He's... he's been following you, too. Quietly."

He'd been worried Rowan might have bad intentions, but he'd come to believe

Rowan wouldn't actually hurt Anastasia. Still, every time he heard about Rowan in

her orbit, a pang of jealousy flared up.noveldrama

"What's he following me for?" Anastasia wondered aloud. Even as she said it, she

remembered what Melody had told her.

That time she'd almost been trapped, it was Rowan who'd shown up and rushed

her to the hospital. She owed him for that. That's why she'd agreed to hold on to

the chip in the first place.

The room fell silent. After a moment, Herman broke the quiet. "Go get some rest.

I'll keep working on this."

"...Alright." Anastasia took the hint and let the Rowan topic drop.

She headed downstairs to fix Herman a cup of ginseng tea. On her way back up,

she ran into Salma, her mother-in-law, just coming in the door.

"Hi, Mom," Anastasia called. "You're by yourself? Where's Dad?"

Salma's face was stormy. "Don't even mention your father."

Anastasia wisely kept her head down and started upstairs. She'd just taken a

couple steps when Salma called after her, "Ana, I'm moving out tomorrow. I'm

going back to my old apartment."

Anastasia stopped short, stunned.

"No, Mom, you can't. Your health

isn't great, and you're comfortable

here. Why go back to that old place?

If something's bothering you, just tell

me. And what about the kids? You'll

miss them!"

Truth was, Salma wouldn't have

stayed if it weren't for her grandkids.

But after everything with Adam,

she'd realized she was just an

ordinary person, and people only

cozied up because she was

connected to Herman and the

Salstrom name. She'd overheard the

hotel manager talking with the

staff-how she always got the easy

shifts and better pay, all because of

her son-in-law. The realization stung.

She let out a long sigh. "Ana, life's

changed too fast for me. I can't keep

up. Your aunt's not well, no one's

taking care of her-I want to be

closer, help out. I can come see the

kids anytime. This isn't goodbye."

Ever since they'd visited Cynthia, Anastasia could tell Salma hadn't felt

comfortable. She'd never really thought about how hard it must be for her mother-

in-law, going from scraping by to living like royalty overnight.

Anastasia searched for the right words, hesitated, then said softly, "Mom, why

don't you think it over a little longer?"