All Chapters of The Girl He Saved, the Woman He Lost: Chapter 11

"No," I said. "I never read it."Adrian watched me for a moment.Then I added, "It doesn't matter now."And maybe it didn't.After the life I had made for myself, the girl I had once been felt far away. Too earnest. Too willing to turn devotion into love.Adrian looked as if he wanted to say more.In the end, he only said, "Wait here."I stepped out onto the landing while he went to his study.A moment later, I heard his wife inside."Lucian Vestri?" she said. "Wasn't he the one who went missing after that family war last winter? I thought everyone assumed he was dead.""Shh," Adrian said.When he came back, he was holding a small leather case.He placed it in my hand without a word.I opened it.Inside lay the missing stone from that old ring.For a second, I couldn't breathe."He found it," Adrian said quietly. "Before you disappeared."I closed the case.It felt heavier than it should have.By the time I got back to the coast, the sky had already gone dark.My house was still the sa