Chapter 393
“Today. Just now, Adam answered immediately. ‘I swear on everything I care about, it wasn’t until Anna described that night that the pieces fell fatay pi
A small nod. Then she was moving again, pushing through the exit doors toward the rain–soaked parking lot.
She walked straight into the downpour, letting it soak through her clothes in seconds. The cold water streaking down her face mixed with tears she hados realized were falling.
Adam halted at the doorway, watching her figure blur through the sheets of rain. His heart hammered against his ribs as a single thought crystallized: Im losing her.
“Sir, I’ll go get her, Thomas stepped forward, but Adam was already gripping the wheelchair armrests.
Adam gripped his wheelchair armrests, knuckles white. “No.”
He pushed himself up, wobbling slightly before finding his balance. His legs–those same legs that couldn’t support his weight just months ago–trembled beneath him.
Thomas lunged forward. “Sir, your recovery-
“Recovery doesn’t mean shit if she walks out of my life,‘ Adam growled, pushing himself forward despite knowing the risk to his still–healing legs.
He lurched into the rain, each step growing more confident as muscle memory kicked in. Water plastered his clothes to his skin, but he barely noticed as he picked up speed.
“Irene!” The shout tore from somewhere deeper than his throat. Not the controlled CEO voice, not the smooth charmer–just a man terrified of watching his world walk away.
She turned at his voice, freezing as understanding dawned. The man who’d spent months in a wheelchair was running–actually running–across the parking lot toward her, his face tight with effort, rain streaking down his determined features.
She couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t process one more impossible thing today.
Just as they were nearly face to face, Adam hit a slick patch and went down hard, sprawling onto the wet pavement with a thud that knocked the wind from his lungs.
Irene’s heart lurched, medical instincts temporarily overriding everything else. She was at his side in seconds, crouching down, her hands automatically
checking for injuries.
“Are you out of your damn mind?” she half–shouted, voice cracking with a mixture of anger and concern. “Months of therapy down the drain! Your neural pathways aren’t fully-* She cut herself off, realizing she was cradling his leg, thumbs massaging the knee in the exact way she’d done during countless therapy sessions.
The muscle memory of being his doctor, his caretaker, his… everything else… flooded back. Her hands jerked away like she’d touched fire.
Adam caught her wrist before she could retreat. “Don’t go,” Adam’s voice was nothing like the confident CEO the world knew–it was broken, honest, and stripped bare. Rain cascaded down his face as he held onto her like a lifeline. “Just… hear me out. Please.”
Irene turned to face him fully, rain plastering her hair to her face, but her eyes had gone glacier–cold. “Hear what exactly?”
Her calm was more unsettling than any screaming fit. “How you managed to ruin my life, then waltz back in and make me fall for you? That’s one hell of a magic trick, Adam.”
Water dripped from her chin as she continued, yoice dangerously level. “I lost my family, my home, my identity. I faced morning sickness alone in a country where I barely spoke the language. I went through labor with a nurse holding my hand because there was no one else.”
Her eyes darkened with memories. “Nobody to hold my hand during labor. Reading baby books alone at 3 AM. Checking three temperatures every time one got a fever.” She took a shuddering breath “All because of one night I can’t even remember.”
Suddenly her brow furrowed, a thought breaking through the pain. “Wait. It can’t be you. Her voice changed, grasping at this last thread of denial. That
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man had a scar down his back. I’ve seen you… Her cheeks colored slightly despite everything. I’ve seen your back. There a un tear-
Adam’s reply was soft. There was back then. Second year of college, fencing club dispute that got out of hand. The wound heated completely un tissue eventually faded.
He gestured toward Thomas standing under the shelter of the doorway. “Thomas was there. He jumped in to protect me and nearly got slashed himself.
Thomas nodded gravely from the distance, his face a mirror of regret and memory.
The last wisp of hope died in Irene’s eyes. I hated him, she whispered, then her voice rose. “I hated him with everything I had.”
She looked up, something finally cracking in her controlled facade. “You have no fucking idea! I have zero memories of that night–nothing!”
Rain plastered her hair to her face as her voice rose. “How many nights did 1 stare at the ceiling, trying to remember anything? How many times did I wonder if I’d find him someday and ask why?‘
Her hands clenched into fists, then released, like they didn’t know what to do with the feelings pouring out. “After the kids were asleep, when the apartment was quiet… God, the things I wished on him.*
The fight suddenly drained from her. “Who else knows?” The question was barely audible above the rain. “Besides you and Thomas.
Adam met her eyes, hesitating just long enough that she knew the answer would hurt. “The kids. They figured it out on their own.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief as he continued, “My parents too. Those smartwatches–they were gifts from my parents to their grandchildren.”
The revelation hit her like physical impact. Her shoulders sagged, lips trembling as she processed this new layer of betrayal.
“Everyone.” She laughed–a broken, terrible sound. “Everyone knew except me. My own children kept this from me.”
She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly looking small in the vast parking lot. “All of you deciding what I should and shouldn’t know. Playing God with my life. Again.”
“The kids were scared,” Adam said quickly. “They thought knowing would hurt you more. Alex told me they were afraid you’d be sad if you found out.”
He took a cautious step closer. “They love you more than anything, Irene. They were trying to protect you the same way you’ve always protected them.”
Rain ran in rivulets down his face as he struggled for words. “With or without the kids, with or without that night, I’d have fallen for you anyway.”
His voice softened. “For the way you bite your lip when you’re concentrating. For how fiercely you fight for everyone except yourself. For a hundred small moments that have nothing to do with destiny or kids or anything, except who you are.”
She turned away, shoulders shaking. “Funny, isn’t it? The man I’ve cursed for six years is the same one I…” She couldn’t finish, couldn’t say the words even
now.
‘Forget Adam Haven.” He moved closer, close enough that she could feel his warmth even through the rain. “Forget the CEO, the name, all of it. It’s just m -the Adam who watches you cut the crusts off sandwiches and thinks it’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. The person who loves those three kids s much it scares him sometimes.”
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