Bored of You

Adrian had imagined seeing Elena again a hundred different ways.

In some versions, he ignored her.

In others, he demanded answers.

Sometimes he imagined looking at her and feeling absolutely nothing.

That had been his favorite.

The fantasy in which Elena Laurent Vale walked into a room and his heart no longer remembered her.

Tonight proved how badly he had lied to himself.

She was standing in front of him.

And he still loved her.

God, he hated her for that.

Elena had arrived at Vale Corporation shortly after nine.

No appointment.

No warning.

Just Elena.

By then, most of the building had emptied.

The executive floor was quiet, the lights dimmed beyond Adrian's office, the city glowing through walls of glass.

Adrian had been alone when Claire called.

"Elena Vale is downstairs."

His hand had tightened around his phone.

"Send her away."

A pause.

"She says it's important."

"I don't care."

"Adrian—"

"Send her away."

Another pause.

Then Claire said quietly,

"She's already in the elevator."

Of course she was.

Because Elena had never waited for permission to enter anywhere.

Not even his life.

Three minutes later, the elevator doors opened.

Adrian watched her walk toward his office.

Black dress.

Dark coat.

Hair falling neatly over her shoulders.

Perfect posture.

Perfect expression.

Perfect Elena.

She looked exactly as she had when they were married.

And nothing like the woman he remembered.

She entered without knocking.

Adrian remained behind his desk.

"What do you want?"

Elena closed the door.

"To talk."

He laughed once.

Coldly.

"Now?"

"Yes."

"Six months too late."

Her expression didn't change.

"Probably."

That irritated him immediately.

Everything about her calm irritated him.

The way she stood there.

The way she looked at him.

The complete absence of emotion in her voice.

"Say whatever you came to say and leave."

Elena looked toward his desk.

Her eyes stopped.

The wedding invitation was there.

Adrian noticed.

"So that's why you're here?"

"No."

"You wanted to make sure I received it?"

"I know you received it."

"Congratulations."

His voice was bitter.

"I hope husband number two enjoys surprises."

Something moved behind her eyes.

Gone almost immediately.

Adrian missed it.

Elena took another step into the office.

"You've been asking questions again."

Adrian's expression changed.

"So that's why you're here."

"I told you to stop."

"You don't tell me what to do anymore."

"Adrian."

"No."

His voice sharpened.

"You don't get to walk into my office after six months and give me instructions."

Elena remained silent.

He came around the desk.

"Who told you?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

"That's exactly the problem."

He stared at her.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you don't know when to leave something alone."

Something inside him twisted.

"Leave something alone?"

"Yes."

"Our marriage?"

Elena said nothing.

"Is that what you're talking about?"

"Partly."

Adrian laughed again.

But there was no amusement left in him.

"Unbelievable."

He walked away from her.

For months he had wondered what he would say if he ever had the opportunity.

Now every question arrived at once.

Marcus.

The hotel.

The photograph.

September 14.

Julian.

Nathaniel.

The wedding.

Her sudden coldness.

Every unanswered phone call.

Every night he had stared at the empty side of their bed.

Every morning he had woken for half a second believing she was still there.

"Why?"

Elena watched him.

Adrian turned.

"Why, Elena?"

"You already know."

"No."

"You do."

"No, I know what you did."

His voice rose.

"I don't know why."

"I told you."

"You told me you wanted to."

"Yes."

"That's not an answer!"

The words exploded through the office.

Elena didn't flinch.

Adrian did.

Because he almost never shouted.

Especially not at her.

But something had cracked.

Months of restraint.

Months of pretending.

Months of walking into conference rooms and negotiating billion-pound contracts as though he hadn't gone home every night to a house that still contained traces of his wife.

Her perfume had remained in their bedroom for weeks.

He had hated it.

He had hated himself more for refusing to move the bottle.

"You were my wife."

"I know."

"I trusted you."

"I know."

"I loved you."

"I know."

"Stop saying that!"

For the first time, Elena looked startled.

Adrian stepped toward her.

"You don't know."

His voice broke.

"You don't know what you did to me."

Elena's expression became unreadable.

"You left," Adrian continued. "You destroyed everything and then you left me with nothing except that damned sentence."

He looked directly into her eyes.

"It was my choice."

Elena's face remained still.

"You said it like that explained everything."

"It should have."

"It explained nothing!"

Adrian's hands curled into fists.

"I spent months trying to understand you."

"That was your mistake."

"I thought someone threatened you."

"No."

"I thought Marcus had something on you."

"He didn't."

"I thought there had to be something I didn't know."

"There wasn't."

"I thought..."

His voice disappeared.

Elena waited.

Adrian swallowed.

When he spoke again, the anger was gone.

And somehow that was worse.

"I thought the woman I married couldn't have done that to me for nothing."

Something flickered across Elena's face.

Barely there.

Adrian stared at her.

"You used to love me."

Silence.

"Didn't you?"

Elena looked away.

That small movement destroyed him.

"Elena."

She said nothing.

"Look at me."

Slowly, she did.

And Adrian saw the woman he had married.

Not the cold stranger standing before him.

The woman who used to steal his coffee despite insisting she hated it.

The woman who fell asleep during films and denied it the next morning.

The woman who once waited four hours in an airport because his flight had been delayed.

The woman who stood beside him at their wedding and looked at him as though she had chosen him above everything else.

He remembered all of it.

Every stupid, ordinary thing.

And suddenly—

He couldn't breathe.

Adrian turned away.

His chest tightened.

No.

Not here.

Not in front of her.

He pressed a hand against the desk.

"Adrian?"

He hated the sound of his name in her voice.

"Don't."

Elena went quiet.

He closed his eyes.

It didn't help.

Six months.

He had not cried.

Not when she admitted the affair.

Not when she left.

Not when their lawyers began discussing separation.

Not when he removed his wedding ring.

Not when he spent the first night alone in their house.

He had simply worked.

And worked.

And worked.

Because work didn't ask why his wife stopped loving him.

But Elena was here now.

Close enough to touch.

And suddenly Adrian couldn't pretend anymore.

He turned.

Crossed the distance between them.

And pulled her into his arms.

Elena froze.

So did Adrian.

For half a second, he seemed shocked by what he had done.

Then his control shattered.

His arms tightened around her.

He buried his face against her shoulder.

And Adrian Vale cried.

Silently at first.

One broken breath.

Then another.

He hated every second of it.

Hated that she could feel him shaking.

Hated that this woman still had the power to reduce him to this.

Hated that some part of him remembered exactly how she felt in his arms.

"I loved you."

His voice was barely recognizable.

Elena didn't move.

Adrian held her tighter.

"I loved you more than anything."

Nothing.

"You knew that."

His breathing broke.

"You knew."

Elena's arms remained at her sides.

She did not hold him.

Did not touch his back.

Did not whisper his name.

Did not comfort him.

She simply stood there.

And slowly—

Adrian realized it.

His tears stopped.

He lifted his head.

Elena was staring past him.

Her face calm.

Her hands motionless.

As though she were waiting for him to finish.

Adrian released her.

He stepped backward.

The humiliation was immediate.

"God."

He wiped his face roughly.

"What am I doing?"

Elena said nothing.

Adrian laughed bitterly.

"I don't even recognize myself around you anymore."

"You should let this go."

His head lifted.

"What?"

"Us."

Something inside him went very still.

Elena straightened her coat.

"You've been investigating."

Adrian stared at her.

"Stop."

"Why?"

"Because there's nothing to find."

"You don't know what I've found."

"It doesn't matter."

"Then why are you here?"

Elena hesitated.

Only for a second.

"Because this needs to end."

Adrian stepped closer.

"What needs to end?"

"This obsession with finding another explanation."

He stared.

Elena continued.

"You keep looking because you want there to be some reason that makes what happened easier."

"Don't."

"There isn't one."

"Elena."

"No conspiracy."

Her voice was calm.

"No secret explanation. No hidden reason that changes what I did."

Adrian's jaw tightened.

"Then tell me."

"I already did."

"Tell me again."

She looked at him.

He could see his own heartbreak reflected nowhere in her expression.

"Why?"

Elena was silent.

"Why did you sleep with him?"

Her fingers tightened around the edge of her coat.

Adrian didn't notice.

"Tell me."

Elena looked away for the briefest moment.

Then back.

And when she spoke, her voice was perfectly controlled.

"Because I was bored."

Silence.

Adrian stared at her.

"What?"

"I was bored of you."

The words were quiet.

Almost casual.

And devastating.

Adrian didn't move.

Elena continued before he could speak.

"Our marriage had become predictable."

Her nails pressed into her palm.

"You worked. We attended dinners. We traveled. We came home. We repeated it."

Adrian's face slowly changed.

Elena kept going.

"I knew what you were going to say before you said it. I knew where we'd spend Christmas. I knew which restaurant you'd book for our anniversary."

"Stop."

"I knew exactly what the next year would look like."

"Stop."

"I wanted something different."

"Stop."

"So I took it."

"STOP!"

His voice thundered through the office.

Elena went silent.

Adrian stared at her as though he had never seen her before.

"You were bored?"

Elena said nothing.

"Bored?"

His laugh was broken.

"That's it?"

"Yes."

"Everything we had..."

He pointed between them.

"Everything we built..."

His voice cracked again.

"And you threw it away because you were bored?"

Elena's face remained expressionless.

"Yes."

Adrian shook his head.

"No."

Elena said nothing.

"No, because I remember you."

"People change."

"I remember the woman I married."

"Then remember her."

Her voice turned colder.

"Because she doesn't exist anymore."

That did it.

Something inside Adrian broke completely.

"Do you have any idea how much I loved you?"

His voice shook with fury.

"I would have given you anything."

Elena remained still.

"Anything!"

He struck his hand against the desk.

"You wanted another life? You could have told me."

Silence.

"You wanted to travel? Leave London? Sell everything? Start over?"

He laughed bitterly.

"I would have done it."

His eyes burned.

"God, Elena, I would have followed you anywhere."

Her expression almost changed.

Almost.

But Adrian was too angry to see it.

"You didn't even give me a chance."

His voice lowered.

"You just destroyed me."

Elena swallowed.

Adrian continued.

"I spent six months wondering what I missed."

He stepped toward her.

"What sign I ignored."

Another step.

"What I did wrong."

"Adrian—"

"I blamed myself."

That silenced her.

"I wondered if I worked too much. If I stopped paying attention. If I made you lonely."

His eyes were wet again.

"I replayed our entire marriage trying to find the moment I lost you."

Elena looked away.

"And all this time..."

Adrian laughed.

"You were bored."

Elena's hand tightened.

"Yes."

Adrian stared at her.

Then something changed.

The anger disappeared.

So did the grief.

What remained was exhaustion.

Pure exhaustion.

"Okay."

Elena looked at him.

Adrian nodded slowly.

"Okay."

Something uncertain appeared in her eyes.

Perhaps she hadn't expected that.

He wiped the last trace of tears from his face.

"I'm done."

Elena said nothing.

"You wanted me to stop looking?"

He walked toward his desk.

"Fine."

He picked up his phone.

"No more investigators."

Elena watched him.

"No more photographs."

He deleted the last message without opening it.

"No more asking Julian questions."

Her expression shifted at the name.

Adrian didn't notice.

"No more trying to understand September fourteenth."

Her fingers tightened.

"No more wondering whether there was something you weren't telling me."

He looked at her.

"You win."

Something flashed across Elena's face.

Pain.

Gone instantly.

Adrian continued.

"I believe you."

For the first time that night, Elena seemed to stop breathing.

"You were bored."

Silence.

"You wanted another man."

Elena's jaw tightened.

"And our marriage meant less to you than it did to me."

She said nothing.

Adrian nodded.

"Fine."

He looked at her for a long moment.

Then he said the words he had never truly been able to say.

"I never want to see you again."

Elena went completely still.

Adrian's voice remained quiet.

But every word landed harder than shouting.

"Stay out of my office."

Silence.

"Stay out of my company."

Elena stared at him.

"Stay out of my life."

Her lips parted.

Nothing came out.

"If you're getting married, get married."

Adrian looked at the invitation on his desk.

"I won't be there."

Something in Elena's face cracked.

Only for a heartbeat.

Then the mask returned.

"All right."

Those two words hurt him more than they should have.

Of course.

Of course she would accept it easily.

Adrian looked away.

"Leave."

Elena didn't move.

"Please."

His voice broke on the word.

He hated that too.

"Just leave me alone."

Silence.

Then Elena turned.

She walked toward the door.

Her hand reached the handle.

Adrian didn't look at her.

If he did, he wasn't sure he would survive another second of this.

The door opened.

"Adrian."

He closed his eyes.

"Don't."

A pause.

Then Elena said quietly,

"Goodbye."

The door closed.

Adrian remained standing.

Alone.

Again.

He stared at the place where she had been.

Then slowly sat behind his desk.

He removed his wedding ring from the drawer.

The ring he had refused to throw away.

For months, he had kept it hidden.

Tonight, he placed it beside Elena's invitation.

He looked at both.

Then closed the drawer.

And locked it.

This time—

he didn't look back.

---

Elena reached the elevator.

The doors opened.

She stepped inside.

Pressed the ground-floor button.

The doors closed.

Her reflection stared back at her from the polished metal.

Elegant.

Calm.

Untouched.

Exactly as she had intended.

The elevator began descending.

Forty-seven.

Forty-six.

Forty-five.

Elena didn't move.

Forty-four.

Her breathing changed.

Forty-three.

Her hand curled into a fist.

Forty-two.

Her nails dug so deeply into her palm that they left small crescent marks.

Forty-one.

She closed her eyes.

I never want to see you again.

Her lips trembled.

Elena immediately pressed them together.

Thirty-nine.

Thirty-eight.

Thirty-seven.

Only when she was certain Adrian could no longer see her did Elena finally let herself lean against the elevator wall.

One tear escaped.

She wiped it away immediately.

"No."

Her voice was barely a whisper.

She straightened.

By the time the elevator reached the lobby, Elena Laurent Vale looked perfect again.

Cold.

Composed.

Untouchable.

She walked through the empty lobby without looking back.

Outside, a black car waited.

Elena entered.

The driver pulled away from Vale Corporation.

For several minutes, she said nothing.

Then she opened her handbag.

Inside was a folded piece of paper.

Elena stared at it.

She did not unfold it.

She didn't need to.

She already knew every word written there.

Her phone vibrated.

One message.

Did he believe you?

Elena stared at the screen.

Her thumb hovered over the keyboard.

For one terrible second, her expression crumbled.

Then she typed only one word.

Yes.

A response arrived almost immediately.

Good. Then he'll stop looking.

Elena closed her eyes.

Adrian's broken voice returned to her.

I would have followed you anywhere.

Her grip tightened around the phone.

Another message appeared.

This is what you wanted.

Elena stared at it.

A long time passed.

Then she looked through the rear window.

Vale Corporation was disappearing behind them.

She whispered so quietly that even the driver couldn't hear her.

"No."

Her eyes filled again.

"This is what I needed."

And in her handbag, beneath the folded paper she refused to look at, lay a photograph dated September 14.

On the back, written in Nathaniel Cross's handwriting, were five words.

If Adrian knows, he dies.