Chapter 134 That's New
“His company’s under pressure too,” Henry added.
Adrian frowned. “What kind?”
“Investors. Competitors. The usual. People waiting to see if he’ll slip.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened slightly. He knew that feeling very well. The way people watched. The way they expected you to fail. The way pressure built quietly until it felt like you couldn’t breathe.
Henry continued, “And… his marriage isn’t looking too good either.”
Adrian looked up again. “What do you mean?”
Henry shrugged. “Rumors. But they’ve been consistent.”
Adrian didn’t speak. But inside, everything started connecting. Loss, pressure, the unstable marriage and Rebecca’s tired eyes.
Her silence, her control. The reason she'd been that way. His chest felt heavier now. So that’s what she’s dealing with.
Henry watched him carefully. “You’re putting something together. What are you thinking about?”
Adrian didn’t deny it. “It makes sense now.”
Henry frowned. “What does?”
Adrian’s voice was quieter now. “Why she looks like she’s carrying something she can’t put down.”
Henry went quiet. Then he said, “People go through things.”
Adrian nodded. “I know.”
But this felt different. Because she wasn’t just going through it, she was hiding it and didn't want to show it. Much like she was trying to live in deny.
Henry studied him. “And that bothers you?”
Adrian looked down at the table. Why did it? Why did it stay in his chest like this? Why did it feel like something he couldn’t ignore?
It shouldn’t matter. She wasn’t his. She wasn’t even—
He stopped himself again. Because that thought felt wrong. Not because it was untrue. But because it sounded like he was trying too hard to convince himself.
Adrian exhaled slowly. “It doesn’t bother me,” he lied.
Henry didn’t believe him and Adrian knew it. But he didn’t correct himself. Because the truth was even he didn’t fully understand it either.
He leaned back, staring ahead but his mind was still on her.
Why does she carry everything alone?
That question hit deeper than the others. Because he knew that feeling all too well and maybe that was the real reason he couldn’t ignore this.
It wasn’t just her. It was what he saw in her. Something familiar. Something he had buried in himself a long time ago.
Henry broke the silence. “So what now?”
Adrian looked at him. “What do you mean?”
Henry shrugged. “You’ve noticed all this. So what are you going to do?”
Adrian paused. He didn’t have a plan. He wasn’t trying to get involved. He wasn’t chasing anything. But he also knew one thing.
Walking away completely… didn’t feel right. He wanted to stick around her.
“I don’t know,” he admitted quietly.
Henry smirked. “That’s new.”
Adrian didn’t respond. Because it was. He always knew what he was doing. Adrian always had direction and always had control.
But this? This felt different and strangely, he wasn’t pushing it away. As the silence settled again, one thought stayed with him.
He had gone looking for business. Something simple and clear. But instead…He had found a question and for the first time in a long time, he didn’t want to ignore it.
By the time Rebecca got home, the house was quiet. She stepped inside slowly, closing the door behind her with more care than necessary, like even the smallest sound might break something fragile in her chest.
For a moment, she didn’t move. Her hand stayed on the door handle, her shoulders slightly slumped and her heels suddenly feeling heavier than they had all day.
It had been a long day but not the kind of long that came from work.
This was the kind that came from holding yourself together for too many hours. Rebecca exhaled softly and finally let go of the door.
Her heels clicked faintly against the floor as she walked further into the house, her eyes scanning the living room out of habit.
She ran a hand through her hair, loosening it slightly as she made her way toward the kitchen. Maybe she would make tea or maybe she would just sit. Or maybe she would do nothing at all. She didn’t even have the energy to decide what she wanted to do.
Just as she reached the kitchen entrance, she heard the front door open again and Rebecca froze for a second.
Then relaxed when she heard a familiar voice.
“Rebecca? I’m back!”
It was Amelia. Rebecca let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
“Kitchen,” she called back, her voice softer than usual.
A few seconds later, Amelia walked in, carrying a small box and her handbag, her energy completely different from Rebecca’s.
“You won’t believe the day I had,” Amelia started, already setting the box down. “We had this customer who—”
She stopped mid-sentence when her eyes landed on Rebecca fully and just like that, her expression changed.
“…Hey.”
Rebecca gave a small smile. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”
Amelia didn’t move closer immediately. She just stood there, watching her and studying her in a way only someone who knew you could.
“You look tired,” Amelia said gently.
Rebecca let out a quiet breath, leaning slightly against the counter.
“Long day.”
Amelia nodded slowly, but she didn’t look convinced. She had known Rebecca long enough to tell the difference.
There was tired, and then there was this. Without another word, Amelia moved closer and opened the box she had brought in.
“I brought pastries,” she said casually, placing them on the counter. “Fresh out of the oven.”
Rebecca glanced at them. Normally, she would have smiled more or said something light. But tonight… she just nodded.
“Thank you.”
Amelia watched her carefully. Then, softly,
“What happened today?” she asked.
Rebecca didn’t answer immediately. Her fingers rested lightly on the edge of the counter, her gaze fixed somewhere on the pastries without really seeing them. For a second, it looked like she might brush it off again, say something simple and move on.
But she didn’t. Instead, she let out a slow breath, her shoulders sinking just a little more.
“Nothing,” she said quietly.
Amelia didn’t react right away. She just tilted her head slightly, her eyes never leaving Rebecca’s face.
“That doesn’t look like nothing.”
Rebecca gave a faint, almost tired smile at that, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s just… a lot,” she admitted, her voice softer now. “Work. Things piling up. You know how it gets.”
Amelia studied her for a few more seconds, clearly sensing there was more beneath the surface. She stepped a little closer, her tone gentler now.
“Is it just work?”
Rebecca hesitated, and for a brief moment, something flickered in her eyes. A memory. A memory of Derek confessing his love to her in the hospital, yethe had done all that behind her back. With Celia.
Her chest tightened slightly. Rebecca blinked, forcing the images away. She straightened slightly, pulling herself back together in that quiet, controlled way she always did.
“I said I’m fine, Amelia.”
There was no sharpness in her tone, but there was a clear boundary now. Amelia noticed it. Still, she didn’t push immediately.
“You don’t have to carry everything alone, you know,” she said softly.
Rebecca’s expression shifted for the briefest second, like the words hit somewhere too close. Like she wanted just for a moment to say it out loud. To admit that things weren’t just “a lot,” that they were… falling apart.
That what she had with Derek wasn’t just strained. It was slipping through her fingers.
“I’m not,” she replied, a little more firmly this time.
Amelia sighed quietly, crossing her arms lightly not in frustration, but in reluctant acceptance.
“Alright,” she said. “If that’s what you say.”
Rebecca nodded once, grateful and guilty at the same time. Another silence followed, heavier now.
Then Rebecca pushed herself away from the counter. “I just… need some space tonight,” she said, her voice calm but distant. “I’ll be fine.”
Amelia looked at her, searching her face one last time, as if deciding whether to argue or let it go.
In the end, she stepped back. “Okay,” she said gently. “I’ll be here if you need anything.”
Rebecca gave a small nod. “Thank you.”
And with that, she turned and walked out of the kitchen. Her steps were quiet as she moved down the hallway, but her mind wasn’t.
It went back to him again. To the last conversation. The things they said. The things they didn’t. The space between them that had started to feel permanent.
When she reached her room, she paused for a second, her hand resting on the door handle. Her grip tightened slightly.
Then she pushed it open, stepped inside, and closed the door behind her softly like she was trying to keep the past from following her in.