ADRIAN’S POV
The night air outside was cold, but not colder than the silence I carried with me.
I stood outside, near the balcony that overlooked the front of the house, letting the soft wind slap against my face. My hands gripped the rail tightly as if it could ground me, but not even steel could hold me down tonight. My chest still rose and fell faster than normal. My heart wasn’t racing because of lust
orexcitement.
It was guilt.
Because I let her touch me. Because for one brief, fleeting moment, I had pretended someone else was her. Olivia. And because for the first time since! killed her adoptive parents, I truly questioned if I was losing my mind.
I hadn’t meant for it to go that far. When Dora touched me, I had planned to shove her away. I didn’t want her. But I saw Olivia. Her face. Her scent. Her
voice.
And I let myself slip.
I hated myself for it.
The door behind me creaked open. I didn’t turn to look. I knew it was her.
“Adrian,” Dora’s soft voice called.
“Not now,” I said firmly.
She stepped closer. I could feel her behind me. Still wearing that red dress. Still desperate for validation I had no interest in giving her.
“Did I do something wrong?” she asked, her voice laced with confusion, maybe a bit of hurt. But not regret. No, she had planned that seduction.
I sighed, dragging a hand over my face. “You didn’t do anything I didn’t expect.”
“Then why did you leave?” Her tone shifted slightly. Defensive. “We were finally connecting.”
I turned now, looking her dead in the eye. “We weren’t connecting. You were playing a role, and I was desperate enough to fall into the illusion. That’s not a connection, Dora. That’s manipulation.”
Her eyes narrowed, and for the first time, the mask cracked. “So what, you want me to just sit here and do nothing? I’m trying, Adrian. I’m trying to be here for you, give you what you need…”
“What I need died months ago,” I snapped.
The words landed like a slap. Her face paled. Silence settled between us,
I didn’t feel sorry.
She turned away, arms crossed. “You keep living in the past, you know that? You keep chasing ghosts, Adrian.”
“And you keep pretending like you’re not trying to become one,” I said. “You’re trying to crawl into a space that isn’t yours.”
She said nothing.
I pushed past her and walked into the room. The clock ticked on the wall. Past midnight. A new day had started, but nothing
…fferent.
I opened the drawer near my bed and pulled out a small black notebook. Since I basically had no one else to speak to, I’ve been jotting some things
down as of recent
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EU 40 UUTE
Chapter 162
I sat down and flipped through it. My finger hovered over the pages filled with scribbled memories and revenge notes. Everything had led me here. Everything I did was for her. For my mother. For the pain they caused.
So why the hell did I still feel hollow?
Behind me, Dora was still standing, watching me from the doorway.
“Why are you still here?” I asked without looking up.
“Because,” she said, “I think there’s still something left in you worth reaching.”
I scoffed. “You’re not the one who gets to decide that.”
She took a tentative step forward. “Maybe not. But I won’t stop trying.”
“Then you’ll keep getting disappointed.”
I stood, placing the notebook back in the drawer.
“We leave for the North Estate tomorrow,” I told her. “Pack light. We’re not staying long.”
“Why? What’s at the North Estate?”
“Business. And the past.”
My thumb hovered above the screen. The words stared back at me, cold and final. Another mess buried, Another secret wrapped in shadows.
Exhaling slowly, I dragged my palm over my jaw. The air in the room was stale, still. Not a clock ticking, not a single hum shadows seemed to be holding their breath.
the fridge, Even the
Outside, thunder rumbled, low and distant like a warning. The sky beyond the curtains had turned an ashen gray, the edges of the world trembling with
The storm was coming,
But somehow… I knew that wasn’t the storm I had to fear.
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