The Arrogant Young Lady’s Awakening Chapter 05

The Arrogant Young Lady’s Awakening Chapter 05

Within thirty minutes, news hit every tabloid. Adrian Sinclair, seated next to a woman at a high-profile auction, bidding on jewelry for her.

Comments online speculated wildly about how Mrs. Sinclair would lose her mind this time.

An hour passed. Then another.

I gave them nothing.

No staking of territory. No public meltdown. Let them speculate. I just curled deeper into the couch.

But what I didn’t expect was that, late that night, Adrian himself showed up.

Alone.

No driver. No secretary. Just him, holding a blue gift bag, standing on the porch with his head bent over his phone, brows slightly furrowed.

I opened the door.

The instant he saw me, something flickered in his eyes.

His face stayed cold.

“Why aren’t you home?”

Did it matter?

He’d practically prayed not to see me, for three years.

The cuts on my arm still throbbed under the bandages, reminding me what had happened just hours ago.

I leaned against the doorframe and answered with a question.

“How did you know I’d be here?”

He was quiet for two seconds. Then, with absolute certainty:

“You’re not happy.”

“When you’re not happy, you come to the Hamptons.”

I made a small noise of acknowledgment. Said nothing more.

We stood there, separated by the threshold, just looking at each other.

His gaze slid down me and landed on my bare feet.

“Put on shoes.”

“This is my house. I’ll go barefoot if I want.”

He didn’t reply. But his brows tightened a fraction more.

A bristling kind of irritation rose in me. Before, I’d begged him to come and he wouldn’t. Now I’d stopped chasing, and suddenly he was on my doorstep?

I lost patience.

I was about to announce the divorce up front. He beat me to it.

“You haven’t been to the office these past few days.”

His voice came out hoarse. I might have been imagining it, but there was something almost wounded in his expression.

“You used to come every day.”

He stepped closer.

Strange. Adrian was always glacier-cold. A wall no one could climb. But right now, he was showing me something soft. Something almost desperate. Like he was anxious about me.

If I hadn’t seen those comments, I would’ve fooled myself again. I would’ve believed I’d finally moved him.

“And?” My voice was flat. “You never came looking for me before either.”

There’s no rule that says the one who fell first has to be the one who keeps trying.

You get tired of unanswered love.

He went silent again.

The silence spread between us like the tide. Soundless. Suffocating.

He broke first.

“Suit yourself.”

Then, like he remembered something, he gave a small, self-mocking laugh.

“Lucas is bringing his girlfriend back to the country soon. If you’re really not feeling well, I can have my secretary book you a flight. Get away for a while.”

Lucas Bennett was my childhood friend. He’d been studying abroad. We hadn’t talked in ages.

I had no idea why Adrian was bringing him up.

Adrian set the gift bag down. Turned to leave.

Watching his back, I suddenly heard the comments echo in my head.

Three months until bankruptcy. Out on the street. In a wheelchair. He walks past you. Doesn’t even look.

And then it hurt. Genuinely hurt.

I bit my lip.

“Adrian.”

He stopped. Didn’t turn. Just tilted his head slightly.

I opened my mouth. There was so much I wanted to say.

I wanted to ask him: Do you love Vivienne?

I wanted to ask him: Have you been waiting all this time for me to leave?

I wanted to ask him: In these three years, was there even one second where you meant any of it?

But what came out of my mouth was:

“Adrian. Let’s get a divorce.”