Chapter 104 The Invitation
Kira’s POV
I felt the air charge, and my entire body come alive like someone plugged me into a socket.
Adrian.
He was coming towards us. I could sense it in my bones, even without looking.
I had no idea how that was possible.
The lobby had gone strangely quiet after Evelyn jerked away from my whisper, her face drained of color, like she’d seen a ghost. Which, in a way, she had.
Then the crowd parted.
Adrian Draven strode through like he owned the place…because he did. Every step was deliberate, his aura cutting through the chaos, his presence sucking the air out of the room.
People stepped back without even realizing they were doing it. Phones lowered as whispers hushed.
He didn’t look at anyone else. His eyes…those sharp, unreadable eyes…locked on me and stayed there as he came straight to my side, stopping so close I could feel the heat coming off him.
“What’s going on here?” His voice was low and calm, but it carried like a gunshot.
Frederick straightened up instantly, all fake humility dialed to eleven. “Mr. Draven!” he said, beaming like Adrian was his long-lost best friend. “You’re here. What a pleasure.”
Oh, they’ve met already? I guess Adrian is moving faster than I thought.
The remaining onlookers started murmuring again.
“That’s Adrian Draven?”
“The Adrian Draven? The mysterious man who owns half the city?”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. Oh, Adrian must be loving this. Look at them…all these people recognizing him, clearing space like he’s royalty.
Damn it! He’s royalty.
You could literally feel his aura filling the room to the brim, thick and commanding. King of the world, right?
Frederick waved a hand dismissively. “It’s nothing, really. Just a minor incident. Family misunderstanding, but rest assured that I’ve handled it.”
Adrian didn’t even glance at him at first. Instead, he slid an arm around my waist, pulling me firmly against his side. His hand settled possessively on my hip, warm and unyielding.
“Mr Leonard,” he said rather calmly, but in a chilling tone…like he’s telling him to thread carefully.
Frederick spoke up immediately without hesitation. “Please, call me Frederick. I dropped the surname, Leonard, to honor my late wife and daughter’s legacy. So… it’s Frederick Summers now,” he said with an air of pride.
Gosh, I loathe their audacity! But I can’t do much at the moment.
“I don’t care about that. I just hope whatever this minor incident was didn’t offend my wife?” he said, voice smooth as silk but edged with steel.
Sharp gasps ripped through the air.
Wife?
Frederick’s mouth actually fell open. Evelyn froze beside him, eyes wide. Miranda, hovering in the background with her arms crossed, looked like someone had slapped her…jealousy and pure rage flashing in her eyes so bright I almost felt the burn.
She muttered something under her breath about “that lady snatched Antonio from me” and “he was supposed to be mine,” but Frederick shot her a death glare so vicious she shut up fast.
I just stood there, tucked against Adrian, trying not to react outwardly while my brain did cartwheels.
Frederick cleared his throat, bowing his head a little.
“We… we had no idea that you are married, Mr. Draven. Congratulations. Truly. I hope you don’t take whatever happened here today to heart. In fact…”
he smiled wide, all teeth “we’d be honored to host you and your wife tomorrow. Today, of course, is our daughter’s funeral. So, we plead that you forgive my family for what happened here.”
Adrian’s thumb brushed my waist, casual but deliberate. “My wife can be crazy sometimes,” he said, glancing down at me with the tiniest smirk, “but she’s very forgiving.”
Forgiving?
Inside, I was screaming. Forgiving? Has he lost his damn mind? I haven’t forgiven him for what he did to Abby…dragging her into his mess, breaking her heart…and he’s out here telling the world I’m forgiving? The nerve!
He kept going, voice steady. “If you don’t mind, my wife and I would like to attend the funeral. To pay our respects.”
Frederick lit up like a Christmas tree. “Absolutely! We’d be delighted. In fact…” he leaned in conspiratorially “why wait until tomorrow? You could follow us home after the service. Have lunch with the family. We’d love to get to know Mrs. Draven better.”
Home.
The word hit me like a fist to the chest.
Home. The house I grew up in. The one my mom built with her own hands…every room, every garden, every memory. The house they stole from us.
Panic clawed up my throat, mixed with this sharp, painful ache, and underneath it all… anticipation.
God, I wanted to walk through those doors again. I wanted to see what they’d done to it. I wanted them to choke on my presence in my own house.
Adrian felt me tense…he must have thought I reacted that way because I didn’t welcome the idea. His fingers tightened on my waist, and he started to speak. “That won’t be necess—“
“Of course,” I cut in, voice sweet as sugar, stepping forward just enough to smile at Frederick. “We would be honored to have lunch with your family after the funeral.”
I stood there, Adrian’s arm like a steel band around my waist, his grip the only thing keeping me upright as Frederick’s words hung in the air. Lunch. At home. My home.
They stole it. They stole her. They stole me.
And now, I’m about to walk back in there like a guest. Like I belonged on the outside looking in.
Pain clawed up my throat, raw and burning. I wanted to scream. I wanted to grab Frederick by his perfect lapels and shake him until his fake tears turned real. I wanted to look Evelyn in the eye and ask how she slept at night wearing Mom’s jewels, sleeping in Mom’s bed, raising her spoiled brat in Mom’s house while Mom and I became memories existing only in the past.
But I smiled through it. I smiled so wide my cheeks hurt.
I smiled because they will soon bleed to their death.
“Of course,” I said again, softer this time, letting my voice tremble just enough to sound touched.
“I’d be honored.”