Chapter 292
Audrey’s POV
Dr. Clarke booked us a presidential suite with three rooms room, giving Emma and me the master without argument.
–
a study and two bedrooms. Adrian surprised me by taking the single
After getting Emma to sleep, I heated some milk and knocked on the study door where Adrian was still working.
He looked up when I entered, surprise flashing across his face as I set the glass on his desk.
“Thought you might want this before bed.”
Adrian studied me, eyebrow raised. “Is this how you prepared things for Blake Parker?”
The question stung. I turned to leave. “I was just thanking you for giving up the larger room. If you don’t want it, throw it away.”
“Wait.” His sigh stopped me. “I’m sorry. It’s just… Evelyn would never have done something like this. It caught me off guard.”
I shrugged without turning around. “It’s nothing.”
After a pause, he asked quietly, “Did you do this for Blake often?”
“No.” A bitter smile crossed my lips.
In the early days, I’d tried so hard with Blake. I wanted to be the perfect wife who waited up with something warm when he worked late. But he never gave me the chance, rarely coming home to Lunar Mansion, preferring his penthouse near the office.
Even when he did work from home, his study was off-limits to me.
“There are business secrets in here,” he’d say coldly. “Be careful not to get too close.”
I believed him, carefully avoiding his private spaces until I saw Thalia waltz in without knocking. Then Olivia. Then Laurel.
It wasn’t about secrets. It was just me he kept at a distance.
“Adrian.” My voice was steady, my back still to him. “I know what you’re worried about.”
I watched his reflection in the window. “You’re treating me as a substitute for Evelyn, wanting me to become like my sister, and you’re afraid I’ll treat you as a substitute for Blake.”
Adrian’s face darkened.
“Do worry. I allow you to treat me as Evelyn’s substitute. I’ll play her role.” I set down the tray. “But I cannot become my sister, and won’t treat you as Blake’s replacement.”
I stepped closer to the desk. “If I don’t love him, I just don’t. I won’t transfer those feelings to someone else.”
“I’m being nice to you because you saved me, I don’t want to owe you, and I want to help my sister take care of her child. That’s all.”
After a long moment, Adrian turned with a hollow laugh. “You make me feel like you’re being honest while I’m being despicable.”
I didn’t argue, just left, closing the door quietly.
In the master bedroom, I found Emma sitting upright, wrapped in blankets, wide awake.
“Where’d you go?” she asked, blue eyes fixed on me.
“Brought your daddy a snack. Why are you up?”
She clutched her blanket tighter. “I felt you weren’t beside me.”
I sat down and she immediately climbed into my arms. “I thought you left,” she whispered against my neck. “That you didn’t want Emma anymore.”
Her voice shook. “I’m so scared of losing you again.”
I gave a smile. “That won’t happen.”
I lay down, keeping her against me. “Sleep now. I’m not going anywhere.”
Emma nodded, snuggling closer. “Mm.”
Under the dim wall lamp, I watched her sleep, still holding my arm like I might vanish. She looked so much like me – like Evelyn. Only those vivid blue eyes were clearly Adrian’s.
My heart tightened thinking of the baby I’d lost. If that child had lived, would it be clutching my arm the same way, afraid I might disappear?
When I first met Emma, she was just a cute kid. Now I understood she was a little girl desperately missing maternal love. She had Adrian and her grandparents, but that wasn’t enough.
Divorce Me Before Death Takes Me, CEO
