All Chapters of Don’t Make Me Love You: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Lily’s POVThe interview had gone the way I planned. I answered every question the way a hungry twenty-two-year-old with five degrees was supposed to answer them, humble but precise with numbers, careful not to sound like I already owned half the buildings in this city. Three days later, the email came through. I had the job.Now it was my first morning at Adrian Atelier, and my stomach was in knots that had nothing to do with nerves about the work itself.“Are you sure about this, ma’am?” Charles asked for what felt like the millionth time that morning.I walked out of my room in red pump heels and a fitted black dress that showed off my figure without trying too hard. My fingers brushed through my long black hair, pulling a few strands to the side. I wore Gucci, but nothing from the collections I actually could have afforded ten times over. Charles trailed behind me holding my phone, while one of the housekeepers carried my bag.“For the millionth time, Charles, I know what I’m doing

Lily’s POVTwo weeks passed after that night in the restroom, and if anyone at the office noticed anything different about the way I acted around Adrian, they never said a word about it. On the outside, everything looked the same. I showed up early, worked hard, kept my head down when I needed to. On the inside, I couldn’t stop replaying that night more than I wanted to admit, even to myself.Adrian and I hadn’t spoken about it, not once. We both acted like it never happened, though every so often I caught him watching me a beat too long in meetings, and I knew he felt it too, whatever this thing was that neither of us wanted to name.One afternoon, I was rushing across the lobby with a stack of files in my arms when my heel caught on the edge of the rug. I felt myself falling before I could stop it, but Adrian was closer than I realized, and his arm shot out to catch me before I hit the ground.For a second, neither of us moved. His hand was firm against my waist, and I could feel the

Lily’s POVI woke up to a steady beeping sound I couldn’t place at first. My eyes felt too heavy to open all the way, but I forced them apart slowly and looked around. Strange faces moved back and forth around the room. The air smelled like antiseptic, and that alone told me exactly where I was before anyone said a word.My fingers felt stiff, like they had been asleep longer than the rest of me. I moved them slowly, then pushed myself up with both hands.“How did I get here?” I asked the woman standing near the table, busy arranging small bottles.She turned, a little surprised. “You’re awake,” she said, her voice gentle. “You gave everyone quite a scare.”I waited for more, raising a brow.“Your boyfriend rushed you in,” she said.My face twisted a little. “My boyfriend?”“Yes. Damian Cole,” she said, smiling like that should mean something warm to me.Right. Damian. The word felt strange in my mouth for a second before the memory caught up with me. My sister’s fiancé, back from the

Lily’s POVI was back at the mansion, sitting in bed after showering. Charles had already helped bandage my bruise earlier. Lying back against the pillows, I sighed and traced my hand around my stomach, conflicted about the life growing inside me. I didn’t know what to do. This was my flesh and blood, regardless of who the father was. The first life I’d ever carried. It would be selfish to get rid of it, but keeping it wasn’t the safest choice either. If it turned out to be Adrian’s, how would I deal with birthing a child for the man responsible for everything that had destroyed me? And if it turned out to be Damian’s, this child would grow up without the kind of love it deserved, because I didn’t feel that way about him. Nothing changed the fact that he was once engaged to my dead sister.My phone rang, pulling me out of my thoughts. I grabbed it off the table by my bed. It was Adrian. I thought about ignoring it, but I couldn’t. I was dying to hear his voice.“Lily?”I’d planned t

Adrian’s POVThe drive out of the city took longer than I remembered. I hadn't been out this way in months, not since the last time the reports needed a signature I couldn't be bothered to have someone else provide. I told Ellyn I had somewhere to be. I didn't tell her where, because even I wasn't fully sure why I was going until the buildings thinned out and the road turned to gravel and I recognized the turn without needing to think about it.My phone buzzed twice before I even parked. The first was an email. The second was a call I let ring out because I already knew, from the subject line alone, that it wasn't going to be a conversation I wanted to have standing up.I read the email first.Capital Management Group was requesting an urgent review of the loan terms. Not a renegotiation, a review, which in their language always meant the same thing: they wanted something tightened before they'd admit that's what they were doing. I scrolled down. There it was, buried under three parag