Chapter 229
Irene nodded without looking from her reading. “Got it.”
As he walked away, she found herself staring at the empty doorway. A strange feeling washed over her–like they’d done this exact exchange a hundred times before. Like they were playing house without even realizing it.
What was that about? She shook her head, trying to clear the thought away. Why did his leaving suddenly make the room feel emptier? Behind her, she caught the triplets exchanging knowing glances, but quickly busied herself with her papers.
At Haven Enterprise, Adam sat in his wheelchair surrounded by reports and spreadsheets, but kept checking his watch. The numbers blurred together while his mind wandered to homework fessions and chess games and the way Irene’s eyes lit up when the triplets made her laugh. His fingers tapped restlessly on the wheel of his chair, his focus completely shot.
In a budget meeting, he caught himself sketching a small chess piece on the corner of his notes. When had corporate conquests started feeling less real than breakfast tables with sticky–fingered kids and chess games he purposely lost?
D
His phone buzzed with his father’s name on the screen.
“Dinner tonight,” Marcus Haven said without any greeting. “Luxury Vista. Eight o’clock. Car’s picking you up.”
Adam’s grip tightened around the phone. He wanted to say no, to make up some excuse, but years of habit won out. “Fine.
He stared out his office window, suddenly feeling trapped in the empire he’d built. When had boardrooms started feeling less real than breakfast tables with sticky–fingered kids and chess games he purposely lost just to see Irene’s triumphant smile?
The rest of the day crawled by in endless meetings. By evening, Adam found himself wheeling into Luxury Vista, following his father through the fancy lobby. The restaurant inside was designed around a water feature, with light dancing across the ceiling and softly, illuminated tables arranged for privacy.
Adam took it all in with a distracted glance. Would Irene like this place? Maybe he should bring her here sometime. Away from patients and treatments, just the two of them talking over dinner…
The private dining room door opened. Adam wheeled himself in, still half–lost in thoughts of Emerald Garden, automatically positioning his chair at the table.
Then he saw them, and his daydreams of Irene vanished like smoke.
Mr. Wright sat with perfect posture, but it was Samantha who immediately caught Adam’s attention. Her face lit up with practiced precision, lips curving into the exact right degree of pleased surprise as she leaned forward slightly, diamond earrings catching the light. Everything about her was calculated for maximum effect.
“Adam, it’s been too long,” she said, her voice honey–sweet but eyes sharp as they flicked briefly to hi heelchair before returning to his face with well–rehearsed warmth.
Adam’s expression shifted from distraction to steel in an instant, his jaw tightening almost imperceptibly.
Samantha Wright–his mother’s persistent pick for “perfect wife material.” The society beauty who’d play the devoted partner role to perfection. The same woman who’d once been treated by a brilliant doctor overseas and spent months complaining about how cold
and clinical “Dr. Joy” had been.
The same Dr. Joy who was actually Irene..
The woman who’d been furious to discover her elite medical consultant was now living in the same social circle, ruining Samantha’s perfectly orchestrated world.
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Chapter 229
Something protective ignited in Adam’s chest as he adjusted his chair at the table. A battle line formed in his mind, invisible but absolute. These people would never get anywhere near Emerald Garden–never get close to the woman who’d somehow become the center of his world.
Not if he had anything to say about it. And he had plenty.
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