Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Night My Best-Friend Ruined Me: Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

Adrian's POVThe moment the lights went out, I knew something was wrong.I sprang to my feet, my gaze cutting through the chaos.One moment, Aria was on stage, her voice cutting through the tension, her eyes locked on mine. The next, the world dissolved into an inky black void, punctuated by the rising tide of panicked murmurs.I was out of my seat before the emergency lights even had a chance to flicker. Delegates, cameras, the entire carefully orchestrated chaos of the summit—none of it mattered.My only focus was the stage, the last place I'd seen Aria."Adrian!" Julian's voice, loud with urgency, cut through the din from somewhere behind me. I ignored it.Pushing through the suddenly frantic crowd was like swimming upstream in a torrent. Bodies jostled, shouts echoed, and the air grew thick with fear.I moved with a singular, brutal purpose, my elbows out, my shoulders braced, a silent apology on my lips for every person I shoved aside.Aria. Aria. Aria.Her name was a mantra in m

Adrian's POV I waited for ten minutes.Ten whole agonizing, gut-wrenching minutes.After I received Mark's intercom, my racing heart came to a pause and I felt my knees buckle almost bringing me to the ground.She was found, thank goodness.After several deep breaths, I returned his call.“Sir–” I cut him off before he even finished“Where is she?” I demanded.After a seconds pause, the line broke, then I heard her voice, ”Adrian…” she called breathlessly.I found her.“A-are you okay?” I asked, she seemed out of breath as she took a while to respond before she did.“Yes, L-Leo, he's…okay.” She said and a tired small came on my face.“Julian got to him, thank God Mark intercepted me when he did.”After what felt like forever on the opposite line, I had this feeling curl up in my chest that just made me want to hold her tight and never let go.My suit was disheveled, tie askew, probably a button missing somewhere. My face felt like a sheet of ice, pale and clammy. I'd torn through the

Adrian's POVI watched her pace, a restless shadow in the vast, silent penthouse. The awkwardness was a physical thing, like a heavy blanket draped over the room.She was a caged bird, and I was the one who had built the cage, however gilded."I'm not leaving," I'd said, the words forced out of my mouth, though the lie felt necessary, it was a desperate measure to keep her within arm's reach.The security system wasn't solely keyed to my biometrics; Julian's men had already integrated their own protocols, and the building was a fortress regardless.But I couldn't leave…not now.Especially not after what had happened. The thought of her alone, vulnerable, was a cold knot in my gut so I needed to be near her, to see her, to know she was safe.Yes indeed, it was a selfish need, born of a terror that had clawed at my throat when I thought I'd lost her.The guilt that pinched at my skin was a bitter companion.I felt guilt for the danger she was in, for the years of silence, for the pain I

Adrian's POVThe summit venue hummed with nervous energy, a sharp contrast to the quiet domestic scene I had left behind. Every shadow seemed to hold a threat, every unfamiliar face a possible enemy.I couldn't be in the main hall yet. My place was behind the scenes, making sure everything was secure and that the communication lines were protected.I spent the morning in the bowels of the building, a maze of wires and blinking lights, personally overseeing the technical team. My mind raced with calculations, anticipating every possible angle of attack.“Double-check the network integrity,” I barked at a young technician whose face was pale with exhaustion. “Every single port. I want a full scan of all incoming and outgoing traffic. And pay special attention to any unauthorized hardware.”My gut churned with cold certainty.My father wouldn’t simply try to disrupt the presentation. That would be too crude, too obvious. He was a master manipulator, a puppeteer who preferred pulling strin

Adrian's POVThe press conference collapsed into a blur of flashing lights and shouting. The reporters, stunned for a second by my interruption, quickly recovered. Their hunger for a story outweighed any fear of legal threats. Still, I’d bought us a few precious seconds.“This way,” I murmured, keeping my voice low and urgent. My hand found the small of Aria’s back. The touch sparked through me, but I focused on guiding her, making a path through the swarm of bodies. She moved stiffly, precise in every step, but beneath my palm I felt a tremor. Small, barely there, but real. Shock. Fear. The echo of violation.That tremor lit a cold, white-hot rage inside me. My vision narrowed. I wanted to turn and tear them apart with everything I had. Edmund had used her past—our past—as a weapon. That was unforgivable. He had crossed a line I never thought he would cross.I kept moving, a shield between her and the world. Security answered my signal and formed a wedge through the crowd. Aria match