All Chapters of A Deal With Desire: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

“Just put your feet up and rest” That's what the doctor said. Adele paced up and down in the kitchen. The sunlight spilled through the windows, illuminating her olive skin. She pulled open the fridge doors and scowled at the contents. She took a bottle of water and shut the fridge, her hand lingering on the handle. Ronnie's perfume still hung in the air. Julian will be home soon. She had tried to convince Ronnie to stay for dinner, but that didn't go to plan. Ronnie had a date, or so she said. Adele felt it was because of Julian. Ronnie couldn't stand him. Adele didn't know if she should try to change her mind. She barely knew the man. She also wasn't planning on sticking around long enough to know him. Yet as her mind echoed those words, she felt a little tug in her gut. What could it possibly be? She told herself she wasn't in love with this man. She just felt sorry the other night. She decided to cook for him. A little “Thank you, I'm sorry” present, then they'll

ADELE'S POV Pain has a way of silencing everything–except the voices in my head.My eyes stayed fixated on the side mirror as we drove past the big black gates. Celeste’s car stalked us down the street, horn blaring like a war cry whenever Julian slowed to look at me.He muttered my name softly and reached out to hold my hand, but I shrugged it off, keeping my focus on the side mirror. He sighed in defeat and parked in the driveway, leaving no room for Celeste. Celeste. I could still feel her fingers on my scalp, pulling me. Destroying me.He let her touch me.He stood there and watched.Now he wants to hold my hand?I should’ve let her rip me bald.I opened the passenger door before he could and hopped down. The house loomed over me ominously. My vision blurred and my knees weakened. A wave of nausea swept over me but I steeled myself and put one foot in front of the other. 'Don't let them see your shame, Ads. You're miserable enough as it is.' I chided myself.Julian hovered

ADELE'S POV Since Celeste moved in, the house hasn’t just changed. It’s stopped breathing.Silence fills every room like smoke. I drift through it like a ghost, forgotten and fading.The untouched breakfast tray on my nightstand is starting to smell.I haven’t eaten in two days. I haven’t cried either.I just... stopped. The days bled into the night, and I hated that I missed him.Julian. The man who shattered everything but still felt like safety.I still searched for his shadow in every creak.God! What does that say about me, craving comfort from the man who shattered me?”He brought her back, not because he loved her, but because he didn’t trust me.And worse? He didn’t ask. He just did it. Like I wasn’t even there.I'm trapped here. My days are punctuated by bed rotting and doom scrolling on tiktok. I need to get out, but not with Celeste pacing the halls like a lioness guarding her stolen kingdom.Julian vanished into boardrooms and late night meetings, leaving his chaos be

ADELE'S POV Muffled noises. Blinding lights. Fire. It was everywhere. In my room, I was drowning in smoke. It wasn't real, yet it felt real.My eyes burned and I coughed violently. I flung the window open, head out, gasping. My eyes darted around. The jump was too far down. Flames licked at my nightdress and I yelped. I climbed out the window and stood on tiptoes on the window pane. It cracked under my weight. I panicked and turned, and I saw it. A figure with no face. Rushing towards me, arms outstretched. It shoved me off the window and I hung weightless in the air for a second, then I fell.I tried to scream, but no sound escaped my throat.All of a sudden it was dark. Fear crept up my spine. I'm trapped here. Trapped forever. And then I heard his voice, pulling me back. My Julian. ******Adele's eyes fluttered open like a fragile moth’s wings. The steady beep of machines serenaded her. She tried to sit up and grimaced as a wave of pain and nausea swept over her. Everything

ADELE'S POVJulian is snoring. I want to place my pillow on his face and press down.I peel my sleeping mask off and make out his silhouette in the darkness. He lay curled up like a fetus. I want to wake him up, but that'll be unfair. He had a long couple of weeks–getting brutally mauled by me in a sleepwalking episode, almost blinded by Celeste. I'll let him snore just a little more. I twisted my body to the side and fluffed a duvet over him, tucking him in at the chin.My chest burned as I pulled myself up and I panted softly for a few seconds. My head throbbed steadily and my vision blurred as I buried myself in my pillows. I felt a tad guilty for taking Julian's bed. It's not that I don't want to rest my head on his perfect chest and have him lull me to sleep. So much has happened but so little has changed. I signed a contract with strict rules. No matter what happens, this will end in two years. I'm not strong enough to keep my heart on ice for that long. Julian makes it so