Love Rents A Room
Chapter 118: Was She Ashamed of Him?

Chapter 118: Was She Ashamed of Him?

Fiona sighed. "I can’t bring it up to him. He wants to get along with his brother." She pressed her lips together before her hands instinctively rested on her belly. "I think us trying to start a family made him think... He wants our children to grow up with their cousins, to have a good relationship with them."

Joanne tilted her head, thinking that over.

If that was the case, what could she really say? It was not wrong of Liam to think that way. Joanne didn’t think how Liam could get along with Tom when they were extremes but at the end of the day he was his brother by blood.

But she knew one thing for certain—Liam would always prioritize Fiona if things ever got out of hand.

"Don’t try too hard," Joanne said firmly. "Don’t slave yourself to accommodate them. They’re not worth it. If you need help dealing with them, just ask me."

Fiona let out a deep breath before waving her hand dismissively. "I’ll keep that in mind." Then, with a small smirk, she held up the dinner Joanne had packed. "And thanks for this!"

"Visit often," Joanne called as Fiona stepped out.

She watched as Fiona climbed into her car, the headlights flickering on as she drove away.

Joanne never thought she’d see Fiona bear with someone she didn’t like just for her husband’s sake.

But she was proven wrong.

Liam had chosen well.

And Joanne was happy for them.

-----

Joanne sat at her desk, flipping through the legal notice Sam had sent her. It was mostly nonsense.

He wanted a stake in Shamrock Logistics.

She scoffed, shaking her head. Dream on, c*nt!

The case would be thrown out before it even had the chance to make waves in court. Shamrock wasn’t a family business—it was her father’s, and she had inherited it as the sole heir.

No one in town knew that. Everyone assumed Shamrock belonged to her grandfather since he had always been the one making all the decisions after her father’s passing. But the truth was, Shamrock belonged entirely to her.

It was the inheritance her father had left her.

Sam, of course, hadn’t come up with this scheme on his own. Joanne did not doubt that Brian Cooper had whispered this into his ear. Brian was furious when she fired him, and this was his pathetic attempt at revenge. The meetings Sam had with Brian might have been about this.

Well, let him try.

She laughed. This was the best those two came up with after discussing it all in secret. What a pair of dumb douchebags! She almost wished she could be in the courtroom when the judge dismissed the case just to see Brian’s face. Watching him eat dirt would be so satisfying.

Then there was the other claim—the one that actually did bother her.

The house. The car. The thirty acres her grandfather had left her.

Sam was contesting that inheritance too, claiming undue influence—that she had manipulated their grandfather into leaving everything to her.

Joanne let out a slow breath, gripping the papers tighter.

That one... That one was tricky.

Everyone knew Old Sean had always favored her over the rest of his grandchildren. But that wasn’t manipulation. That was love.

She was the only one who had given him peace.

And besides, if she hadn’t inherited the land, it would’ve been eaten up by creditors because of all the debt. It would have been gone.

Instead, she had cleared the debts and not only kept the farm but expanded it. And now, Sam wanted to take that from her too?

Joanne clenched her jaw.

The farm was her sanctuary.

Her peace.

This court battle could drag on for years, and in the meantime, she wouldn’t be able to touch the land—not in the way she had planned.

She had wanted to build a new house where the pond was.

Her grandfather had always said fairies lived there.

She smiled sadly at the memory, then sighed and tossed the legal notice onto the table.

No.

She was not willing to lose a single inch of what her grandfather had left her.

If she did, he would roll in his grave.

Old Sean had entrusted the land of his forefathers to her—not because she was the eldest, not because she was the most obedient, but because he knew she would protect it.

Because he believed in her.

Even though she was a woman, he had given it all to her, knowing that through her, the Smith line would continue—not in name, but in legacy.

Sam didn’t understand that.

He never had.

If he got his hands on this land, he would destroy it.

Sell it. Rip it apart piece by piece.

Everything her grandfather had built... everything her family had bled for... gone.

Over her dead body.

So, yeah—she would fight for it.

With everything she had.

She checked the time. It was late.

And she realized... Jeffrey wasn’t back yet.

Her eyes drifted toward the window, searching for the familiar sound of his worn-down car rumbling up the drive.

He had stayed.

Even when his grandfather had come for him.

Even when he could have left.

There had been no hostility between the two, no dramatic falling-out. Philip Winchester had wanted Jeffrey back, and yet...

Jeffrey had chosen to stay.

Is he staying for me?

The thought made her heart skip a beat.

It was ridiculous, wasn’t it?

But even as she tried to push it aside, a warmth bloomed in her chest, unshakable.

The familiar rumble of his car reached her ears, and before Joanne even realized what she was doing, she was already on the porch.

Her eyes found him instantly as he stepped out of that thing he called a car, the door groaning in protest before he shut it—at an angle, of course, because that was the only way it would close properly.

Her heart clenched.

This was a man who had once grown up with a Rolls-Royce as a spare car. A man whose family owned planes, ships, entire fleets of luxury. And yet, here he was, driving this abomination, this rusted-out relic that looked like it had seen the end of the world and barely lived to tell the tale.

Why was he still here? Why was he still choosing this?

Before she could lose herself in that thought, Jeffrey’s gaze landed on her.

And God, the way his face lit up.

Like she was the best part of his day. Like she was home.

He skipped up the stairs, his boyish grin making her chest tighten, and before she could speak, his arms were around her, pulling her into his warmth.

Joanne melted. Just a little.

"Take the Audi from now on," she murmured, her cheek pressed against his chest.

She barely used the damn thing anyway—her truck was her ride of choice, and the Audi just sat in the garage, gathering dust. But more than that, she refused to let Philip Winchester’s grandson go around town like... like this. Like a man with nothing.

She owed him more than that.

Jeffrey stilled, his arms tightening around her just slightly.

Then, in a voice laced with amusement, he asked, "Are you ashamed that your boyfriend is riding around in a rundown car?"

Her stomach dropped.

His heartbeat thumped steadily beneath her ear, but her own pulse went cold. She pulled back, searching his face, her throat tightening.

"What?" she whispered.

Did he really believe that? That she, of all people, could ever be ashamed of him? She didn’t mind her boyfriend riding that car. Her boyfriend would be hers no matter what. What car he drove meant nothing.

Why did he say that?

For a split second, something unreadable flickered in his gaze.