His Mistake, My Revenge

Not Ever

Adrian didn’t speak during the drive.

I kept looking at him anyway. At his hands on the steering wheel. At the tightness in his jaw. At the way he wouldn’t look at me no matter how many times I turned toward him.

“Is he okay?” I asked quietly.

Nothing.

My chest started hurting before we even got there..“Why was he even here?” I asked, my voice shaking so badly the words barely sounded like mine. “Why was my dog in a clinic, Adrian?”

He looked away for half a second.His silence dragged on too long.

The vet shifted awkwardly beside us. “Security said the dog got out through one of the side gates earlier this week. They were trying to catch him when—”...Just looked at Buster lying on the table like he was trying to choose his words carefully.

And suddenly I was terrified of whatever was coming next.

“Adrian.”

His jaw tightened.

“My mother took him from the shelter this morning.”

I stared at him.

“What?”

“She told security she was dropping him somewhere else.” His voice sounded flatter now. Colder. “I found out after she left.”

The room spun for a second.

“She took him?”

Adrian nodded once.

Rage hit me so fast it almost covered the grief.

“She went near him?” I whispered.She shouldn’t have.”

“But she did.”

The vet spoke quietly from beside us. “The driver said the dog got loose near the west highway. They think he panicked after jumping from the vehicle.”

I looked back at Buster so fast my neck hurt.

Jumped.

My chest caved in.

I imagined him terrified and confused, looking for me while strangers grabbed at him.

I pressed my hand against my mouth because I thought I might throw up.

“He was scared,” I whispered.

Nobody answered.

Tears blurred my vision again.

“He hated cars,” I said weakly. “He hated being around people he didn’t know.”

Adrian finally stepped closer. “Aria—”

“You let her take him.”

The words came out sharp enough to cut.

His face hardened instantly. “I didn’t know she’d already done it.”

“But you knew she wanted him gone.”

Silence.

That silence hurt more than if he’d yelled at me.

I looked at him through tears, feeling something ugly and cold settle inside my chest.

“She killed him.”

“Aria.”

“She did.” My voice cracked. “And you’re standing here acting calm like this isn’t insane.”

For the first time that night, Adrian lost control of his expression.

Just for a second.

Anger flashed across his face so fast it startled me.

Not at me.

At her.

“She crossed a line,” he said quietly.

I laughed bitterly through tears. “A line? My dog is dead.”

The room went silent again.

I looked back at Buster and touched his head gently.

Then I whispered the thing that hurt the most.

“He probably thought I abandoned him.”

Adrian took a step toward me carefully, like he thought moving too fast would make things worse.

“Aria.”

I wiped at my face angrily. “Don’t.”

His eyes stayed on me anyway. On my shaking hands. On the tears I couldn’t stop no matter how hard I tried.

“I know this hurts.”

A broken laugh left my throat.

“You know?” I looked at him in disbelief. “You know?”

He didn’t answer.

Because he couldn’t.

I turned back toward Buster and rested my trembling hand against his fur again. Cold now. Completely cold.

My chest hurt so badly I could barely breathe around it.

“I kept thinking he’d come back,” I whispered. “Every time I thought maybe he found his way home, found his way to me.”

Adrian moved closer again. This time I was too exhausted to step away.

“He shouldn’t have been taken from the shelter,” he said quietly. “I’ll deal with my mother.”

That made something inside me snap again.

I turned toward him so fast the chair beside me scraped loudly against the floor.

“Deal with her?” I repeated. “That’s what you think this is?”

His jaw tightened.

“She killed him.”

“I know.”

“No, you don’t.” Tears kept spilling down my face faster than I could wipe them away. “Because if you understood, you wouldn’t be standing there talking about handling it like it’s some business problem.”

“Aria—”

“You didn’t even want him here.”

The words came out sharper than I meant them to.

But once they were out, I couldn’t stop. “You didn’t even want him here.”

The words came out sharp, but once they were out, I couldn’t stop.

“You only met him once,” I said, crying harder now. “At the wedding. Remember?”

Adrian went still.

“He kept pulling on the leash trying to get to me because he thought I was taking him home.” My voice shook badly. “He was so excited when he saw me.”

The memory hit me so hard my chest hurt.

“I begged you,” I whispered. “I begged you to let me bring him with me.”

Adrian looked away for a second.

Just a second.

But I saw it.

“I believed you.” I mean whatever gave me hope yes?..

I looked back down at Buster and stroked the fur near his head carefully.

“When I went to the shelter this morning, Janet told me he’d barely eaten since I left him there.” My throat tightened painfully. “She said every time someone walked past his cage, he’d stand up maybe because he thought it was me coming back.”

Adrian stayed quiet.

I kept talking because if I stopped, I thought I might fall apart completely.

“He was limping when I saw him.” Tears blurred my vision again. “But he still wagged his tail at me.”

The memory nearly destroyed me.

“He trusted me.” My voice cracked. “And then your mother took him away before I could come back for him.”

“Aria—”

“No.” I shook my head hard. “You don’t get to stand there pretending this has nothing to do with you.”

His jaw tightened slightly.

“You knew he mattered to me,” I whispered. “Maybe you didn’t care about him, but you knew I did.”

The room felt horribly quiet after that.

“And your mother knew too.” I wiped angrily at my face. “That’s why she took him. Because she knew it would hurt me.”

Something dark passed over Adrian’s expression then.

Because deep down, he knew I was right. But honestly, I couldn't even care less now.

I looked back at Buster lying on the table and my chest ached so badly it felt unbearable.

“She didn’t just kill my dog,” I said softly. “She took the only thing in my life that loved me without conditions.”

I looked at Buster for a long time after that. I kept stroking the fur near his head carefully, like if I touched him gently enough he might still wake up. The room was freezing, but I barely felt it anymore. My whole body felt numb in that strange way pain sometimes makes you numb before it makes you collapse.

Nobody spoke.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the shelter. Janet had said he kept waiting near the front of the kennel even after I left. Like he knew I’d promised him something.

And I had.

I promised I’d come back for him.

“I want to go,” I whispered finally.

The words barely sounded like mine.

Behind me, Adrian stayed quiet for a moment before saying, “I’ll take you home.”

A small laugh escaped me then. Not because anything was funny. I think my body just didn’t know what else to do anymore.

“That’s not my home.”

He didn’t answer that.

I stood up slowly, wiping at my face with shaking hands. My knees felt weak enough to give out again, and Adrian moved immediately like he was going to steady me. I stepped away before he could touch me.

His hand stopped halfway between us.

For a second neither of us moved.

Then he lowered it quietly.

“I’ll arrange everything here,” he said.

Everything.

Like Buster was something to arrange.

Paperwork. A problem to clean up.

I shut my eyes because suddenly I couldn’t breathe properly again.

“Don’t leave him here alone.”

My voice cracked badly on the last word.

Something changed in Adrian’s expression when I said that. His face softened for the first time all night, just enough for me to notice.

“He won’t be alone,” he said quietly.

I looked at him for a second, trying to decide whether I believed him. I didn’t know anymore. I didn’t know what to believe about him.

The drive back was silent. I sat facing the window with Buster’s leash wrapped tightly around my hand while the city lights blurred outside. Every now and then Adrian glanced toward me, like he wanted to say something, but he never did.

Good.

I didn’t want comfort from him.

Not now.

Maybe not ever again.

When we pulled into the driveway, I stared at the house without moving. The lights were still on downstairs. The stupid perfect garden. The fountain near the entrance kept running softly like nothing had happened tonight.

Like the world hadn’t changed.

But it had.

Something inside me had broken in that clinic, and I knew deep down it wasn’t going to heal the same way.

Adrian turned off the engine. “We should go inside.”

I finally looked at him then.

His tie was gone. His sleeves were still rolled up. He looked exhausted, but not in the same way I was exhausted. Mine felt deeper. Like something had been hollowed out inside me.

“You said I owed you,” I said quietly.

His expression tightened immediately.

“Aria—”

“You locked me in that house because I went looking for him.” My throat burned, but I kept talking anyway. “And while I was begging you to let me keep the only thing I loved, your mother was taking him away like he meant nothing.”

Pain flashed across his face before he hid it again.

I wanted it to hurt.

I wanted at least one person from that family to understand what they’d done to me.

“You don’t get to touch me again,” I whispered.

Adrian went completely still.

The silence inside the car stretched painfully between us.

Finally, he said carefully, “Not tonight.”

I shook my head slowly.

“Not ever.”

That one landed.

I saw it in his face immediately. The smallest crack in that cold control he carried around like armor. Most people probably wouldn’t have noticed it, but I did.

And for the first time since marrying Adrian Cross, I realized something.

I finally had the power to hurt him back.