When Keith said that last sentence, his tone was a bit too casual-almost as if he was forcing himself to sound relaxed. He didn’t want things to get tense between him and Amara, and above all, he didn’t want her to distance herself from him.

Amara stared quietly at a nearby tree for a moment, then rolled her eyes at Keith. “If you’re so determined to chase after me, you’ll just have to get in line!” she huffed. Then her tone shifted, growing earnest. “Let me be serious with you, Keith. I really don’t want to get married. You’re not some stranger-you know all about the mess with Finnian. Given everything I’ve been through, you should understand by now that I don’t have any hope left for marriage.”

“And another thing!” Amara went on, “I’ve always seen you as a friend, but now you’ve gone and fallen for me. You’re terrible!”

By the end, her tone had lightened up again, and she even gave Keith a gentle, playful smack.

Keith smiled. “Just promise me you won’t start shutting me out. I’m not telling you this to make things awkward between us. If you’re really not interested, you can keep treating me as a friend. But when I’m being good to you, you can’t push me away. And don’t go dodging me the way you keep avoiding Finnian.”

Amara found that a little odd-she only avoided Finnian for other reasons, and lately he hadn’t even been pursuing her.

But she didn’t bother arguing with Keith. “Let’s head back. It’s getting chilly out here.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Keith dropped Amara off at the Everly family home. Once she was upstairs, Amara lay down on her bed, feeling deeply unsettled.

So Keith had finally confessed his feelings to her and he was so earnest about it.

She could truly feel his affection when he looked at her; his gaze was burning with emotion.

Amara bit her lip softly. Keith’s feelings for her must run really deep-otherwise, how could he accept that she was carrying Finnian’s child?

She felt so overwhelmed, so lost. What was she supposed to do?

Lying in bed, her thoughts spinning, she finally picked up her phone. There was a

news link from Elysia: “You and Keith have been spotted-take a look.”

Amara frowned and tapped the link.

It was

photo from that afternoon

in the park showing her and Keith standing close together.

from the crowd that Someone

had followed

them must have snapped it and

posted it online.

Soon, the internet was abuzz with fresh gossip about her and Keith:

“Why are Amarise and Keith still together? After everything that came out, haven’t they broken up yet?”

“Even though the baby isn’t Keith’s didn’t you see the clarification? Keith has known all along. If he’s willing to go this far for Amara, of course he’d Sll agree to marry her.”

“It must be because Amara is so beautiful. Keith is a total heartthrob, but Amara is just stunning. If she ever she’d Cat into show business,

top celebrity in no time.’

“Amara is so shameless! I can’t believe Keith lets himself get tangled up with a woman like that. It’s disgusting!”

“Is the person above blind or just clueless? How do you know it’s Amara chasing Keith and not the other way around? It’s obvious Keith likes her way more!”

The comment section was a chaotic jumble of opinions, and the story quickly shot to the top of the trending topics.