Chapter 7
My office lost its mind the day Adrian showed up.
The coworkers around me whispered like birds in a storm.
Who is that? Why is he staring over here? No way he’s looking at Candy, right? You think she knows him? Impossible.
If only they knew.
My boss introduced him as the company’s new major shareholder.
Adrian barely acknowledged anyone else.
His attention stayed on me so openly that even my boss noticed.
Later, my boss called me into his office.
He was all fake sympathy and corporate sighs.
Because of my unexplained absence before the holiday, he’d decided not only to dock my attendance bonus but my monthly bonus too.
I was about to argue when Adrian’s assistant appeared at the door and said, in an almost bored voice, “Mr. Hale hopes you won’t make things difficult for Ms. Hale.”
Well.
That was that.
I couldn’t fight my boss after that without making things worse for myself, so I left in a terrible mood and blamed Adrian for all of it.
He had this incredible talent for trying to help in ways that only made my life harder.
A few days later, the company announced a Saturday team-building trip.
Everyone complained.
Loudly.
Then we got downstairs and found an absurdly luxurious double-decker bus waiting outside.
Apparently the new shareholder had paid for it.
I should have known that meant Adrian would be on it too.
Halfway through boarding, he came straight to my row and politely asked my seatmate to switch places.
A horrified silence fell around us.
I stared out the window and refused to look at him.
After the bus started moving, he leaned closer and said quietly, “I’m sorry.”
I said nothing.
He kept going.
“Everything before. I know I was wrong. Can you give me another chance?”
“No.”
It came out so cleanly even I surprised myself.
Because that was the truth.
Not maybe. Not later. Not if he worked harder.
No.
The one who had loved him wasn’t me.
And the one sitting beside him now had no intention of becoming her substitute.
After that, I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.
At some point I actually did drift off.
When I woke, my head was on his shoulder.
I jerked upright so fast my neck hurt.
How in the world had that happened?
He didn’t mention it.
Just unscrewed a bottle of water and handed it to me.
“Here.”
I took it after a pause.
“Thanks.”
The team-building location was a mountain resort.
The path up was muddy and steep, and halfway through the hike, rain began pounding down without warning.
Everyone started rushing toward the pavilion at the top.
The trail turned slick in seconds.
I was trying to keep my footing when my shoe slid out from under me.
Then I was falling.
Down through brush and wet earth, the world spinning black.
The last thing I saw before everything went dark was Adrian running toward me.
When I woke, the world was white.
The sharp smell of disinfectant. The beeping of monitors. My body trapped in pain.
I lifted my hand and felt warmth around it.
Someone had been holding it.
“Candy?”
Adrian’s voice broke beside me.
I turned my head.
He looked awful.
Stubbled. Pale. Exhausted beyond reason.
For one absurd second, my first thought was: He looks terrible.
Then I noticed the strain in his face, the red around his eyes, the way relief and fear had fused into something raw and quiet.
“You saved me,” I said.
He grabbed a cup of water and held the straw to my lips with trembling hands.
After I drank, I whispered, “Thank you.”
He looked at me as if that simple gratitude was more than he deserved.
Maybe it was.
Maybe it wasn’t.
I told him to go wash up because he looked like a ghost.
He obeyed instantly, almost desperately, and vanished into the bathroom.
I lay there staring at the ceiling.
My leg hurt the worst.
Probably fractured, maybe worse.
But I was alive.
A few minutes later, the door burst open and Serena came storming in.
“Candy! You’re awake!”
She was followed by a puff of cigarette smell and a face full of fierce relief.
She sat on Adrian’s chair without the slightest shame and told me everything at once.
I had been unconscious for three days.
Noah’s surgery had happened two days ago and gone well.
Yufei was fine too, though Ethan was still very much on Serena’s kill list.
By the time Adrian came back out of the bathroom, Serena had already settled into the room like she owned it.
He clearly hated that.
She clearly enjoyed it.
I wanted to laugh, but my chest hurt too much.
Once the worst of the shock passed, hospital life became strangely steady.
Serena came every day.
Adrian came every day too.
He sat on the couch with his laptop, worked quietly, handled calls in the hallway, and never once pushed too hard after my clear rejection.
That silence unsettled me more than pleading would have.
One afternoon, Serena typed a message on her phone and shoved it in front of my face.
When are you going to tell him properly?
I read it and then looked toward Adrian on the couch.
My feelings were a mess.
Because there is something deeply unfair about owing your life to someone you do not love.
It makes every boundary feel heavier.
Every word harder.
But uncertainty is also its own cruelty.
So I knew I had to say it clearly.
Not because I owed him hope.
But because I owed him the truth.