Chapter 128

Vivian was about to slip away when Adrian's sharp eyes caught her movement. He abruptly ended his phone call and closed the distance between them in three long strides. His arm shot out, blocking her path like an iron bar. "Stop."

With reluctant steps, Vivian froze, lifting her tired eyes to meet his piercing gaze. She wondered bitterly if fate was playing cruel jokes or if Adrian had become her personal shadow. There was a time she'd counted hours between their rare encounters. Now, no matter how hard she tried to avoid him, he materialized like clockwork.

"Grandmother's birthday is on the thirtieth. You're coming with me," he declared, his voice flat and emotionless as if reading a business memo.

"That's not happening," Vivian countered softly but firmly. "I already explained about our divorce during my last visit. Pretending we're still a happy couple would be cruel. Though I'll send my own gift—"

Adrian's expression turned glacial. "Why involve Grandmother in our private matters?"

She studied him, sorrow pooling in her eyes. "A divorce isn't some minor disagreement, Adrian. It's life-altering. Shouldn't family know the truth about something this important?"

His voice dropped to subzero temperatures. "No papers have been signed. Do you expect the world to revolve around your sudden whims?"

"Whims?" Vivian's voice cracked with frustration. "This divorce is happening—today, tomorrow, next month. The only difference is how many more lies we'll have to tell before then."

The emotional weight pressed down on her shoulders. Building this marriage had been a battle; ending it proved equally exhausting.

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She knew Adrian wasn't truly resisting the divorce or misunderstanding her motives. What he couldn't accept was losing control of the situation.

Adrian's dark eyes bored into hers. "Why this insistence on divorce? If it's still about the fire incident, I've apologized repeatedly. How long will you punish me for one mistake?"

Despair flooded Vivian's veins. He always reduced their crumbling marriage to that single incident. As if their relationship wasn't already hollow—haunted by another woman's ghost—yet he kept pretending they could paper over the cracks.

Too drained to argue, Vivian looked away in silence.

Suddenly, realization flashed across Adrian's face. He braced both hands against the wall behind her, caging her in. His voice turned dangerously quiet. "Tell me the truth—is there someone else?"

Vivian's lips parted in shock before twisting into a bitter smile. "Unlike you, I don't make a habit of emotional betrayals."

Adrian's control shattered. "Stop dodging! Just answer the damn question!"

"What the hell are you—"