The Arrogant Young Lady’s Awakening Chapter 10

The Arrogant Young Lady’s Awakening Chapter 10

Was he? 

My head felt fuzzy. 

Garden lights glowed amber along the stone path. 

Adrian wore a charcoal–gray sweater, sleeves pushed 

up to his forearms. 

When he saw me, his throat moved. 

“You came.” 

He didn’t look anything like himself today. He looked… nervous. He was practically stumbling over his words. 

“No divorce.” 

“Pearl, we… we’re not getting divorced.” 

He explained, one careful word at a time: 

“The necklace from the auction headlines. That was for 

you.” 

“Vivienne and I were just college classmates. We were 

in the same lab once. I was a year ahead.” 

“When Whitman said you stopped by but didn’t come in, I went and pulled the security footage. You 

misunderstood what you saw.” 

His words were rushed: 

“We were standing close because I noticed her 

earrings. I thought they’d suit you. I was asking where she’d bought them.” 

“Running into her at the auction was an accident. And 

besides–she’s been married for years.” 

I was reeling. 

The comments were exploding. 

“BROKEN! THE PLOT IS BROKEN!” 

“He never even liked her? He’s been into Pearl this 

whole time?!” 

“Wait, I just remembered–back when Pearl forced the marriage, did Adrian ever actually say no? He said he didn’t love her, but didn’t Lucas Bennett show up that day too? And didn’t Lucas hug Pearl? Was Adrian JEALOUS the whole time and stubbornly hiding it?” 

“This is terrifying!” 

“Even on the surface it’s terrifying! Don’t you guys remember? The night Pearl asked for a divorce at the Hamptons–the male lead must’ve been crushed. He thought she wasn’t happy because she’d heard Lucas Bennett was coming home to get married. He was 

secretly stewing the entire time, jealous of her 

childhood friend!” 

“He agreed to the divorce because he was afraid of pissing her off more.” 

In front of me, Adrian’s head was still bowed. 

He pulled out a flash drive and held it out. 

Plain black. Generic. A tiny label stuck on it. A date 

written in pencil. About eight years ago. 

“This is the first email you ever sent me,” Adrian said. 

His voice was even, but his fingers were shaking 

faintly. 

“The year you did your exchange program in the U.S. 

You said it never stopped raining in Seattle. You forgot 

your umbrella and got drenched. You said what you 

missed most, all the way out there, was funnel cake 

from back home.” 

“There’s more.” 

He pressed the drive into my palm. 

“Every email you ever sent me. They’re all on here. 

Three hundred and forty–seven of them.” 

The comments were a stampede: 

“347?? He kept all of them?? For EIGHT YEARS?” 

“He kept them carefully. Okay, I believe it now. He 

really does love her.” 

“A few emails prove what? If he really loved her, why 

didn’t he ever say something?” 

“Because of his complex! He was the broke kid 

sponsored by the Langford family. She was the most 

spoiled heiress in the city. He thought he didn’t deserve 

her.” 

“That’s why he kept his distance. He hid behind the 

cold–and–aloof act. Now his wife wants out and he’s 

panicking.” 

“Stop, this is too funny. Adrian Sinclair is hilarious.” 

I blinked. 

Made sure I was reading it right. 

Adrian had… an inferiority complex? Adrian? 

I stared at the flash drive in my palm. Black plastic. 

Already warm from his body heat. 

He pulled something else out of his pocket. A hair tie. 

Black. Plain. One small rhinestone on it. Half of it had 

chipped off. 

“When did I lose this?” 

I went still. 

“You didn’t lose it,” he said. The tips of his ears flushed pink. “There was a day at the office when your hair came loose. You grabbed a pen from my desk and twisted it up. You forgot to take this with you when you 

left. I…‘ 

” 

He couldn’t bring himself to finish.