All Chapters of The Wife He Never Learned To Love : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

47 CallsAdrian sat behind his desk, phone pressed to his ear for the twenty-third time. The line rang once, twice, then clicked straight to voicemail. Sophia’s voice filled his ear, calm and polite. The same message he’d heard over and over.He ended the call without leaving one. His thumb hit redial immediately.“Come on, Soph,” he muttered under his breath. “Pick up. Just once.”His assistant, Elena, hovered near the doorway with a tablet in her hands. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, eyes flicking between him and the floor. She’d never seen him like this.Adrian dialed again. Forty-seven times now. He knew the exact count. The phone felt hot in his palm.Voicemail.He slammed the phone down on the desk. It bounced once. “Why won’t she answer?”Elena cleared her throat softly. “Mr. Blackwood… the Nakamura team is waiting in the conference room. Should I push them back another fifteen?”He didn’t look at her. His eyes stayed fixed on the dark screen. “She left this

BlackSophia closed the door behind Daniel, the latch clicking softly. Her phone kept lighting up on the couch with new notifications, but she ignored it. Daniel stood just inside the apartment, hands still in his pockets, eyes flicking toward her laptop where the press conference clip kept playing on low volume.He pulled out his phone, glanced at the screen, and his eyebrows rose. “I saw the tweet on the way over. That took courage, Sophia. And maybe a little recklessness.”She let out a short laugh, surprised at how it sounded almost real. She walked past him to the couch and dropped down, pulling the blanket over her lap again. “Recklessness. Yeah. That feels right. I was sitting here in my pajamas with a glass of wine and… I just hit send. Adrian called it mutual on live TV like I chose this. Like I wasn’t the one waiting alone for five years.”Daniel sat on the other end of the couch, leaving space between them. He turned toward her, one arm resting along the back cushion. “You

731 DaysSophia stepped out the back doors of the Hamptons housed after the last camera flash. The black dress brushed against her legs as she walked down the stone path into the garden. The crew was packing up behind her. Daniel had stepped away to take a call. She needed air. Just a minute alone.Adrian was already there.He stood near the rose bushes, hands in his pockets, staring at the wrapped plants like they held answers. He turned when he heard her heels on the stones. His eyes moved over her again, slower this time.“You stayed,” he said quietly.Sophia stopped a few feet away. She folded her arms across her chest, the black fabric pulling tight. “I needed to walk. Clear my head. Didn’t expect you to still be here.”He took one slow stepped closer. The evening light made shadows under his eyes. “I couldn’t just leave. Not after seeing you in there. In that dress. Looking like… someone who’s already moved on.”She let out a breath and looked away, toward the fountain that wasn

Equal PartnersSophia sat at the small kitchen table, the leather folder open in front of her. Sunlight came through the window and caught on the pages. She rubbed her eyes and picked up her phone.“Mr. Hargrove? It’s Sophia. Can you look at something for me?”Twenty minutes later her lawyer sat across from her in the apartment, flipping through the contract. His eyebrows kept rising higher.“This is… unusually generous,” he said, tapping one page. “Equal partnership. Profit share. No non-compete after the merger. You could walk away with serious money even if things go south.” He looked up at her. “Adrian’s team didn’t have to offer any of this.”Sophia leaned back in her chair, arms folded tight. “That’s what worries me. He’s not doing this just for the company.”Mr. Hargrove closed the folder and slid it toward her. “Legally it’s clean. Smart, even. But personally? Be careful. This gives him daily access to you again.”She nodded slowly, fingers drumming on the table. “I know.”Aft

TouchSophia turned her car around and went back. Her car was still running when she slammed the door shut again and stepped back out. Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Adrian stood exactly where she’d left him, cheek red from the slap, eyes fixed on her as nothing else in the garage existed.She walked right up to him, breathing fast. “You never listen. I said business only. Partners. Nothing more. And you still—”Adrian didn’t move. He didn’t even flinch. His voice came out low and rough. “Hit me again.”Sophia froze. “What?”“Hit me again.” He stepped closer, close enough that she could see the mark her hand had left. “At least then you’re touching me.”The words hit harder than any slap. Sophia stared at him, chest tight. Her eyes burned. She hated how her body still reacted to him being this close, hated the way her hand remembered the feel of his face.“You’re impossible,” she whispered. Her voice cracked.Adrian’s hands stayed at his sides. He didn’t reach for her. “I know. I d