Chapter 408
The words tore from her throat, raw and broken. "It was never about the money, Adrian! It's about how you made me feel."
His voice remained unnervingly calm. "The way I treated you then is exactly how I'll treat you now."
Serena's lips curved into a ghost of a smile that never touched her stormy eyes. Beneath the fragile facade, her gaze shattered like broken glass, the pain radiating through every fractured piece.
"I was your everything once," she whispered, the words barely audible. "Your chosen bride. Am I still that woman?"
A flicker of desperate hope danced in her eyes, fragile as a moth's wing against a hurricane's force.
Adrian hesitated. For the first time, shadows crossed his usually impassive features. His silence spoke volumes.
The air grew thick with unspoken words, and the fragile light in Serena's eyes dimmed to nothing. In a sudden burst of desperation, her fingers clutched at the fine wool of his tailored sleeve.
"Adrian," she begged, her voice trembling like autumn leaves. "Since you reunited with Vivian, I've kept my distance. Not a single call, not one text - I couldn't risk her misunderstanding. I've already lost you... I can't lose my career too."
Tears spilled down her cheeks like liquid silver as she continued, "Vivian only lost a reality show spot. With you behind her, the entire industry will bow at her feet. But for me... this could be the end of everything I've worked for."
There was a time when her tears would have shattered Adrian's resolve instantly. Now, uncertainty flickered across his face as he weighed his words with uncharacteristic caution.
Serena pressed her advantage, her voice softening to a vulnerable whisper. "Maybe... you could keep her identity as Mrs. Blackwood secret? Just to spare me the humiliation? As long as no one knows she's your wife, I won't become the industry's laughingstock."
Adrian's response was carefully measured, his tone deceptively warm. "Serena, you could never be a joke to me. You'll always hold a special place in my life."
Once, those words would have made her feel like the center of his universe. Now they rang hollow, their meaning twisted beyond recognition. To Serena, they sounded less like devotion and more like a carefully constructed lie.
Her gaze drifted past Adrian, locking onto the restaurant entrance where Vivian entered with Ethan. After a weighted pause, Serena spoke with quiet determination. "Help me this one last time, and I'll leave Crestwood by New Year's. I'll return to Azurevale, focus on my treatment, and disappear from your life forever."
Adrian's fingers stilled abruptly, his expression hardening with sudden decision. "Fine."
"I'll make sure Vivian withdraws from that reality show." The private room door swung open at that precise moment, revealing Vivian in the doorway. Her icy gaze pinned Adrian in place. "Since when do you make career decisions for me?"
Adrian turned toward her, his composure cracking as panic flashed in his eyes. "Vivian, what are you doing here?" His accusing glare shifted to Ethan, who stood frozen behind her.
Ethan pressed his lips into a tight line, beads of sweat forming at his temples. How could he have anticipated Serena's sudden appearance here?