Chapter 84 I Love you Lexi
Alexander.
I found her exactly where Walter said she would be. In the garden, sitting on the stone bench near my grandmother's flower beds. The same flowers my mother had planted years ago, the ones Noona insisted on maintaining even after all this time.
Dandelion sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped around them while staring at nothing. She looked so small and Fragile. Nothing like the fierce woman who had stood up to Chase every day when they were dating or slapped her stepsister twice finally becoming bold.
Yes I had seen it that day, it was one of the reasons I fell madly in love with her.
This is all my fault.
I let Roxy's lie fester. I let Dandelion think, even for a moment, that I had gotten another woman pregnant while married to her. Fake marriage or not, I hurt her.
And I'm tired of hurting her.
My footsteps on the gravel path made her turn. Her eyes were still slightly red from earlier tears. When she saw me, something flickered across her face. Hope maybe Or fear.
"It's confirmed," I said, stopping a few feet away. "The test was negative. Roxy isn't pregnant."
Silence stretched between us.
Then she nodded slowly in relief, looking back at the flowers. I watched her profile in the fading afternoon light. The way her hair caught the sun, turning almost golden at the edges. The curve of her jaw. Her red lips that was getting used to frowning due to all the emotional drama she had been facing.
I had memorized these details without meaning to. Somewhere between the contract signing and now, Dandelion Williams had become the most important person in my world.
And that terrified me.
"Can I sit?" I asked.
She glanced at me with a surprised expression. "It's your garden."
"But you were here first."
A small smile touched her lips. "Since when do you ask permission for anything?"
"Since I realized I've been an ass." I sat down beside her, close enough that our shoulders almost touched. "Since I realized I owe you an apology."
"Apparently I should apologize for not believing you when you assured me she isn't pregnant."She said in a whisper.
"No. I should apologize, you had every right to question it, but I'm apologizing not just for Roxy but for everything."
She turned to look at me fully now, confusion written across her face. "Everything?"
I stared at my hands, trying to find words I'd never had to say before. Vulnerability wasn't something I did. In business, in my old life as..... showing weakness meant losing. It meant giving your enemies a target.
But Dandelion wasn't my enemy. She never had been.
"The contract was my idea," I started. "I thought I was being smart, protecting myself. No emotions, no complications, just a business arrangement that benefited us both."
"Alex--"
"Let me finish. Please." I looked at her. "I made all those rules because I was afraid. Afraid of what might happen if we got too close. Afraid of losing control. Turns out I broke them all myself."I scoffed, it sounded like a mocking laugh.
"I've spent my entire adult life building walls, keeping people at a distance. It's safer that way."
"Safer from what?"She asked in confusion.
"From caring." The admission felt like ripping off an armor. "When my parents died, I watched my family fall apart. My grandmother became obsessed with protecting what was left. My stepmother saw an opportunity for power. Tristan got caught in the middle. Everyone I was supposed to trust either hurt me or used me."
Dandelion's expression softened. "So you decided not to trust anyone."
"It worked for years. I built my company, made my own fortune, kept everyone at arm's length. Even Roxy." I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated with myself. "I thought physical intimacy without emotional connection was enough. That I could have that part of being human without the messy feelings attached."
"Was it....Enough?"she asked with hesitation.
I scoffed, "I thought so. Until you."
The words hung in the air between us. Dandelion's eyes widened.
"I've been with Roxy for years," I continued, forcing myself to keep going. "Years. And I never felt anything beyond physical satisfaction. I've never for once thought about her when she wasn't there. Never cared what she did or who she saw. My heart was empty, but I convinced myself that empty was safe."
"And now?"She asked curiously.
I looked right into her blue eyes, "Now I can't stop thinking about you. When you're not around, I wonder what you're doing. If you're okay. If you're happy. When you are around, I have to fight the urge to touch you, to make sure you're real. That night we broke Rule 14, I told myself it was just physical. Just one time to get it out of our systems."
"Was it?" Her voice was barely a whisper.
"No. It terrified me. Because with you, nothing is just physical. Everything means something. Every touch, every word, every moment we're together. You crashed into my life when I jumped in that river to save you, and you've been destroying my carefully built walls ever since."
Tears were gathering in her eyes.
"I pushed you away because I was scared. I made those rules because I thought I could control this, and control us. But the truth is, I started catching feelings for you months ago and I've been running from them ever since."
"Why?" The question came out broken. "Why run from it?"
"Because people I care about get hurt. Because I'm terrified that if I let myself love you, something might happen and I don't want to lose you the way I lost my mother. I love you too much to let go."
The word 'love' slipped out before I could stop it. Dandelion's eyes went wider.
"I'm in love with you, Angel." I said it clearly now, no more hiding. "Maybe I've been falling since that first night. Maybe since I saw you standing in that hospital gown looking lost and broken and still somehow beautiful. Maybe it was that moment when Noona revealed that you are little Angel, even though you're not so little anymore."I chuckled and continued,
"I don't know when it started. I just know it's happening and I can't stop it and it scares me more than anything I've ever faced. And to think that I had made a promise in the past, that I would find my little Angel and protect her. the universe really has a sick sense of humor."
She was crying now, tears sliding down her cheeks. "The great Alexander Graham, who doesn't do emotions, is falling for his contract wife?"
"Apparently I'm an idiot."I smirked.
A teary laugh escaped her lips. "You Are an idiot."
"I know."
"Because I'm in love with you too Lexi." She said in a rush.
My eyes widened in surprise, "You remember?"
She smiled,"Funny how I remembered that name but not the person and I hated it. In fact there's a lot of things I hated, at first I hated that I had to depend on your help especially since you were cold to me at first." She glared playfully at me. "And I hated feeling jealous when you were with Roxy. I hated caring whether we shared the same bed or not. I hated this stupid contract because it meant you could leave anytime, and somewhere along the way, I stopped wanting you to leave."
My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might break through my ribs.
She wiped at her tears with the back of her hand. "At first, I didn't care. This was just business, just my chance for revenge, just survival. But now? Now when I think about you walking away when this is over, it physically hurts."
".....", I didn't know what to say, the fact that she finally trusts me made me afraid of scaring her off by saying anything.
"I was so jealous when I thought Roxy was pregnant." Her voice cracked. "I had no right to be. We're not real. Afterall this is all fake. But I was furious and hurt and I...."
"There's nothing fake about what I feel for you Dandy."
"Then why do we keep pretending there is?"
The question hit me like a physical blow. She was right. We'd been hiding behind the contract, behind the rules, behind the excuse that this wasn't real. But it was real. Maybe it had been from the start.
"I don't want to pretend anymore," I admitted quietly.
"Me neither."
I reached up slowly, giving her time to pull away if she wanted. She didn't. My hand cupped her cheek, my thumb brushing away fresh tears.
"I'm sorry for every moment I made you feel like you didn't matter. You matter more than anything."
I leaned in and kissed her. Not like before, not rough or desperate or angry or in want. This was soft and gentle. It felt like a promise.
Her lips were salty from tears but warm and perfect. She melted into me, her hand coming up to grip my shirt like she was afraid I would disappear.
We finally pulled apart, both of us breathing hard, I rested my forehead against hers.
"This changes everything," she whispered.
"I know."
"We can't go back to how things were."
"I don't want to."
She pulled back slightly to look at me. "So What happens now?"
"Now we figure this out. Together. No more running. No more hiding behind contracts and rules." I said the feeling of different emotions bubbling within me.
"Noona is going to be overbearing when she finds out."She muttered, her face turning slightly red.
A laugh escaped me. "She probably already knows. She's been pushing us together from the start."
"Smart woman."
"Terrifying woman." I corrected.
Dandelion smiled, really smiled, and it was like the sun breaking through clouds.
And I really realized that this was the face I wanted to wake up to for the rest of my life.
The face of My little Angel.