Chapter 18 Chapter 18
My heartbeat hammered so loudly I could barely hear the clatter of cutlery or the murmured conversations around us. Daniel and Mandy stood frozen at the entrance like two ghosts I’d spent months trying to outrun.
Except ghosts didn’t smirk.
And Daniel was smirking.
A slow, poisonous curl of his lips.
Mandy was the first to recover.
“Elena?” she repeated, taking a hesitant step forward as if she couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing. “I—I didn’t know you were here.”
Of course she didn’t. Because she didn’t know anything about my life anymore. She forfeited the right to know the day she betrayed me.
I kept my voice steady. “Clearly.”
Daniel’s gaze drifted from me to Adrian, and something dark flashed in his eyes. Possessiveness. Panic. Confusion. Maybe all three. But he masked it quickly with that arrogant, polished charm he used in business meetings and lies.
“This is unexpected,” he said, his attention fully on me now. “You look… different.”
“Alive?” I offered flatly.
Adrian’s hand brushed against the back of my chair—not touching me, just reminding Daniel he existed. The tension shifted immediately.
Daniel straightened. “We should talk. Privately.”
“No,” Adrian said before I could even breathe. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”
Daniel’s jaw clenched. “I wasn’t speaking to you.”
“And I wasn’t asking for your permission,” Adrian replied.
Their voices were low, calm, but the energy between them could’ve cut through steel. The restaurant had gone quiet. People pretended not to watch, but eyes darted back and forth between the three of us like they were witnessing a live drama.
Mandy tried stepping in.
“Daniel, maybe this isn’t—”
“Stay out of it,” he snapped.
She flinched, and for a moment, a part of me almost felt pity. Almost.
I stood then, pushing back my chair. “Fine. Let’s talk.”
Adrian’s gaze locked on mine immediately. “Elena—”
“It’s okay,” I said sharply, more for myself than for him. “Two minutes. That’s all.”
Adrian didn’t like it—I could see it in the tight set of his jaw. But I wasn’t a prisoner. And I needed to see Daniel’s lies up close one last time, if only to remind myself why I’d walked away.
Daniel led me toward a quieter corner near the exit. He didn’t speak until we were out of earshot.
Then he turned on me, his voice low, angry, and dripping with disbelief.
“A date, Elena? With Adrian Blake? Are you out of your mind?”
“Why do you care?” I shot back. “Last time I checked, you were busy with Mandy.”
His nostrils flared. “That was a mistake.”
“A five-year mistake?” I asked, refusing to soften.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “You don’t understand—”
“I understand perfectly.” My voice cracked—not from sadness, but from relief. “I saw your true face. That’s all I needed.”
He stepped closer. Too close.
The old Daniel would’ve made me shrink.
This Daniel only made me straighten my spine.
“You think he cares about you?” Daniel hissed. “Adrian doesn’t do relationships. You’re just a tool he’s using to get under my skin.”
That one stung—not because it was true, but because it used to be something I’d believe. But not anymore.
“And what were you using me for?” I asked. “A trophy? A shield? Someone to blame when your secrets got too heavy?”
His jaw tightened.
“Come home,” Daniel said suddenly. “We can fix this.”
I actually laughed— sharp, humorless, broken.
“There’s no home left.”
His expression shifted. Rage. Confusion. Desperation. “Everything you’re doing? You’ll regret it.”
“Not as much as I regret loving you.”
That finally shut him up.
When I walked away, I didn’t look back.
I refused to.
Adrian was exactly where I’d left him—standing beside our table, arms folded, expression unreadable.
But his eyes…
His eyes were stormy in a way I’d never seen.
“Are you okay?” he asked, and the quiet sincerity in his voice almost undid me.
“I’m fine,” I whispered, though my hands were trembling.
He didn’t comment on the lie. Just pulled out my chair and waited until I sat down before taking his seat again.
Mandy and Daniel weren’t gone. They’d moved to a table across the room, an awkward silence hovering over them like smoke.
Adrian picked up his glass, took a slow sip, and said in a low voice:
“Good. Let them watch.”
I stared at him. “Why?”
He leaned in slightly—not touching, just lowering his voice enough that Daniel couldn’t possibly miss the intimacy of the moment.
“Because tonight,” he said, “Daniel learns he’s already lost you.”
The words settled into the air between us, heavy and startling.
I swallowed. “And what about you? What do you get out of this?”
Adrian didn’t answer immediately.
He set his glass down, his fingers tapping once against the table.
A rare sign of hesitation.
Then—
“More than I planned to.”
My breath hitched, but before I could respond, the server arrived with dessert menus, breaking the moment like a snapped thread.
We ordered mechanically, neither of us really hungry.
The whole time, Daniel kept glancing over.
Mandy kept whispering frantically.
And Adrian kept acting unbothered.
But I could feel the tension vibrating off him.
After dessert, Adrian quietly placed his card on the table, ending the evening. He stood, offering his hand—not for support, but as a choice.
I didn’t take it.
I just stood and walked beside him.
Outside, the night was cool, and the parking lot was lit in soft golden light. Adrian stopped beside the car but didn’t open the door.
“Elena,” he said, his voice low. “What did he say to you?”
“Nothing I haven’t already heard,” I replied.
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
I exhaled slowly. “He asked me to come home.”
Adrian’s jaw ticked. “And?”
“And I said no. Every version of no possible.”
He nodded—once, firmly—as if confirming something he’d suspected.
Then he said something I never expected.
“Good. Because I’m not planning to let you disappear, not anymore.”
The night air suddenly felt too thin.
Before I could respond, a loud voice echoed behind us.
“Elena!”
Daniel.
He stormed out of the restaurant, Mandy hurrying behind him with panic written all over her face.
“Elena, we’re not done talking!” he barked.
Adrian stepped in front of me instinctively.
“We are,” Adrian said, his voice cool but dangerous. “And you need to walk away.”
Daniel lifted his chin. “Or what?”
Adrian didn’t move.
Didn’t raise his voice.
Didn’t threaten.
He simply said:
“Or you’ll find out.”
And for the first time since I’d known Daniel…
I saw fear flicker in his eyes.