All Chapters of Don’t Make Me Love You: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Lily’s POV Damian's words resurfaced in my head. The part where he said I could have the wristwatch back if I wanted it. I understood, though. I would've said the same thing in his shoes. How bad, or even worse, could he have felt hearing me ask prying questions about a gift my father had meant to give him?Damian ran into me and my family during one of our family outings, a ritual we never missed. I was a baby then, but old enough later to hear the story of how he'd been crying that day, not wanting to go back to the orphanage once it was time for the matrons who'd brought him and the other kids to the park to take them home. My father bought him ice cream and a few toys, and he finally stopped crying long enough to leave with them. The next day, my birthday that year, my father went to the orphanage and adopted him. It must have felt awkward, hurtful even, being questioned about a gift my own father had promised him.I sighed. Damian should be the one I was head over heels for. Thi

Adrian’s POV I was too stunned to ignore the trickle of blood at the corner of my lip, my mind too crowded with everything happening at once. Did she say boyfriend? Damian Cole, Lily Nolan’s boyfriend? No wonder she was in that picture with her, with the mansion strikingly visible. I had begun wondering how she got to live in such a place. I took a look at them once again. I didn’t know what to think, or how to react. I was almost losing it, though what right did I have to? It wasn’t like we’d had a defined relationship from the start. All we’d had was a one-night stand, one we hadn’t even been able to look at each other about since. I never knew this part of her existed, right as I was starting to let myself feel something for her. Now I felt like shit, standing there in front of both of them. I took a few steps back, running my fingers through my hair, trying hard to hold onto my composure. No way was I letting either of them, especially Damian, see how much this affected m

Adrian’s POV I woke up before the alarm went off, and for a moment I just lay there staring at the ceiling. My body felt heavy in a way sleep is supposed to fix and hadn’t. My jaw was still sore. I pressed two fingers against it, testing it the way you test a bruise you already know is there, and then I got up before I could think about it any longer.I skipped the gym, which never happens. But this morning I didn’t have it in me to pretend I could focus on anything physical when my head was already this loud.My chef, Tessa, was in the kitchen when I came down, plating eggs and toast with coffee, the way she did most mornings. She looked up and must have seen something on my face, because she paused with the pan still in her hand.“You didn’t sleep well,” she remarked. It wasn’t a question. She had a habit of speaking to me more casually than every other domestic staff in my house, probably because she was just two years younger than me and of course, had made a move on me in the pa

Lily’s POV I never knew facing Adrian at work would be this nerve-wracking. Fuck, I had done a lot of work holding myself together today, keeping myself under control without blowing my cover.I had planned to make that meeting go against him. And still, my heart skipped a beat the second he walked into the boardroom, ruining every plan I’d made before I’d even opened my mouth. It was getting harder to tell where the mission ended and the wanting began.I wasn’t here for fun. I had to keep reminding myself of that lately, more than I used to. I had tons of men at my feet back in the States as a self-made twenty-two-year-old billionaire whom I could have chosen from if it ever had anything to do with fun.I scoffed as I threw a few work things into my bag, getting ready to leave for the day. It was 4:30 pm, the longest I had ever stayed in his proximity. I usually hated spending this much time here, especially with him always in sight, intentionally and unintentionally trying to get m

Lily’s POV I sat on the edge of my bed, still in my robe, staring at nothing in particular. I was supposed to be getting ready for work. My clothes were already laid out, my heels by the door, everything in place except me. Damian had moved in. I kept turning the thought over like it might feel different the tenth time than it did the first. It made sense on paper. We were official now, and Adrian already knew it, so hiding behind separate addresses would only look strange to anyone paying attention, and even blow my cover about this mansion. But knowing it made sense didn’t stop the tightness sitting in my chest. This house had been mine. My pace, my silence, my space to fall apart in when I needed to and pretend otherwise the rest of the time. Now every hallway had another person moving through it. A knock came at the door, pulling me out of my head. “Come in,” I said, straightening up. Charles stepped inside, a folder tucked under his arm. “Sorry to disturb you, ma’am.