Ethan lowered his head and looked at her disappointment, but he didn’t say much. Instead, he cast a cold glance at the gardener. “Still here?”

The gardener scrambled away in a panic, nearly tripping over himself.

The other onlookers quickly dispersed as well.

“Looks like you won’t be seeing your roses bloom today,” Ivy said as she sat on the stone bench beside him, still holding a crushed rosebud in her hand.

Ethan wasn’t ...