جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 17

Rachel moved into Adrian's apartment three days later.She stood at the door with two suitcases, her eyes faintly rimmed with red. "I don't have anywhere to stay in Norgona. You can't seriously expect me to stay at a hotel, can you?"Adrian remained silent for a moment before stepping aside to let her in. The room he pointed to, however, was not the master bedroom. It was the guest room."The guest room's over there. Stay there tonight."The smile on Rachel's face faltered for a second, but she pretended not to notice. "And you? It's already this late. Are you going out?"Adrian picked up his car keys, his tone unusually flat. "Something came up at the office. Don't wait up."That night, he never went to the office. Instead, he drove to the street below Hayley's previous apartment. He sat in his car for three hours.By the time he returned to the apartment, dawn was just beginning to break.Rachel sat on the couch with untouched takeout spread across the coffee table.She thre

Inside the document folder was not a gift, but a small light blue notebook. The cover was worn, its corners softened by faint creases. I recognized it instantly. It was a wish list I had written years ago.[100 Little Things to Do with Adrian.]Back then, I had always imagined showing it to him someday. Instead, I had left it forgotten on his bookshelf.I stared at the cover, my fingertips lingering for a moment. It turned out I really had loved him that deeply once. Deeply enough that even when he brushed me aside, I still found excuses for him.A note was tucked inside the notebook, written in Adrian's handwriting: [Hayley, I only just found this. I'm sorry. What I owe you is more than just one apology.]I closed the notebook and dropped it straight into the shredder. I did not hesitate as the machine roared to life.As the pages disappeared into the blades, the light blue cover crumpled and tore apart bit by bit.The receptionist standing nearby asked quietly, clearly startle

After the thank-you dinner, Adrian finally stopped pursuing me. He sent no more gifts. He no longer waited outside my building.Kelsey told me he had drunk himself into a stomach hemorrhage that night. When Jeremy rushed him to the hospital, he was still clutching that ring in his hand.After hearing it, I simply replied, "Noted."I no longer had the energy to feel responsible for his pain.…In late spring, headquarters selected my work project for an industry roadshow in Sotherra.When Benedict found out, he took it even more seriously than I did. He helped me polish my presentation and rehearsed it with me over and over, carefully timing every section.By the third run-through, even I was getting a little tired of it. But he remained on the couch, watching with the same patient focus."On the last slide, you can slow down just a little. That's your strongest point. There's no need to rush through it."I looked at him and smiled. "Doesn't this bore you?"Benedict smiled bac