บททั้งหมดของ The Night My Best-Friend Ruined Me: บทที่ 21 - บทที่ 30

Adrian's POVI sat in my office, the only light coming from the wall of monitors displaying the morning news cycles.The image on the main screen was frozen on Aria’s face—sharp, cold, and utterly lethal.The headline scrolling beneath her read: Dr. Vale Disowns Philanthropist Father in Viral Hospital Snub.I played the clip again. And again.I watched the way she stepped back from Benjamin Vale as if his touch were toxic. I heard the way she told him her father died five years ago.It didn't make sense.My father had told me the Vales were the ones pulling the strings. He said Aria was their pawn, a girl sent to infiltrate my life and bleed the Blackwood accounts dry to save her father’s failing foundation.But you don't humiliate your handler on national television.You don't look at the man who is supposedly funding your "spy mission" with that much genuine, bone-deep loathing.If she was a gold-digger, she was doing a hell of a job alienating her primary source of gold.I stood up,

Adrian's POVStepping across the threshold of Aria’s apartment felt like walking into a reality I wasn't supposed to witness.It was a far cry from the sprawling, sterile halls of the Blackwood estate or the glass-and-steel silence of my penthouse.The air here smelled like lavender laundry detergent and something sweet, like apple juice.It was small. Cramped, even. But it was warm in a way that made the hair on my arms stand up.There were colorful magnets on the fridge, a pair of tiny sneakers kicked off near the door, and books—so many books—stacked on every available surface.It was a life. A real, messy, breathing life that had been built without a single brick of Blackwood gold.I felt like a ghost. An intruder in a sanctuary I didn't earn the right to enter."Mr. Tall Man! Look!"Leo scrambled away from Aria, his little legs moving fast as he disappeared into a side room.Aria stood in the center of the living room, her keys still clutched in her hand, her knuckles white."Adr

Adrian’s POVThe drive to my family's estate was long. Torturously long. The thought of returning to a place filled with pretenses and fake smiles made me feel disgustingly nauseous. I finally got there, and pulling up to the front, I realized that the house never did change. It still looked the same way it did when I was 12. Huge. Cold. Grey. And that was exactly why it felt less like a home, and more like a museum for a family name that felt more like a burden every day.Inside, the dining room was freezing. The air-conditioning was blasting, or maybe it was just the atmosphere. My father sat at one end of the long marble table, and Veronica sat at the other. I was stuck in the middle, feeling like a kid again, waiting for the lecture to start."The Thorne-Bio patent is the talk of the town, Adrian," my father began. He didn't even look up from his steak. "The numbers are insane. If we play this right, Blackwood stays on top for the next thirty years.""But the research isn't ev

Adrian’s POVMy phone vibrated against the mahogany surface of my desk, the buzz sounding like a hornet in the silence of the office.It was Elias.I picked up on the first ring, my heart doing a jagged kick against my ribs."Tell me you have the server origin, Elias. Tell me you’ve traced the Paschal link.""It’s not that simple, Adrian," Elias’s voice sounded ragged, like he’d been staring at code for twenty-four hours straight. "These statements... they aren't just good. They’re perfect. The data, time stamps, and connection records are hidden under many secret online layers that were made to be impossible to track."What does that mean for the authentication?""It means I can't prove they’re fake in twenty-four hours. It’s going to take weeks, maybe months, to peel back the proxy servers. Whoever built these had a limitless budget and a high-level security clearance. They didn't just forge a document; they created a digital history."I slammed my fist onto the desk, the vibration

Adrian’s POVThe invitation was sitting on my desk, looking way too expensive for something that was basically an obvious trap.It was heavy, cream-colored, and had the Blackwood crest embossed in gold at the top. It was a charity polo match. Hosted by nobody but my father, of course.See, I spent years under the wings of this man, hence, I knew for a fact that he never does something if it's not going to be beneficial to him. Translation? I knew exactly what he was doing, and this whole thing was a bloody setup. He wanted the press, the cameras, and the whole city to watch as he officially announced my engagement to Lydia Vale.If I didn't go, it would be a scandal. The board would freak out, the stock would drop, and my father would have another reason to call me "unstable" whilst he pulled the rug from underneath my feet. But I also wasn't going to just sit there and be a puppet.I pressed the intercom, my finger lingering on the button. "Mark. Get Dr. Vale up here. Now."Ten m