LOGINThe days continued to pass by peacefully. Work had been going well. At least... mostly. Because lately, something felt off. At first, I didn't think much of it. I was tired and I just blamed it on work. Then I blamed it on wedding planning, then on everything that had happened over the past few months. I thought, after everything, maybe my body was still catching up. That explanation made enough sense for me to ignore it for a while. But then the exhaustion didn't go away. If anything, it became worse. I started feeling tired much more often. The strangest part was how quickly it would hit me. A simple walk from my car to the office building suddenly felt far more exhausting than it should. By lunchtime, I would already be counting down the hours until I could go home. Some evenings I found myself falling asleep on the couch before dinner. It wasn't dramatic enough to truly alarm me. But it was definitely becoming noticeable. I didn't bother telling Adrian anything about it
I turned back around to the island, picking up the carton to securely close the cap. I walked over to the sink, quickly rinsed out the glass I had used, and then walked back to store the orange juice safely back inside the refrigerator, shutting the door. Grabbing a hand towel, I thoroughly dried my hands and turned back to face him. "Alright," I said cheerfully, looping my arm through his. "We can go now." We walked out of the kitchen, ready for the night ahead. When we arrived, there weren't too many people there yet, though a few early guests were just starting to arrive. It was a really nice place with beautiful decorations. We made our way further inside. The moment Shannon saw us, her face lit up. "Amelia, darling! You look absolutely stunning," She exclaimed, stepping forward to wrap me in a warm, tight embrace. She pulled back, her hands resting gently on my shoulders as she beamed at me. "I am so thrilled you both made it." "Happy birthday, Shannon. You look
Almost two months had passed since my return to work and life had settled into something wonderfully normal. Today was Adrian's mom's birthday celebration and she had decided to celebrate the milestone with a gathering of family and friends. I had been ready for almost thirty minutes. I was dressed and had my makeup on already. But because Adrian had mentioned that he had one or two documents to put together in his study, he was not ready yet which was making me become impatient. I glanced at the time on my phone for what felt like the hundredth time before finally giving up and heading upstairs to find him because honestly, how long did it take a man to put on a suit? Stepping into our bedroom, I saw that he was just finally picking up his clothes from the bed. But he was taking his sweet precious time, looking entirely unbothered by the passing time. My eyes narrowed. "Adrian." He looked up. "Yeah?" I pointed dramatically at the clothes in his hands. "Why are you only
Work had gone incredibly well so far these past days. Returning to my office routine had been wonderful. Megan and Casey packed up their things, stopping by my desk one last time. "We're heading out now, Amelia. Don't stay here too long," Megan warned with a playful grin. "I won't," I chuckled. "I'm just going to finish this last report." "Bye..." Casey waved. They left before me, joining the other employees who were already moving toward the elevators. I had decided to add a little more minutes to my time, wanting to tie up every single loose end so that the next morning would be a completely fresh start. The office grew quieter. After a while, when I was finally satisfied with my progress, I shut down my computer, packed my personal stuff into my bag and stood up. I walked out of the department, offering a brief, polite goodbye to the very few colleagues remaining who I passed by on my way out. I stepped out of the main building, ready to walk toward the parking l
The following Monday morning, I stepped into the office building. It really felt good to be back. While walking to my office space, I received warm welcome from my colleagues. Voices called out from different workstations with genuine smiles. The moment I got to my desk Casey and Megan were the rushed over to me with their faces lighting up the second they saw me setting my bag down. "Amelia! You're finally back from your leave!" Megan exclaimed, leaning against the divider of my desk. "The place has been completely chaotic without you." "Seriously," Casey added, offering a bright smile. "We were starting to wonder if you were ever coming back to us. How are you feeling? Are you ready to dive back into office life?" "I am more than ready," I said with a genuine smile breaking across my face. As I exchanged a few more light pleasantries with them, relief settled in my chest because fom the casual nature of their questions, it was obvious that they were completely obliviou
AMELIA I remained curled against Adrian's side. The conversation we'd just had had been emotionally exhausting but healing too. Because now that everything was finally out in the open, the tension that had hung between us for days was gone and I finally had my Adrian back. His fingers lazily stroked my arm as silence settled around us. Then he shifted beside me, moving away to step off the bed. "Give me a second." He walked over where he had dropped his phone earlier, picked it up and walked straight back to the bed. He settled close to my side again. "I want to show you something," he said quietly, unlocking the screen. " I wanted to show you the pictures of them so you can see they are truly behind bars." He scrolled through his device for a short moment before turning the screen toward me. On the display were two separate mugshots. I immediately recognized the first photo, it was the face of the man who had come to the house. But then, Adrian swiped his thumb across
AMELIA With the dinner plates cleared away, Adrian and I left the dining area and slowly walked farther across the yacht together. We walked to the railing at the bow of the yacht. The sky had darkened now. The ocean stretched endlessly around us while the yacht moved smoothly through the wate
At that point, a tear slid down my cheek. The beautiful honesty of his unplanned words melted my heart. I couldn't even properly speak at first, I just nodded. Yes," I finally managed to say. "Yes, Adrian. I'm going to marry you." He smiled brightly and I stood up quickly while he did the same.
ADRIAN The following morning was warm in the best way possible. Amelia and I had just finished breakfast not too long ago and we were stretched out together on an oversized chaise lounge. She was sitting comfortably between my legs, curled against my chest with her back resting flat against m
One thing led to another and we found ourselves in the backseat of Adrian’s car. The door slammed shut and Adrian locked it behind us before I could catch my breath. He pulled me onto his lap immediately with my knees straddling his thighs. My dress was already bunched up around my waist. Hi







