Chapter 10 Call Me Honey
Nearly an hour later, their car pulled up outside Monroe Industries.
Ivan remained behind the wheel while Jessica sat beside him, both of them watching the entrance of the building.
“Are you sure she’s here?” Jessica asked, glancing toward the building. “Maybe she went home today.”
“She won’t be home.”
Ivan kept his eyes on the entrance.
“When we were together, she was either at her office or at her father’s house.”
His gaze shifted briefly toward the parking area.
“Her car isn’t at her father’s house, so she has to be here.”
Jessica nodded, though uncertainty still lingered in her expression.
They waited.
Minutes passed.
Then more.
Ivan’s fingers remained tightly wrapped around the steering wheel, his shoulders rigid with tension as he watched every person leaving the building.
Nearly an hour later, Rose finally appeared through the main entrance.
Ivan’s expression immediately brightened.
“See?” he said, a hint of satisfaction entering his voice. “I told you. She’s here.”
He watched Rose descend the steps.
“She’s always been obsessed with work. This is exactly where she would be.”
Before Ivan could say anything else, Jessica opened her door and stepped out.
Ivan barely noticed.
He was already getting out of the car, his attention completely fixed on Rose.
Jessica hesitated for a second before following him. She rounded the car and walked toward him.
Rose saw the two of them standing side by side, and her steps immediately faltered. A look of displeasure crossed her face, but she quickly looked away and tried to walk past them without saying a word.
Ivan stepped directly into her path.
“Seriously?” he said, his voice already edged with irritation. “Can’t you see I’m standing right here?”
Rose stopped and looked at him, her patience clearly wearing thin. She drew in a slow, frustrated breath.
“What do you want?” she said flatly.
Before Ivan could answer, Jessica stepped forward with a bright, almost cheerful expression.
“Rose, are you still upset about everything? About that little slap Ivan gave you?” she asked, as though she were discussing something completely insignificant.
“Come on. Things like that happen between couples. It’s not exactly unheard of.
Sometimes, when you’re in a relationship, you have to put up with a slap or two. ”
Rose slowly turned her head toward Jessica.
The look on her face was one of pure disgust, as though Jessica had just said something utterly repulsive.
Jessica’s smile faltered.
Her mouth snapped shut, but she quickly recovered and slipped her arm through Ivan’s, pressing herself against him.
“I mean, you must have heard that Ivan sent me a gift as soon as I came back,” she continued, her voice becoming sweeter. “It really showed me how much he still cares about me. No one knows better than me how well Ivan treats the woman he loves.”
Her gaze slid toward Rose.
“After all, now you are his girlfriend. I’m sure he treats you wonderfully too. If you understood how much he loves you, you’d realize how lucky you are.”
Rose stared at her in disbelief.
Then a cold, humorless smile touched her lips.
“Are you sure you have a single functioning brain cell?”
Jessica’s expression froze.
Rose continued, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Do you really think I’m too stupid to understand your pathetic little ‘pick-me’ act? You keep bragging about everything Ivan does for you as if you’re the only person capable of recognizing how shallow and transparent you are.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Do you honestly think you’re the only intelligent person on this planet?”
Jessica’s face fell.
A deeply offended expression immediately replaced her smile.
Beside her, Ivan’s jaw tightened.
His expression darkened as he glared at Rose.
“Are you seriously going to act like this?” he snapped. “She’s trying to make you understand, and all you’re doing is insulting her. Do you think this makes you look good? Or your father?”
Rose's expression hardened.
“You and I are in a relationship,” Ivan continued, his voice growing more forceful. “You can’t just decide to end it and walk away whenever you want. Come inside. We’re going to talk.”
He reached for her arm.
The moment his hand moved toward her, Rose stiffened.
“Don’t touch me.”
Ivan paused.
But before he could respond, Rose’s gaze shifted toward the restaurant on the ground floor of Monroe Industries.
An unwelcome memory flashed through her mind.
Six months earlier, when Jessica had returned to the city for a short stay, Ivan had been in a meeting at Rose’s father’s company and couldn’t wait to see her. The moment he received a call from Jessica, he had asked her to meet him at the restaurant downstairs.
Rose had been there too.
She still remembered sitting across from them while Ivan had spoken to Jessica with an eagerness she had rarely seen from him.
At one point, he had casually asked Rose to get his coffee.
He had even given her specific instructions about exactly how he wanted it prepared.
Rose had gone to get it without thinking twice.
But when she returned, Ivan had eagerly handed the coffee to Jessica.
The memory remained painfully vivid.
Ivan had never even remembered what kind of coffee Rose liked, let alone the specific way she wanted it prepared.
Yet with Jessica, he had remembered every little detail, treating her as though she were the most important person in the room—as though Jessica owned the building and Ivan would bend over backward to please her.
And it wasn't as though Jessica had even appreciated the effort.
She had taken one small sip of the coffee Rose had brought and immediately grimaced.
“It’s terrible. I can barely taste anything.”
Rose still remembered the look Ivan had thrown her way.
His expression had turned accusing and angry, as though Rose had deliberately served Jessica something awful. The intensity of his reaction had caught her completely off guard. He had been more concerned about Jessica disliking her coffee than about how Rose felt standing there.
The memory still felt as fresh as yesterday.
Rose's expression hardened.
She abruptly pulled her arm free from Ivan's reach and stepped away from him.
“The food here isn't good enough for either of you,” she said coldly. “Don't you remember the last time you had coffee here? You almost threw up.”
Her gaze shifted pointedly toward Jessica.
“I’m sure anything served at the restaurant in my father’s company will be far too rich for her delicate little throat—and far too much for your big one to swallow.”
Ivan's face darkened.
“So leave me alone. And don't even think about stepping inside my father's office.”
Her voice grew firmer.
“Neither of you is welcome here. Not in the company, not in the restaurant, nowhere near anything connected to me. So don't make me say it again.”
She turned away from them with an irritated shake of her head.
Before Ivan could respond, Rose's phone began to ring.
She glanced at the screen, and her entire expression changed.
A soft smile appeared on her face as she answered.
“Hello, honey?”
Ivan's frown deepened immediately.
“Where are you?” Maverick asked from the other end of the line.
“I'm at Dad's office. I had to finish a few files, but I'm done now. I'm coming home.”
Rose shifted the phone to her other ear, her voice becoming noticeably warmer.
“I miss you so much. It feels like forever since I saw you, even though it’s only been a little while. When are you coming home, honey? I've been waiting for you.”
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Then Maverick answered, “I'm home. Come home right now. I'm waiting for you.”
“All right, all right. Don't get so impatient.” Rose smiled, a playful blush touching her cheeks. “You always make me blush when you talk like that. I'll be home in ten minutes. Don't worry. I'll be there soon.”
She glanced toward the building.
“I'm just leaving the office now.”
She ended the call.
Ivan had been watching her the entire time.
The longer the conversation continued, the darker his expression became. By the time Rose lowered her phone, his jaw was clenched tightly.
“Can you stop all this fucking drama?” he snapped. “You know I don't like it when you try to make me jealous. I know what you're doing. You look ridiculous.”
Rose turned toward him, almost as though she'd forgotten he was still standing there.
Then her expression became cold.
“Have you forgotten that you and I have nothing to do with each other anymore?”
She gave him a dismissive look.
“Why would I pretend for you? I wasn't even talking to you. You're nothing more than a stranger to me now, so stop assuming you know anything about me.”
Ivan scoffed.
“Have you forgotten that we're engaged?”
He stepped closer.
“You're still wearing my engagement ring. You and I are supposed to get married. Don't you remember that?”
Rose's expression remained unmoved.
Ivan reached into his pocket and pulled out the engagement ring.
“You don't want this anymore?”
His voice hardened.
“Because if you keep acting like this, that ring is never going back on your finger. Keep that in mind.”
He held it up between them, deliberately displaying the ring Rose had once worn—the same ring Zoe had returned to him only days ago after Rose herself had given it to her to throw away.
He extended the ring toward her, holding it out as though he expected her to take it.
Rose gave a small scoff at his words.
“I don't want it.”
Rose immediately stepped back.
The ring slipped from his fingers and hit the pavement with a faint metallic clink.
“I already have a husband,” she said calmly. “I have no interest in someone like you anymore.”
Ivan's expression changed instantly.
Whatever patience he had been trying to maintain disappeared.
His voice shifted from coaxing her into listening to openly frustrated and angry.
“You know what? I’m getting fucking tired of this. Every time you try to make me jealous, you only make things worse between us. I won't take you back if you keep pissing me off. Don't you understand that I'm already angry, Rose?”