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9 Kapitel

Chapter 1

"Looks like fate is finally giving you two a chance to make up for lost time," someone called out. "Vivian and Julian, a couple for the day. Perfect.""Seriously. Vivian has everything going for her and hasn't dated anyone publicly in years. Don't tell me she's been carrying a torch for somebody this whole time."Eyes moved back and forth between Vivian and Julian Rourke, thick with implication.Julian's ears turned red. He gave Vivian an embarrassed little nudge, but she only smiled.She neither confirmed nor denied anything."Enough," she said lightly. "It was all in the past."Then she added, "I couldn't really identify most of the scents. I picked Julian because he still uses the same clean soap he used in school. Otherwise I might have bumped into someone else here and offended them. I'd never live that down."The room erupted in knowing laughter.I laughed too.It was a quiet laugh, but it burned behind my eyes.I couldn't even name what I was feeling anymore. My chest

Chapter 2

"What? Adrian, you've been hiding that well. If you're already getting engaged, why are you even at a singles game?""Who is she? When did you decide this? How did nobody hear a thing?""Just now," I said.My phone started vibrating in my pocket, again and again. It was Vivian.Adrian, what are you doing?I know hugging Julian was wrong, but I couldn't just refuse to play. Tristan is getting married in two days. How humiliating would that have been for him?Be reasonable. I told you I'm going to marry you. When I do, I'll make sure everyone knows exactly who my husband is.I turned my phone face down and ignored every message.Across the room, Vivian looked at me.Then, almost defiantly, she tightened her arm around Julian and pulled him a little closer.Somebody whistled."If you're a couple for the day, you should kiss.""Kiss! Kiss!"The crowd pushed them together.Julian ended up with both arms around Vivian's waist. A blush spread across his handsome face."Stop it,

Chapter 3

"She's here? Who?"The room exploded into speculation.People started looking around, trying to guess which woman I meant.Vivian, strangely, seemed to relax.But the next thing someone said made her tense up again.Then someone laughed and said, "You two really are alike. Both of you drop bombs without warning."Another guest added, "If Julian hadn't gone overseas and Vivian hadn't gotten drunk over him afterward, none of us would have known she'd been secretly in love with him for three years."The mood shifted.For once, Vivian explained herself loudly enough for everyone to hear."It's all in the past. Stop making something out of nothing."But as she spoke, her eyes cut through the crowd and landed directly on me.She looked nervous.I didn't care anymore.How much had she loved Julian during those three years?How deeply had he been woven into her life in the decade before that?I suddenly had no desire to investigate."Keep playing," I said. "I'm going to the res

Chapter 4

"What day?"Confusion crossed Vivian's beautiful face.And just like that, I understood.I had been the only idiot still counting, the only one remembering the promise to get married, the only one who remembered that when she caught me on those stairs years ago, I had looked at her and thought, I want this woman in my life.The last stubborn piece of hope inside me went quiet."Nothing," I said.Julian's footsteps were getting closer.Vivian straightened her jacket and turned away."We'll talk at home later."Then, without looking back, she said, "I'll go ahead. Don't let Julian see you."A second later, Julian appeared."Vivian, there you are. I've been looking everywhere."Vivian shifted half a step and blocked me in the shadowed corner behind her.Julian tugged lightly at her sleeve."My flight got in too late and all the downtown hotels are booked. Could I stay at your place tonight?"Your place. The apartment Vivian and I had shared for five years.She almost said

Chapter 5

Vivian's eyes went straight to the woman holding my suitcase."I told you I was only helping Julian because my father asked me to. You really had to find somebody else just to make me jealous?"She strode toward us in heels, all executive authority and barely contained anger.The woman beside me turned, assessed the situation in a second, and immediately slipped on dark sunglasses and a pair of white driving gloves.Then she opened the passenger door for me with perfect professionalism."Ms. Langford, I believe there's been a misunderstanding. I'm Mr. Sutter's private driver and household manager."Vivian gave a humorless laugh."What kind of driver hides her face and grabs her employer's hand?"She reached toward the sunglasses."I'd love to know which company trains staff this badly."I stepped between them before she could start a fight."Vivian, are you done?"She froze."You told me not to come home. I called someone to pick me up. What exactly is the problem?"I sta

Chapter 6

The dark gray men's slippers that always sat by the entryway were gone.So were the succulents Adrian had spent years fussing over in the living room.Even the faint smell of winter cedar mixed with laundry detergent had nearly vanished.Vivian rushed to the bedroom and yanked open the closet.Adrian's half was completely empty."Why is it... so empty?" she whispered.Her fingers trembled.Julian came up behind her, looking around with innocent admiration."Wow, Vivian. You're always so busy, but you keep this place spotless. You really do it all."Do it all.The words hit somewhere painful.Vivian remembered all those nights she came home after midnight from client dinners and negotiations.Adrian was the one who left a warm lamp on for her.Adrian was the one who brought her a bowl of hot soup when her stomach hurt, then quietly sorted the documents she'd need the next morning.Adrian had taken a cold concrete box and slowly turned it into a home.And for an outsider,

Chapter 7

Vivian didn't answer.She didn't need to.Julian saw it in the way she clenched the ring, in the guarded look that spread across her face."You really chose him."His voice was quiet, threaded with disbelief and mockery."Everyone says you and Adrian can't stand each other, but at the party, you kept looking at him."He swallowed."I know I was wrong to leave when your family was falling apart. But my father arranged it. He said if I didn't go overseas to study, he'd force me into a strategic marriage I didn't want."His eyes reddened."I've been waiting for you all these years."You never came looking for me."His voice broke."I kept telling myself you were busy. I thought what we had was different. Were all those years meaningless to you?"Vivian closed her eyes and took a slow breath.When she opened them again, her voice was calm and distant."Julian, I've already told you. It's all in the past."She looked at him directly."The person who stayed beside me for the

Chapter 8

"Who said you could touch him? Let go."Vivian's eyes were red as she stared at the woman's hand around my arm.She stepped forward and reached for me."Vivian, what are you doing?"I frowned and blocked her hand.Then I pushed her back one step.It was barely a movement.But Vivian went completely still, because the hand I had used to stop her was wearing a man's diamond wedding band."What... what is that?"Her gaze locked on my ring finger.Something in her expression collapsed."Adrian, why are you wearing that ring?""I told you I was getting engaged."I looked at her calmly."After I left, I decided waiting until the weekend was pointless."I let the words land."Yesterday, in front of both our families, we got married.""No."Vivian shook her head hard."No, that's impossible."She stepped closer, suddenly stripped of every trace of the proud executive everyone knew."Adrian, stop. I know you're angry with me."Her voice trembled."You're angry because I h

Chapter 9

Vivian froze.The threat to everything she had built, combined with hundreds of curious eyes around us, pinned her in place.I didn't look back.Camille and I went to the head table.* * *Halfway through dinner, I stood to use the restroom.Camille caught my wrist."I'll go with you. That woman isn't stable right now. I don't trust her."I laughed."You enjoyed playing bodyguard a little too much after the chauffeur performance, didn't you?"I patted the back of her hand."Relax. This is Tristan's wedding. Vivian cares too much about appearances to do anything reckless."I settled Camille back into her chair and left the ballroom alone.I had barely turned the corner when someone rushed out of the shadows and blocked me against the wall."Adrian..."Vivian's eyes were bloodshot.She grabbed the front of my shirt like a drowning person catching hold of the only thing keeping her above water."I really can't live without you.""Let go."We struggled for a moment.Fab

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