STEP ASIDE EX-HUSBAND: THE RISE OF LIANA의 모든 챕터: 챕터 231 - 챕터 240

Adrian’s POVThe day had started with a sense of foreboding that I couldn’t shake. Even the city seemed heavier this morning, its usual hum weighed down by the storm brewing inside me. From the moment I walked into the office, I knew Isabella would be there leaning against a desk, smirking like she owned the building. And, as always, she did.I tried to focus on the reports waiting for me, the endless meetings, the financial forecasts that required my attention. But she was impossible to ignore. Every glance, every subtle shift of her posture seemed designed to provoke me. I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to concentrate.By mid-morning, it became clear that the tension was mutual. We were assigned to work on a critical client pitch together, and my parents had insisted that Isabella take a lead role something I had reluctantly agreed to. I wasn’t sure whether they were testing my patience or trying to orchestrate something entirely different, but I wasn’t going to be easy to manipula

Adrian’s POVThe morning light barely reached my office when I arrived, though the tension from yesterday’s encounter with Isabella hadn’t dissipated. In fact, it seemed to have multiplied overnight, like a storm quietly brewing behind my ribs. I thought I could prepare myself, that I could walk in and act as if nothing had happened, but that illusion shattered the moment I saw her.She was already at her desk, the very picture of calm elegance, her posture perfect, her expression unreadable. I couldn’t deny it she looked stunning, and every inch of her presence seemed calculated to test my resolve. The faintest smirk tugged at the corners of her lips when she noticed me.I swallowed the sudden tightness in my throat and forced myself to focus on the papers in my hands. Business first, I reminded myself. Personal feelings were dangerous, and I wasn’t about to let them compromise me especially not now.But Isabella, of course, wasn’t going to make it easy.As soon as the team began fil

Adrian’s POVThe day started with the usual hum of activity, but the tension in the office was almost tangible, a static electricity that seemed to hang in the air. Ever since yesterday’s near-conflict, I couldn’t stop thinking about Isabella. Her boldness, the way she dared to test me, lingered in my mind like a persistent shadow. I arrived early, hoping to get a head start on the day’s workload, but even the quiet of the office didn’t calm my thoughts.Isabella was already there, as if she had some unspoken radar that always made her appear just when she was needed or maybe just when she wanted. She was leaning against her desk, arms crossed, smirking in that infuriatingly confident way of hers.I ignored her and went straight to my office, pretending not to notice the deliberate flick of her hair in my direction. I could feel her eyes on me, the gaze heavy and deliberate, as though she were challenging me to look back.The morning passed in a blur of emails, phone calls, and report

Adrian’s POVThe weekend should have been a reset. That was always the plan. Two days away from the office, away from her, away from the constant undercurrent that had begun to poison my focus. I filled my Saturday with obligations I had been postponing for weeks. Meetings with investors. A late lunch with my parents. An evening dinner I barely tasted.None of it worked.She followed me in quieter ways now, slipping into my thoughts when there was no reason for her to be there. A comment she made. The look in her eyes when she thought she had cornered me. The way she never flinched, never retreated, never apologized for wanting more than she was offered.By Sunday night, I was restless enough to admit it to myself.This wasn’t attraction alone. I’d dealt with that before. This was irritation tangled with curiosity, power tangled with challenge. Isabella didn’t want me in the way women usually did. She didn’t wait. She didn’t soften herself. She stood her ground and dared me to move.M

Adrian’s POVCamilla moved into my space with an ease that reminded me just how much of her life had once been intertwined with mine. Her clothes appeared in my closet. Her books found their way onto my shelves. Her presence filled the apartment in ways that felt both comforting and intrusive. I hadn’t realized how much solitude I had carved out for myself until it was gone.She noticed everything.The way I checked my phone more often. The way my attention drifted when she spoke about plans that assumed permanence. The way my nights were restless, my sleep fractured.“You’re not fully here,” she said one evening as we sat across from each other, half finished plates between us.“I am,” I replied automatically.She tilted her head. “You’re physically present. That’s not the same thing.”I didn’t argue. Arguing would have required certainty, and that was something I was running dangerously low on.At the office, Isabella maintained her distance with surgical precision. She spoke only w