Chapter 122 122
ADRIAN leaned back in his chair, staring at the scribbled notes scattered across his dining table. He had been drilling himself all week, turning the lessons from countless YouTube videos into strategies, determined to put them into practice. No more boardroom tactics. This was about Amelia, about family, about proving he wasn’t the selfish and cheating man she thought he was.
His laptop pinged. A FaceTime request. He smiled the instant he saw the name flash across the screen. It was his daughter.
“Daddy!” she squealed the moment her little face appeared. She was practically bouncing in excitement.
Adrian’s heart softened in ways it rarely did for anyone else.
“Pumpkin, what has got you smiling so big?”
“My school project!” she said proudly, holding up a messy poster board with glitter and crooked letters. “We have to present it next week, and guess what? Parents can come and watch! Can you come, Daddy? Please? It’s on Thursday!”
Adrian’s chest tightened. Her eyes shone with the kind of hope that tore down every wall he had built over the years. He swallowed, forcing a calm tone.
“Thursday? Of course, sweetheart. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Her cheer filled the screen.
“Really? You promise?”
“I promise,” Adrian said firmly, though inside, he felt that familiar stab of fear, fear of disappointing her, of being the father who chose everything else over family.
They talked more and finally ended the call, and Adrian sat there a moment longer, staring at the frozen smile of his daughter on the screen before it faded away. He drew in a long breath. This was it. His chance to be present. To show Amelia, to show his little girl, that he was changing.
Then his phone rang again.
Peter.
Adrian frowned and answered.
“Peter, it’s late. What is it?”
On the other end, Peter’s voice carried an urgency Adrian rarely heard.
“Sir, we have just received confirmation, there is an emergency board meeting on Thursday. High stakes. This could secure the multimillion-dollar deal we have been chasing all quarter. They specifically requested your presence. It is critical.”
Adrian’s blood ran cold. His grip on the phone tightened.
“What day did you say?” he asked slowly, as if daring Peter to repeat it.
“Thursday morning. It’s non-negotiable, Mr. Cole. Everything hinges on this meeting.”
Adrian’s jaw clenched. His mind reeled back to his daughter’s excited little voice, her glowing eyes, her tiny hands gripping that poster board, he promising. Then forward again to Peter’s words— millions at stake.
Two worlds colliding. One choice that could redefine everything.
Adrian leaned back in his chair, his heart pounding, his notes on “consistency” and “family first” glaring up at him from the table.
Thursday. Both on Thursday.
His breath caught.
The evening sun streamed through the living room curtains, casting a golden glow over the sofa where Hazel sat cross-legged, sketching planets on a sheet of paper. Her project board leaned against the wall, half-done but already full of color and imagination. Amelia was folding a pile of laundry nearby, humming softly to herself, her mind elsewhere until Hazel suddenly piped up.
“Mommy,” Hazel said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Daddy said he is coming to my project day.”
Amelia froze mid-fold, the shirt in her hands slipping back into the basket. She turned slowly toward her daughter.
“What did you just say?”
Hazel giggled, swinging her legs.
“Daddy! He promised on FaceTime last night. He said he won’t miss it, even if he is super busy.”
Amelia’s heart gave a startled thud.
“Hazel… are you sure he said that?”
“Yes!” Hazel nodded eagerly, holding up her paper. “He even asked me what time it starts, and I told him. He said he will be there early so he can see my planets before I talk about them.”
Amelia sank onto the edge of the sofa, staring at her daughter with a mix of shock and confusion. Adrian— after everything— was actually planning to show up? After years of broken promises, after the distance he had allowed to grow, he had promised this.
She tucked a stray curl behind Hazel’s ear and spoke gently.
“Sweetheart, you know sometimes… your dad’s work can be very demanding. What if something happens and he can’t come?”
Hazel looked up at her with a frown.
“But he promised, Mommy. He looked right into the screen and said, ‘Pumpkin, I will be there.’”
The certainty in her daughter’s voice tugged at Amelia’s chest. Hazel still believed in Adrian in a way Amelia hadn’t for years.
Taking a breath, Amelia tried again, her voice careful.
“I don’t want you to be disappointed, Hazel. I just don’t want you to… expect too much.”
Hazel tilted her head, innocence and determination mingling in her nine-year-old expression.
“But Mommy, what if this time is different? What if Daddy really means it?”
Amelia was quiet for a long moment, staring into her daughter’s hopeful eyes. She wanted to protect her, shield her from any pain, but Hazel’s hope was like sunlight. She couldn’t take that away.
Finally, Amelia smiled faintly, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Alright. Let’s wait and see. Finish up your planets, my little scientist. Whether your daddy is there or not, I will be cheering for you the loudest.”
Hazel beamed, hugging her mother tightly.
“But I hope Daddy cheers too,” she whispered.
Amelia hugged her back, closing her eyes. For the first time in a long while, her carefully built walls trembled- not because she trusted Adrian, but because she feared what would happen if Hazel’s newest belief in him broke again.