Chapter 45 Letting pride go
It had taken a lot from Adeline when she finally decided to text Julian asking him if she could call him, and when he responded with a simple 'Sure thing,' she felt her chest tighten instead of relax. She stood still for a moment with her phone in her hand, staring at the screen like it might suddenly change its mind, like he might send another message that would make this easier, but nothing came.
The short reply stayed there, calm and neutral, and it somehow made her even more aware of what she had done earlier that day. She knew she had crossed a line when she accused him, and even if she had been angry and overwhelmed at the time, that didn’t change the fact that she had directed it at the wrong person.
She slowly sat down on the edge of her bed, her fingers brushing against the fabric of her dress as she let out a sigh. After how she had dismissed him earlier, she knew that if she let things remain the way they were, it would create distance between them, and that was the last thing she needed right now. There was too much at stake for her to let pride get in the way. Julian was not just some man she could ignore or cut off when things became uncomfortable. He was the man she had agreed to marry, and whether that decision had been made out of strategy, defiance, or something else entirely, it still meant that they had to find a way to work together without tension constantly hanging over their heads.
She leaned back slightly, staring up at the ceiling as her thoughts drifted, unwillingly, to her father and Nathan. They were probably somewhere laughing at her, waiting for everything to fall apart exactly the way they expected it to. They had made it very clear that they believed she would regret this, that marrying Julian Hale was the biggest mistake she could possibly make.
According to them, Julian would betray her, use her, and discard her once he got what he wanted, and even though she hated the idea of admitting it, she couldn’t completely dismiss that possibility. She wasn’t naive. She knew how people like Julian operated, and she knew that men like him did not make moves without thinking several steps ahead.
Still, she refused to back down.
Even if there was a chance that he could turn against her one day, she believed in herself enough to know that she would not allow it to destroy her. She was not someone who would sit back and watch her life fall apart because of a man. She had built too much, fought too hard, and endured too much to let that happen. If anything, she would be the one who saw it coming first. She would be the one who stayed ahead. That was something she was certain of, and that was why she had to fix this.
She couldn’t allow something as simple as a misunderstanding, or her own moment of anger, to turn into something bigger, not when she had already decided that she was going through with the marriage no matter what. She had made that decision not just for herself, but also to prove a point. To prove to her father and Nathan that she was not someone who could be controlled or predicted and that their assumptions about her would not always be right.
After a few more seconds of hesitation, she straightened slightly and pressed the call button. The ringing barely lasted a moment before the call connected, and just as she opened her mouth to speak, Julian’s voice cut in immediately.
“I hope you called to apologize.”
Adeline blinked, her lips parting slightly in surprise as she pulled the phone away for a brief second, staring at it like it had betrayed her, before bringing it back to her ear. She hadn’t even had the chance to say hello, and he was already demanding an apology like he had been waiting for her call.
“Because if you didn’t call to apologize,” he continued without missing a beat, his voice calm but firm, “then you should have a good night, because we definitely have nothing to talk about.”
Adeline rolled her eyes immediately, irritation rising just as fast as her surprise had. “You don’t have to demand an apology like a freaking child,” she shot back, her tone sharp even though she was trying to keep things from escalating again.
She heard him scoff on the other end, and for a moment, she could almost picture the look on his face, the slight narrowing of his eyes, and that unimpressed expression he wore when he thought someone was being unreasonable.
“So, are you going to apologize or not?” he asked again, his voice carrying just enough edge to make it clear he wasn’t joking.
Adeline let out a slow breath, closing her eyes for a second as she forced herself to calm down. She hadn’t called him to argue again. That would defeat the entire purpose of this conversation, and she knew it. As much as she hated to admit it, he did deserve an apology, and dragging it out would only make things worse.
“I’m sorry,” she said finally, her voice quieter now but still steady. “I got too emotional, and I took my anger out on you.”
The words didn’t come easily, but once she started, she didn’t stop. “It wasn’t right of me to accuse you of being responsible for how the reporters treated me,” she continued, her fingers tightening slightly around the phone. “And if anyone had anything to do with it, it definitely wasn’t you.”
There was a short pause after she finished speaking, and for a moment, she wondered if he was going to say something sarcastic or make her repeat herself, but when he spoke again, his tone had softened slightly.
“I’m glad you know that now,” Julian said. “And I forgive you. I won’t hold it against you anymore.”
Adeline didn’t respond right away. She simply sat there, holding the phone to her ear as the silence stretched between them. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t exactly easy either. It felt like both of them were waiting for the other to say something, neither quite sure how to move forward from there.
After a few seconds, Julian spoke again. “Are you still there?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied quietly. “I am.”
She hesitated for a moment, her brows drawing together slightly as she gathered her thoughts. There was something she needed to ask him, something that had been sitting at the back of her mind ever since everything started, and even though she wasn’t sure if she would like his answer, she knew she couldn’t ignore it any longer.
“I want to ask you something,” she said slowly. “And I need you to answer me as honestly as you can.”
There was a brief pause on his end before he responded. “Go ahead.”
Adeline swallowed softly, her grip on the phone tightening just a little more as she stared ahead, her expression calm but focused. The question sat heavy on her tongue, but she forced herself to say it anyway.
“Are you going to stab me in the back?”