Chapter 4: The kiss He Stole

Adrian didn't let go.

His hand was still on Elena's wrist, his body pinning her to the wall in his office. She could hear his heartbeat — fast, angry.

"Let me go," Elena whispered.

"No."

"Adrian, please."

He looked at her lips. Red, shaking. He remembered kissing those lips three years ago in college, behind the library. She was the only woman he ever loved. The only woman who betrayed him.

"You want to know what you did to me that night?" he said, his voice rough. "Three years ago. Graduation night. I came to propose to you. I bought a ring. I went to your dorm. And I saw you... with him. Professor Smith. Kissing him in his car. You sold yourself for grades, Elena."

Elena's eyes widened. "What? No! That's not — I never —"

"Don't lie!" He slammed his fist next to her head. "I saw it! I saw you kiss him!"

"I didn't! Adrian, it was my sister! My twin sister, Emma! She was borrowing my coat! She was dating Professor Smith, not me! I was inside studying! You never waited to check!"

Silence.

Adrian froze. His face changed. Shock. Disbelief.

"Twin sister? You don't have a twin sister."

"I do! Emma Hart! She left town after that! We look identical! Ask anyone! You ruined our relationship for a misunderstanding!"

Adrian stepped back, his hand shaking. He took out his phone, typing fast. "Emma Hart..."

G****e showed it. Emma Hart, student, class of same year. Photos — identical to Elena but with short hair.

He had been wrong. For three years, he hated the wrong girl. He destroyed her family for nothing.

Elena saw his face. "You... you didn't know, did you? You destroyed my life because you thought I cheated?"

Adrian couldn't speak.

Elena slapped him. Hard. Across his perfect face.

"You're a fool! You never trusted me! You never asked! You just decided I was a whore and you spent three years planning revenge on an innocent girl!"

She was crying, hitting his chest. "I loved you! I waited for you that night! You never came!"

Adrian caught her hands. And then — he did something crazy.

He kissed her.

Not soft. Desperate, hungry, guilty, angry kiss. He pushed her back against the wall, kissing her like a man starving for three years.

Elena tried to push him away. But her body remembered him. Her heart remembered him. She kissed him back, crying.

For a minute, there was no contract, no revenge, no lies. Just them.

Then Adrian stopped. He rested his forehead on hers.

"I'm sorry," he whispered for the first time in three years.

Elena pushed him away, wiping her lips. "Sorry is not enough. You owe my family. You owe me a real apology. And you will pay my mother's bills without any contract."

"I will," Adrian said immediately. "I will fix everything. Tomorrow."

"And you will divorce me."

He looked at her, eyes dark. "No. I will never divorce you. Now that I know you are innocent, you are really mine. Not by contract. By love."

Elena ran out of office, up to her room, locking door.

But Adrian stood there, touching his lips where she kissed him. For first time, revenge turned into obsession.

And downstairs, his mother was on phone: "Yes, get me a lawyer. I want to annul that marriage tomorrow. That gold digger slapped my son."