He Said Wait Again And I Waited For The Plane To Paris Chapter 07

He Said Wait Again And I Waited For The Plane To Paris Chapter 07

I looked at that deep green emerald-and-diamond bracelet.

Once, I had thought wearing it would mean I had finally received Adrian’s love and the Whitmore family’s recognition.

Now, it only looked like an invisible shackle.

“Adrian,” I said softly.

“Vivian already wore that bracelet.”

Adrian froze.

“I don’t want something another woman has worn. It feels dirty.”

Adrian’s pupils shrank. The hand holding the box jerked, and the bracelet nearly fell to the floor.

“Evie, let me explain.” He took an urgent step forward.

“There’s really nothing between Vivian and me. I’ve only ever treated her like a sister.”

“At the birthday dinner, that was my mother’s decision. I yelled at her afterward.”

“Over the past six months, I sent Vivian to an overseas branch. I won’t let her come anywhere near us again.”

“I redecorated the apartment too. Everything is exactly the way you like it now.”

“Come home with me, okay?”

The more he spoke, the more desperate he became. His eyes were so bloodshot they looked almost painful.

I listened quietly to his confession that had come far too late, and my heart didn’t stir at all.

Back then, Mrs. Whitmore had put the bracelet on Vivian’s wrist in front of an entire table of guests.

I had stood there while everyone watched me turn into the joke of the night.

And what had Adrian said that day?

He told me to stop making a scene.

“Adrian, you still don’t understand.”

I looked into his eyes and spoke each word clearly.

“The problem was never Vivian.”

“It was that every time you had to choose between her and me, you thought it was perfectly natural to make me swallow the hurt.”

“You thought I was understanding. You thought I could never leave you.”

“So you used up every expectation I had without the slightest fear of losing me.”

“Now there’s nothing left. So I left. That’s all.”

Adrian looked as if he had been struck by lightning. His whole body went rigid.

His lips parted, but no sound came out.

All the details he had chosen to ignore came crashing back at once, each one cutting deeper than the last.

He remembered the fried eggs ruined by the clam sauce he had brought home.

He remembered the fifth anniversary he had canceled.

He remembered all those careless promises of “next time” and “tomorrow.”

“No… that’s not…”

He covered his face in pain, and tears slipped through his fingers.

“Evie, I was wrong. I know I was wrong.”

“Punish me. Hit me, yell at me, do whatever you want. Just don’t give up on me.”

A man over six feet tall stood crying in a foreign gallery like a child who had lost his entire world.

The people around us began to stare.

Julian walked over and quietly stepped in front of me.

“Evie, is there a problem?”

His calm, gentle voice broke the deadlock.

Adrian jerked his head up.

He stared at Julian, then at the small space between us—less than half an arm’s length. The grief in his eyes was quickly replaced by something else.

“Who the hell are you?” he growled. “Get out of the way.”

Julian ignored his outburst and simply turned to me.

“Do you want me to call security?”

I shook my head.

“No. It’s fine. Just a stranger who has the wrong person.”

A stranger.

Those words shattered the last of Adrian’s defenses.

He stumbled back two steps and stared at me in disbelief.

“A stranger… You’re calling me a stranger?”

I didn’t look at him again. I turned to Julian instead.

“Professor Hayes, let’s look over there.”

“Of course.”

I linked my arm through Julian’s and walked toward the other side of the gallery.

Behind me, the velvet box hit the floor.

Then came a choked sob, as if he had been holding it back until he finally broke.

I didn’t turn around.

Julian lowered his head and glanced at me. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

I smiled.

“I’ve never been better.”