It’s Not That I Didn’t Wait, It’s That You Never Chose Me Chapter 09

It’s Not That I Didn’t Wait, It’s That You Never Chose Me Chapter 09

Two months later, Adrian’s life had bottomed out entirely.

Because the research data had been destroyed, his grant application failed, which directly affected the department’s annual review.

On top of that, when Bryce gave his statement to the police, he tried to save himself by admitting Adrian had once attempted to use his connections to help manipulate the arts admissions process for him.

Dean Whitaker was furious.

Adrian was hit with a serious formal disciplinary action and stripped of his eligibility to supervise graduate students.

The moment Vanessa realized he had truly fallen from power, she blocked him without hesitation and disappeared out of state with her brother.

The once-glamorous Professor Mercer became a pariah on campus.

He lost weight fast. His cheeks hollowed out. Stubble shadowed his face. Then he hired a private investigator and, at last, found out where I had gone.

I hadn’t stayed in Pine Creek.

I had relocated to Boston with my sister.

With the solid background I already had in large-scale project coordination, I landed a job at one of the top multinational medical device companies in the city as Director of Operations.

One freezing evening in November, outside an office tower in Boston’s financial district, Adrian stood by the revolving doors in a thin overcoat, looking like a hollow shell of himself.

Work had just let out, and people streamed past in waves.

Then he saw me.

Not the Elaina who had once revolved her whole life around him.

This was a woman standing fully on her own, needing no one.

His eyes reddened instantly. He took a shaky step forward and blocked my path.

“Elaina.”

I stopped.

I looked at the exhausted man in front of me, and there was no surprise in my eyes, no fury either. Only the calm distance I might have given a stranger.

“Elaina, I made them leave. I cut Vanessa off completely.”

His voice trembled, almost pleading.

“My grant is gone. I took the disciplinary hit. Every time I go back to that house, it feels colder than a tomb. I know I was wrong. I really know I was wrong.”

He looked at me like a man begging for air. “Just give me one more chance, okay? I’ll transfer the house to your name. I’ll go apologize to your father in person. I’ll…”

“Adrian.”

I cut him off calmly.

“You’re standing here begging because you lost everything and now you need someone to fill the emptiness inside you.”

I held his gaze. “You never loved me. You just miss the Elaina who treated you like the center of her world.”

He shook his head desperately. “No. That’s not true. I love you. I was just too full of myself before…”

I looked at him, and something brutally cold flickered in my eyes.

“Do you know what my father did after he came back from your university that day?”

Adrian went rigid.

“He sat alone in the yard, smoking, and struck his own face, hard, over and over.”

My voice was quiet, but every word struck like a blade.

“He said he was useless. Said he was a washed-up old man who couldn’t even ask the right questions about college applications and had only embarrassed you in front of your superiors.”

I took one step closer, and my voice stayed flat. “He took the brunt of the shame, just to protect your pathetic pride.”

The color drained from Adrian’s face. His knees buckled so badly he nearly collapsed.

“Stop…” He covered his face, and tears spilled through his fingers.

“Adrian, once damage is done, it doesn’t just disappear.”

I stepped back and widened the space between us. “Your regret means nothing to me.”

Then I gave him the final line with the same calm certainty I had carried from the day I walked out. “Tomorrow. Nine a.m. At the family court. If you don’t show up, my lawyer files for a contested divorce.”