Chapter 142

ADAN

Adan gritted his teeth while he read Yena’s message, a frustrated growl rumbling in his chest and throat.

Thank you so much for all your help as I prepared for study abroad. I feel terrible to turn down your invitation, but I won’t have time to meet up before I leave. I wish you all the best for the new semester!!

The text was annoying polite. And Yena did not even mention the gift Adan said he needed to give her. Like she didn’t want it or care at all.

He wrote back to her in a tone of well-practiced patience.

No problem, Yena. I completely understand. When do you take off for your big adventure?

This had to be at least the third time he had asked her. He couldn’t understand why she would not just tell him.

Yena never really acted like she was suspicious of Adan. She kept her guard up around him, but back before Adan started making his move against Nolan, it felt like there was a vibe between the two of them… and Adan was used to being able to exploit that kind of thing to weaken women and make them do what he wanted.

Yena didn’t reply. She was going to leave Adan waiting again.

At this point, she was no longer an amusing challenge. Adan was only getting angrier and angrier every day that Yena blew him off over and over again.

The gift he had bought for Yena was sitting on top of his dresser right now, in a small black box with a soft gold ribbon around it. He walked over and picked it up. Thought about going out to the balcony and throwing it into the forest as far as he could.

Instead, he took it with him over to his desk, where he sat down in a leather armchair, placed the box on the desktop, and absently drummed his fingers beside it. He was thinking about the options he had ahead of him. And about how little patience he really had left for all this gameplay with his little brother and his tease of a wife…

It was time to stop chasing Yena. And go back to that other tool he’d been using to get information about the royal couple while Adan and the princess had been estranged.

He frowned, already irritated just thinking about her.

LUCY

Lucy’s phone buzzed in her back pocket. She shifted the bag of groceries she was carrying from one arm to the other so she could reach around and retrieve it.

It was Adan calling.

Lucy paused at the bottom of the driveway and looked up at her parents’ house. Decided it would be best to take the call outside, instead of anywhere in earshot of her parents. She hurried over to the low stone wall that surrounded the front garden and propped the grocery bag up on the top of it.

Suddenly she was worried she was going to miss the call before she could free her hands. She didn’t want Adan to think she was avoiding him. She didn’t want him to think anything negative about her at all.

“Hey,” she said, picking up the call with hurried fingers.

“Hey, Luce.” Adan’s voice was calm, and silky smooth. “How are you doing?”

“I’m alright. Just coming home from getting groceries and running errands for my mom.” Lucy leaned against the garden wall and rolled her eyes. Adan did not care about this detail. Sometimes he just made her so nervous that she couldn’t stop herself from rambling about nothing.

“That’s sweet of you,” he said. She could hear a smile in his voice. “And speaking of how sweet you are… Lucy, I’ve been tormented since that last time you and I spoke. I feel terrible about how things ended. I’m so sorry for the way I treated you.”

Lucy’s jaw dropped. She took a staggering breath, closing her eyes. She had not known what to expect when she picked up this phone call, but that was something she would never have expected to hear from Adan.

“I miss you, Lucy. Do you think we could meet up sometime this week? Just to talk?”

“Wow,” she said, trying to gather her thoughts. “Um, well, thank you, first of all. I really appreciate the apology. And I guess, okay, we could meet up some time, but this week isn’t good for me, actually.”

“Oh.” Adan sounded disappointed. “I see. And I understand, Lucy. I wouldn’t want to see me again, either, if I were you. The truth is, I know that you deserve better than me…”

“Adan, no. That’s not it, I promise. It’s just that this is Yena’s last week here, you remember, before the semester abroad? I told her I’d spend as much time with her as I could, helping her make dresses.”

“Ohhh. Right, right,” Adan said. “Oh, that’s good to hear that Yena is really doing that trip abroad. What are you ladies making dresses for? A school project?”

“Well, it’s for Yena’s new business, actually. You haven’t heard about that?”

“No,” he said. “What’s she up to?”

Lucy felt a sudden, sharp feeling of discomfort. Something felt not right about talking to Adan about Yena anymore. Maybe there was something not right about doing that all along, actually…

“She’s just selling a few dresses online,” she told Adan. “It’s not a big deal, just a side project I’m gonna help her with.”

“Okay, well, let’s find another time for you and me. What’s the next day you’re free?”

“Uh, Saturday would be alright, I guess.” Lucy bit her lower lip. She didn’t really want to see Adan, but it was hard to say no to him. Especially when he spoke to her sweetly like this, making her remember what it was like when they had first stated dating.

“I can’t Saturday,” Adan replied. “So, Yena’s leaving Saturday, then, huh? Does that mean you’re free Sunday, too? We could have brunch, go out someplace nice. Let me spoil you a little bit.”

“Okay.” Maybe later Lucy could make an excuse to get out of the date. For now, she just wanted to get off the phone. “Just text me later about what time, alright? I got to go now.”

“No problem, Luce,” Adan said politely. “Thank you for hearing me out. I appreciate it so much. I’ll text you soon.”

Lucy said goodbye and slipped her phone back into her jeans pocket. Gathering up the bulky grocery bag once again, she walked slowly up the path to the house, shaking her head at herself the whole way.

How did Adan still have such influence over her?

It was inexplicable. Something about him… his touch, his voice, the intensity in his eyes… Adan was powerful, more powerful than any other man Lucy had ever met before… too powerful to resist. And at this point, something primal inside of her just wanted to lie down and submit to him as soon as he opened his mouth around her.

But she was going to get out of this. She would find a way to cancel on Adan before their date on Sunday.

At least, she would try.