Chapter 183 Chapter 183

Chapter 183 Chapter 183
MICA
I found a quiet, empty corner of the staff room and slumped down. My untouched lunch sat in front of me as I stared blankly at the table, my chest tight and heavy from everything that happened this morning.

The hurt on Adonis's face when he said I am sorry.

The raw edge in his voice when he whispered my name like I still matter.

Then that girl suddenly wrapping her arms around him like she was staking her claim in him, making my heart sink before I could stop it. And then Cara's voice slicing through the lobby, hands off my man, sharp, loud, and unapologetic, freezing everyone in place.

I pressed my lips together and shoved my food away. I couldn’t eat.

That two timing jerk, so he was seeing Cara too? And I almost let him kiss me. Almost gave in to this hunger gnawing my insides.

The door opened and Cara walked in. She looked around, spotted me in the corner, and came straight over. She pulled out a chair, set her bag down, and looked at me. For a long moment, she didn’t say a word.

Then she asked soft and clear, "What is going on between you and Adonis?"

I just looked at her, my throat tight.

"I saw your face yesterday when I brought in Leo but before I could get to you people, he had walked away" she said. "I saw your face this morning at the lobby, especially when I called him my man. I’m not blind, Mica, and I’m not going to pretend I didn't feel like I stepped into something huge when I said what I said." She held my gaze, her eyes steady, earnest, and completely open. "I need to understand what I just walked into."

"Do you have feelings for Adonis?" I asked, staring at her and she just waved it off.

"Not that he agreed to be with me anyways, so spill."

I looked down at my hands on the table. The weight of the past four years pressed down on me hard, all the times I'd carried this heavy secret alone. But looking back up at Cara's kind, steady face, I felt a shift inside me. It wasn't a sudden decision; it felt like a moment I’d been waiting for without even knowing it.

"He’s not a stranger to me," I whispered.

"I know that," she said gently. "The way you two looked at each other in the lobby... that wasn't two strangers."

I flattened my palms against the cool table and took a slow breath.

"We were together," I said. "In high school. Before I came here. Before Nathan's mansion, the hotel, all of it." I paused, my voice trembling slightly. "It was real. At least, it was to me."

Cara just listened, her face soft as she carefully took it all in. I was so grateful for how gentle she was being.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

"He just disappeared," I said, feeling the old heartbreak sting all over again. "His number stopped working. I couldn't reach him anywhere. I even went to his house, but his family told me he was gone and wasn't coming back." I looked back down at the table. "By then... I was already pregnant."

The staff room went dead quiet.

Cara froze, her eyes wide with surprise.

"I was forced to marry someone else," I said, the words heavy in my mouth. "My father set it up. But the man died on our wedding night, so I ran. I changed my name, took off, and ended up here." I looked right at her. "I couldn't tell Adonis about the pregnancy because I couldn't find him. And I never told him about Leo later because by the time I saw his face on TV, he was an international hockey star... and I was just a terrified girl running from a dead husband. It felt safer to keep him out of it and also, I just couldn't forgive him for abandoning me when I needed him the most."

Cara stared at me, her expression a painful mix of shock, sympathy, and confusion that she was trying hard to hold back.

"Leo," she breathed, "Leo is his," she said, her voice dropping. It wasn't a question.

"Yes," I said.

The word hung in the quiet room between us. Cara stared at me, and I looked back, feeling as if the agonizing weight of the last four years has suddenly been shifted from me.
"He thinks Leo belongs to my husband," I added softly. "He perhaps saw news of the wedding four years ago and assumed the worst. I never corrected him because... telling him the truth meant telling him everything."

Cara bit her lip and stared down at the wood grain of the table. I watched the full, crushing weight of my life hit her. I stayed quiet, giving her room to breathe and process it all. She deserved that much.

"You are my friend and I dared to call him my man in front of you, when he has always been yours," she said finally, her voice cracking.

"He's not my man anymore Cara... we're done." I replied but the words almost got stuck in my throat.

"I have to be honest with you...I only said that because..." She stopped, looking up at me with shiny, tear-filled eyes. "Mica, I admit, I've had feelings for him for a really long time but he never for once gave me a reason to think he liked me back, but I still couldn't help it. When I walked in today and saw that girl touching him, I just snapped and blurted it out. I didn't know. I had no idea about any of this."

"I know you didn't," I told her, my heart aching for her too.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"You don't need to apologize," I said, "He doesn't love me anyways."

"No Mica, I don't know what happened in the past but one thing I'm sure of is that he is in love with you, has always been in love with you and now I understand why he never let any girl in, you are the girl he loves."

I just sighed and smiled, I didn't want to argue about it but I know that she was so wrong about Adonis still having feelings for me.

Cara looked at me for a long time, her face showing a painful mix of guilt, sadness, and understanding.

Looking back at her, I felt a deep rush of gratitude. Having a friend who could sit right in the middle of all this mess and still show up for me meant everything.

"What are you going to do?" she asked finally.

I looked down at my hands one last time, feeling a quiet strength settle into my chest. There was only one right path forward.

"I don't know Cara, I really don't."

"How about speaking with him, ask him the reason he left, might be some misunderstanding."

I shook my head, "there was no misunderstanding Cara, he left me because he simply doesn't love me anymore and didn't know how to say it and that it."

"But..."

"Thanks for your advice anyways." I replied, cutting her off.

I stood up and left her staring after me. Adonis abandoned me because I was just a game to him and I have been fine without him, will keep being fine without him.