Chapter 67 Delusional
Chapter 67 Delusional
The second the limousine doors closed behind them, the silence inside the car felt almost unreal after the chaos of the wedding reception. For the first time all day, Adeline could finally breathe without cameras flashing in her face or people constantly trying to speak to her. The loud music, the endless greetings, the fake smiles, the reporters, and the tension between both families suddenly felt far away now that it was only her and Julian sitting together in the backseat while the driver quietly pulled away from the venue.
Adeline leaned her head back against the seat slowly before letting out the longest sigh imaginable. Her entire body felt exhausted in a way she could barely explain. It felt like every muscle in her body had been forced to stay tense since morning, and now that the wedding was finally over, everything was crashing down on her at once. Without caring about elegance anymore, she bent slightly and slipped one heel off her foot before groaning dramatically. A few seconds later, the second heel followed, and she curled her toes with relief.
“Oh my God,” she muttered tiredly while rubbing the side of her foot. “I think my feet are actually dying.”
Beside her, Julian loosened his tie slightly before letting out a low chuckle. He looked exhausted too now that the day was finally over. His perfectly styled hair no longer looked as neat as it had in the morning, and the top buttons of his shirt were already undone, but somehow he still looked annoyingly handsome.
“It’s finally over, and nobody got hurt,” he told her calmly.
“I definitely did,” Adeline complained immediately. “Today was torture. My cheeks hurt from smiling too much, my head hurts from pretending to enjoy conversations with people I hate, and my feet feel like they’re about to fall off completely.” She paused before glaring at him dramatically. “And if one more person had asked me when I plan on having children, I would have pushed somebody off the balcony.”
Julian laughed louder this time, clearly entertained by her misery. “You handled it well though.”
“That’s because I deserve an award for acting,” she replied instantly. “Seriously, weddings are horrible. I don’t understand why people act like they’re magical life experiences. This was just stress, an avoidable one.”
Julian shook his head while smiling faintly. “You looked like you were enjoying yourself earlier.”
“That,” Adeline said while pointing at herself, “was performance, pure performance. Nothing about today was enjoyable.”
For a few moments, neither of them spoke again. Adeline kept rubbing her feet tiredly while Julian rested his arm against the seat beside him, looking far more relaxed now than he had looked all day at the church and reception.
Finally, Adeline sighed heavily again before speaking. “This is definitely my last wedding, and I mean it. I cannot imagine willingly putting myself through this nonsense ever again.”
Julian chuckled softly before responding, “You say that now, but our marriage is only supposed to last for a few years.”
The moment the words left his mouth, something about the conversation suddenly felt strangely awkward to him. He glanced sideways at her briefly before looking away again. Honestly, discussing future divorces and future relationships while still dressed in wedding clothes beside his brand-new wife felt ridiculous. This probably was not the kind of conversation newlyweds were supposed to be having on their wedding night.
Still, this marriage had always been temporary. Eventually, they were supposed to separate, eventually, Adeline would move on, and eventually, he would too.
“You’ll probably meet someone else eventually,” Julian continued carefully, trying to sound casual despite how uncomfortable the topic strangely made him feel. “Fall in love or something.”
Adeline immediately burst into laughter.
Julian stared at her with visible offense. “Wow. That reaction feels unnecessarily rude.”
Adeline kept laughing for another few seconds before finally calming down enough to shake her head at him. “Julian, please. You make it sound like we live inside some fairytale romance movie.”
“You don’t believe people fall in love?” he asked.
“I believe people become obsessed with each other temporarily,” she corrected calmly. “Then eventually reality ruins everything.”
Julian leaned back slightly against the seat while studying her face. “That’s a very depressing way to think.”
“It’s realistic.”
“No,” he replied quietly. “It’s defensive.”
Adeline rolled her eyes immediately. “You sound like a therapist.”
“And you sound emotionally unavailable.”
That made her snort despite herself. She turned her face slightly toward the window, watching the lights outside blur together while the limousine continued moving through the city.
“I’m serious though,” she said after a while, her tone quieter now. “After this marriage ends, I’m done with all this wedding nonsense forever. I’ll focus on things that actually matter.”
Julian raised an eyebrow slightly. “Like what?”
“My company, my career, and my peace of mind.” She shrugged lazily. “Things that are actually useful.”
“Can’t you have all that and still have love?” Julian asked.
Adeline finally turned toward him again. “Tell me honestly, with the kind of families we both grew up in, do you really believe in love?”
The question made Julian pause for a moment.
Adeline continued before he could answer. “We both watched our fathers destroy every relationship they touched. Your father changes women every few months. Mine practically destroyed my mother mentally before she died. Nathan behaves exactly the same way too. Patrick wasn’t any better. Literally every married man around me behaves like cheating is normal.”
Julian stayed quiet while listening to her.
“So why exactly would I believe in love after growing up surrounded by all that?” she finished quietly.
There was no emotion in her voice while she said it, and somehow that made the words heavier.
Julian looked down briefly at his wedding ring before finally speaking. “I don’t think I’m anything like my father.”
Adeline stared at him silently.
“Yeah, my father is a terrible husband,” Julian continued. “Probably a terrible person too most of the time, but that doesn’t mean I’m automatically going to become him.”
“You sound very confident about that,” Adeline snorted.
Julian smirked. “I am confident.”
Adeline studied his face carefully for a few seconds before asking, “So you genuinely believe one day you’re just going to magically fall in love and stay in love forever?”
Julian actually smiled a little at that question. “Maybe not magically, but it will happen.”
“That sounds delusional.”
“You’re just a pessimist,” he muttered with a quiet laugh.
Still, he continued anyway. “But yes, eventually, I want that. I want something real someday. A relationship that doesn’t feel fake or miserable all the time. I want a marriage that actually works.”
Something uncomfortable twisted strangely inside Adeline’s chest hearing him say those words. Especially because he was talking about another woman. Some future woman he would genuinely love one day. Some woman he would stay married to permanently, unlike this temporary arrangement between them.
For some reason, the thought irritated her more than it should have. “That sounds boring,” she muttered quietly while looking away again.
Julian laughed softly. “You think stability is boring because your entire life revolves around conflict.”
Adeline crossed her arms stubbornly while sinking deeper into her seat. “Anyway, I still think you’re being naive.”
“And I still think you’ll change your mind eventually,” Julian responded with a shrug.
She shook her head immediately. “Absolutely not.”
“You’re young.”
“So are you.”
“Exactly,” Julian replied calmly. “Which means neither of us knows what the future looks like yet.”
Adeline frowned slightly at that response. She hated when he sounded reasonable because it made arguing with him irritatingly difficult.
To avoid continuing the conversation, she leaned her head back against the seat again and closed her eyes briefly. The exhaustion from the day was finally catching up to her properly now. Between the wedding, the reception, the reporters, her father, Nathan, Lucas, and the endless pretending, she felt completely drained emotionally.