#Chapter 3

When Adeline woke up, her head felt like lead, her mind foggy. Her waist and back ached as if she had fought with someone all night.

With her eyes still closed, she stretched her arms—only to touch warm skin wrapped around a solid body.

Once her eyes opened, she saw a broad-shouldered man lying in bed beside her. The shock woke her up completely, and she shot upright.

The blanket slid off, and her shoulders felt unusually chilly. She looked down and saw her bare skin. Her mind went completely blank as she hurriedly pulled the blanket back around herself.

At the same time, her movements had woken the man up. He slowly turned over, his eyes still hazy with sleep. His lips curved into a slightly devilish smile.

"Morning."

The lazy drawl in his husky voice perfectly matched his relaxed posture.

"Christian Shaw?"

Adeline's eyes widened as she instinctively moved backward.

As her gaze fell on the indifferent expression on her ex's face, she recalled that he had never been the gentle sort of guy. Beneath that cold, restrained exterior of his was an intense possessive streak that had never left.

Christian simply glanced at her before leisurely getting out of bed and wrapping a towel around his waist. The warm, dim light washed over him, accentuating his muscles, all the way down to his abs. Even though he was just standing with a relaxed posture, there was still something dangerously seductive about him.

Adeline looked away, heat rushing to her face. "Why am I here?"

Based on the decor, it was easy enough for her to figure out she was in some luxurious hotel suite.

She remembered she'd gotten drunk last night. After Stanley left her behind, she sat on the curb and tried to get a cab… and her memory blanked out after that.

"You were drunk and refused to go back home. You insisted on staying at a hotel, and you even forced yourself on me," Christian calmly informed her.

He proceeded to plop himself down on the couch and pick up a box of cigarettes. But after pulling one out, he simply toyed with it without lighting it up.

This time, the light only illuminated half his face, keeping the other half shrouded and making his expression impossible to read.

However, his eyes seemed to gleam.

Adeline lifted her head, her gaze sharp. "That's nonsense! I was completely wasted. You clearly took advantage of me."

Her heart sank. She curled into a corner of the bed, her mind all scrambled up. She was getting married in three months, but she'd just woken up in bed with her ex.

Christian looked at her, and for a moment, he couldn't tear his eyes away.

There were crease marks on her face, and her eyes were a little swollen from the booze, but she was still so gorgeous that he couldn't look away.

How many mornings had she woken up, looking like this, before burrowing her way into his arms and refusing to get out of bed?

The thought of Stanley having also seen this side of her filled Christian with an inexplicable sense of irritation.

"Denying all responsibility after getting what you wanted, huh? You're just as heartless as ever, Ms. Wright."

Snorting, he unlocked his phone and played a video before tossing it onto the bed.

In the video, Adeline was clinging to Christian, rubbing her face against his chest. He tried to lean back, but she hooked her arms around his neck and kissed him. When he stepped back, both of them fell onto the bed. She straddled his waist and started reaching for his belt…

Adeline didn't dare keep watching the rest. She knew she was perfectly capable of doing such a thing.

Back in Ellovia, she'd fallen in love with Christian at first sight, drawn to him like a moth to a flame. She became completely infatuated with his face, his scent, his warmth, and his voice.

Time and time again, her heart stirred. In the end, she couldn't resist approaching him. She couldn't fight the desire to make him hers.

Adeline cupped her face, her heart filling with despair. Her cheeks started to burn.

What kind of a man took a video like that? Well, Christian wasn't a gentleman.

She suddenly remembered something and reached for the phone on the bed, but Christian was faster. The phone was already safely in his hand.

"What? You're going to delete the video, then frame me for what happened? Or are you afraid your fiance might see it?"

He waved the phone a little, his shrewd eyes narrowing. His expression was hard to read.

Adeline pulled her hand back and leaned against the pillow, forcing herself to calm down and breathe evenly. She couldn't panic. If she did, she'd be the one at a disadvantage.

"Don't tell me you still have feelings for me, Dr. Shaw. Are you keeping the video as a souvenir for you to look back on?"

She didn't believe he had no ulterior motive for taking that video. If he really wanted to refuse her, he could've pushed her off and left, but he didn't. He even recorded everything.

Nevertheless, after everything, her only option was to just bite the bullet and accept this situation.

"I've got plenty of videos like that—with all kinds of positions and in all sorts of places, from the couch, to the dining room, the bathroom, and even in the car. It's only been three short years, Ms. Wright. Have you forgotten all about it already?"

Christian spoke in a teasing tone as he leisurely spun his phone.

Adeline clenched her jaw, her cheeks turning even redder now.

When an all-consuming passion was involved, people often mistakenly believed that something fleeting would last forever. At its most intense, couples would want nothing more than to become one with the other.

She longed to forget about the past, but she couldn't.

Just then, her phone, which was on the nightstand, started ringing. Stanley was calling. She reached out to take it, but Christian beat her to it. He accepted the call and put it on speaker mode.

Adeline's heart leaped to her throat as she eyed him nervously.

"Wendy felt unwell all night, Addie, so I stayed with her at the hospital. Did you get home okay last night?"

Stanley's voice was a little hoarse. It sounded like he hadn't slept a wink all night.

Adeline felt like she had a fly stuck in her throat. She couldn't swallow it, but she couldn't spit it out either. She'd been flat-out drunk last night. Who knew what might've happened if Christian hadn't found her? The consequences would've been unthinkable.

And yet, because it'd been Christian, the outcome had been just as distressing.

"It's fine. Christian took me home," Adeline replied.

"Christian Shaw? When did you two get so familiar with each other?"

Stanley sounded rather taken aback, which was clearly due to Christian's usual haughty demeanor.

"We're not that familiar with each other," Adeline replied without hesitation.

The Christian Shaw that she knew was just a poor student. She was genuinely unfamiliar with the son of the Shaws of Southcrest.

Christian tightened his grip on the phone, his knuckles turning white. His eyes flashed with mockery before frosting over.

Meanwhile, Stanley was still talking. "Then I should thank him the next time I see him. I was too worried about Wendy last night. Don't be mad. I'll come by the house to pick you up later. We can get out for lunch at noon and shop for your wedding gown in the afternoon."

"Okay," Adeline replied before telling Stanley to end the call.

Her chest felt heavy, as if a boulder were pressing down on it. How was she supposed to face Stanley after this?

Christian tossed the phone back to her, hard enough that it bounced on the blanket.

"Back then, you scorned me for being poor, so you dumped me for Stanley. You started dating him the moment we broke up, and you even got engaged just six months after that. Well, do you regret it, Ms. Wright?"

Having sat back down again, he leaned forward a little and rested his hands on his thighs as he eyed her, his voice mocking when he spoke.

The towel loosened a little, revealing his waistline and the faint scratch marks on his skin.

Adeline stiffened. Her nose prickled, and her swollen lips trembled as well. She lowered her head to hide the emotions swirling in her eyes.

Christian didn't specify what she might be regretting, but she knew what he meant.

She'd chosen to marry a guy who'd get into a fight to defend a woman and leave his inebriated fiancee alone on a street late at night.

If she'd chosen Stanley out of love, she would most definitely be drowning in regret right now. Fortunately, that wasn't the case.

Lifting her eyes once more, she looked at Christian with a steely gaze and said, "I don't regret anything."

She was tempted to add that what she regretted was having been with him for four years—for allowing herself to be tricked the whole time, from the moment they met until the day they broke up.

He wasn't a broke student. He wasn't who he said he was. The only thing that had been real was his name.

That would've been the harsh thing to do.

But alas, Adeline wasn't Christian. She couldn't be this cruel and say such hurtful words.

After a short silence, she smiled faintly. "At least Stanley didn't deceive me by pretending to be poor."