In the name of vows のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 11 - チャプター 20

CHAPTER TWELVE ADRIANS POVThe meeting room is quiet now. Everyone has left except me. I sit at the head of the long end table , my fingers tapping on the desk surface as I stare out the windows. The city is busy with different people and cars moving up and down the road and I just observe this. The sun is setting beyond the city and it makes everything look beautiful. The evening just has a glow just make it all seem perfect.But all I feel is restless Christine’s face keeps flashing before my eyes. The way she glared at me this morning with fire in her eyes as if daring me to push her further.She has no ideaNo idea how deep this goes. No idea how her mere existence does a lot to me I exhale pushing my chair back with a soft scrape against the floor. As I rise I get a hold of my reflection in the glass the Tall, fitted suited every inch the composed CEO. But under I see the truth. The part that no one sees not even Mark.Especially not ChristineI leave the conference room as

CHAPTER FOURTEEN ADRIANS POVI don’t remember falling asleep on the couch.My neck aches when I wake and the morning sun slices through the penthouse windows landing directly on my face. I sit up slowly scrubbing a hand over my jaw. I rake a hand through my hair. My suit Jacket lies on the floor now wrinkled and my tie loose around my neck. The room just feels too big this morning, with every sound echoing but not enough to drown my thoughts.For a moment, I just choose to sit there in the quiet listening to the faint hum of the city below. My chest feels heavy, like there’s a weight placed right on top of it. Maybe there is, maybe it’s her.Christine Paige I sit up while resting my elbow on my knee. I stand slowly stretching my back until it pops. Her face keeps flashing in my mind the way she looked at me yesterday in her office . Tired, angry. Beautiful.She hates me right now. I know thats sure. Maybe she always has, in her own quiet , stubborn way.I get up and walk to the kit

CHAPTER SIXTEENADRIANS POVThe morning is turning out to be a mess.I’ve just left a board meeting the latest company report had everyone on edge. Profits are stable, growth projections solid, but there’s tension in the air , a sense that one mistake could send it all crashing down. I push through the heavy wooden doors of the boardroom.But even as work is gnawing at the edges of my mind , there’s one distraction that I cannot shake off.Her.Christine Paige.No matter how many numbers I review or contracts I draft, her face keeps creeping back in. The stubborn set of her jaw when she argues with me. The vulnerable tremor in her voice when she thinks she’s losing control. The way she looked at me yesterday with so much anger in her eyes and something else too. Something raw that made my heart clench tighter than it should.I grit my teeth as I walk towards the elevators. I don’t have time for this . Not today. Not with the supplier conference in an hour and the board breathing down

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ADRIANS POVI don’t know how long that I sit at my desk after the call ends. The sun is still up high this early afternoon and I have so much contracts to review but all I can hear is the echo of my mother’s words.“You can’t live your life like this forever, Adrian”Her voice was gentle but therewas something in it that scraped at the edges of my chest, something I didn’t want to deal with. Because what does she know ? She lives in her perfect country side cottage with her new husband, her gardens and her quiet life away from the world. She doesn’t understand how it feels like to be here, at the top, where every second of vulnerability is like a weapon is someone’s hands.I lean back in my chair , running a hand over my hair. God I’m tired not physically,but the bone deep exhaustion of knowing that in no way can you let your guard down. Of Always having to think five steps ahead. Of holding so much control over your life that there is no space for anything else.Esp

CHAPTER TWENTY CHRISTINES POVChristine arrived at Dreamspace before sunrise.She sat in her office, the window half open, allowing the morning light to enter into the office. Stacks of reports and proposals were arranged neatly on her desk but yet she could not focus on any words written on them. Her mind was all over the place.“This will only happen on my terms,” she said to herself, reminding herself of the words she had promised herself.A soft knock interrupted her thoughts. Angela walked in holding two steaming cups. Her hair was tied back and she had this her bright smile that she always have on her face every morning. She looked tired but alert.“Good Morning,” Angela said, setting one of the coffee cups on Christine’s desk. “Let me guess, you didn’t go home last night, did you?”“I did,” Christine lied quickly, avoiding the question, taking a sip from her cup of coffee. The warmth of the coffee soothing her throat. But it did nothing for the ache in her chest.Angela sat op