The Arrogant Young Lady’s Awakening Chapter 11

The Arrogant Young Lady’s Awakening Chapter 11

The comments lost their minds. 

“He kept a hair tie she casually tossed away?!” 

“This is yandere behavior!!” 

“Oh, honey, it’s not just that. From her personal items down to strands of her hair–he’s been quietly 

hoarding it all. He just knew it was a deeply unhinged thing to do, so he never told her. He just kept everything in secret.” 

“In the eyes of that broke college kid with the 

inferiority complex, he could never keep her, the actual 

person. So he kept the things she’d touched.” 

“I’m sobbing. Adrian, why are you so pathetic about 

her.” 

I blinked. 

The comments were flat–out exposing him now. 

But beneath the shock, my chest ached. 

So. 

I hadn’t been delusional. My love had echoed back, all 

along. 

My nose stung. I made my voice hard. 

“Don’t think saying all this earns you forgiveness.” 

“You hurt me. For a long time.” 

He apologized patiently. Over and over. Like he was 

trying to address every single grievance I had ever 

swallowed. 

“You said you didn’t love me,” I said, voice small. 

“I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry.” 

“You wouldn’t even let me put your ring on you.” 

“Because I couldn’t believe it.” He looked at me. “I 

couldn’t believe I could be that lucky. That my moon would actually come down to me.” 

“Pearl. For a long time, I thought only someone like Lucas Bennett–someone whose family matched yours –was the kind of man you deserved.” 

I was so furious I could barely breathe. 

I finally understood his hesitations. His silence. His distance. 

I rapped him hard on the head. 

“If I’d ever actually wanted Lucas, you wouldn’t have 

stood a chance.” 

I glared at him. 

“Then why wouldn’t you let me touch you?” 

His eyes went hollow. 

“I was afraid…” 

“Afraid you’d find me revolting. A guy on your family’s dime, daring to want you.” 

What he didn’t say was: he was afraid he’d embarrass 

me. 

He knew. Every girl in our circle who matched my background married someone equally suitable. Only I had thrown myself at someone with no name, no 

wealth, no foothold. 

The comments scrolled by: 

“You can’t really blame the male lead. Back in the day, 

this whole city laughed at him. The frog who wanted 

the swan.” 

“And so many of Pearl’s other suitors used to corner him and trash–talk her behind her back, out of 

jealousy.” 

“He probably built up trauma from all of it. Constant ‘don’t get any ideas, the heiress is just bored, she’ll get 

tired of you any day now.“” 

You absolute idiot. 

“Adrian,” I said, sniffling, voice thick. “You’re an 

idiot.” 

He didn’t argue. 

“The biggest idiot in the world.” 

“Mm.” 

“Do you know how hard I worked, chasing you all those years? I’d send you a text and you’d reply with three words and I’d reread it twenty times trying to figure out if you were sick of me. You commented on one of my posts and I didn’t sleep that night. I flew to Seattle when you were on a business trip there. I spent three hours getting ready for the airport. And the first thing you said when you saw me was ‘Did you finish your paper?‘ I almost punched you.” 

“There were stretches when I genuinely thought I was 

unattractive.” 

His mouth curved, faint. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But back then, if I hadn’t 

pretended to be cold, I was afraid of what would come 

out of my mouth instead.” 

“Like what?” 

He looked at me. The moonlight scattered into stars in 

his pupils. 

“You’re beautiful.” 

“From the day I first saw you when you were eighteen. Every single day, you’ve been beautiful.” 

“But I knew I shouldn’t want you. So every time, I told 

myself: just one look. One look is enough.” 

“One look will get me through a long time.” 

The comments: 

“AAAAAAAH I’M DEAD!!!” 

“Where did this love confession come from??” 

“Okay, I am now seriously suspecting we’ve been reading the wrong genre this entire time. This isn’t second–chance reunion. This is haughty heiress and her loyal puppy in disguise!” 

“YES! Not second–chance reunion! Mutual unspoken 

pining! The heiress chased him for three years thinking she was forcing him into it, and meanwhile this dog of 

a man has been hers since eight years ago!” 

“Adrian’s not an iceberg. He’s a golden retriever 

wearing iceberg cosplay!” 

“Look at him. He’s about to actually drop to his knees 

and beg her for mercy.” 

“I’M SHIPPING SO HARD I’M SHIPPING SO HARD I’M 

SHIPPING SO HARD.” 

“Officially retracting everything I said about Pearl. Heiress, I’m so sorry!! You’re not a villainess!! You’re the actual female lead who got strung along for eight years by this emotionally constipated man!” 

“All I want to know now is–Adrian, how many other little keepsakes do you still have stashed away?” 

The comments roared on. Most of them were cheering 

for us now. 

Inside my chest, something sweet bloomed. 

Adrian pulled one last thing from his pocket. 

A pair of rings. 

His hands were cool. Long fingers, knuckles defined, 

calluses on his fingertips brushing my palm. 

I noticed something engraved on the inside of his ring. 

I tilted it toward the moonlight to read. 

“Pearl Langford’s.” 

My grin spread until my eyes crinkled shut. 

I leapt onto his back. 

“I’m hungry. I want you to cook for me.” 

“Okay.” 

“Also–I sold a bunch of limited edition bags the other 

day. I’m devastated.” 

“I’ll buy every single one back tomorrow.” 

The moonlight poured softly over the courtyard. 

I rested against his shoulders. He carried me, step by 

steady step. 

He walked far. He walked steady. 

And I finally believed it. 

There was a long, long future ahead of us. 

Night wind rustled through the bare branches of the 

maple tree. 

Spring hadn’t arrived yet. But the flowers were already 

alive in the roots.