Chapter 2 — A Cold Reunion
1203 Words
The lights came back on.
For a moment, the ballroom was silent.
Then the noise returned all at once.
Guests whispered nervously. Security officers moved quickly through the crowd, checking the doors and scanning the room.
A few people laughed awkwardly, pretending the sudden blackout had been nothing more than an unfortunate accident.
But Elena couldn't laugh.
She was still standing in Adrian's arms.
His hand remained firmly around her waist.
His other hand held hers.
She could feel the tension in his body.
“Adrian,” she whispered. “Let me go.”
He didn't.
“Not yet.”
His voice was low.
Elena looked around.
“What happened?”
“I don't know.”
“You said someone was watching me.”
“I saw someone near the entrance.”
“Who?”
“I couldn't see his face.”
Elena's frustration quickly replaced her fear.
She pulled her hand from his.
“You can't keep doing this.”
Adrian finally released her.
“Doing what?”
“Acting like you still have the right to protect me.”
His expression hardened.
“I never stopped having that right.”
Elena stared at him.
“You lost that right three years ago.”
The words hit harder than she intended.
Adrian's face remained expressionless, but his eyes changed.
For a second, she saw the pain she had noticed earlier.
Then it disappeared.
“You're right.”
His calm response surprised her.
“You're right,” he repeated. “I don't have that right anymore.”
Elena didn't know what to say.
Three years ago, Adrian would have argued.
He would have told her she was being unreasonable.
He would have walked away.
Tonight, he simply accepted her anger.
That somehow hurt more.
A security officer approached them.
“Mr. Blackwood.”
Adrian turned.
“Yes?”
“We've checked the electrical system. It appears the blackout was caused by a temporary technical failure.”
“Was it accidental?”
The security officer hesitated.
“We're still investigating.”
Adrian's expression became colder.
“Then investigate faster.”
“Yes, sir.”
The officer walked away.
Elena watched him.
“You really think this was intentional?”
“I don't think anything is accidental when it happens around my family.”
“Your family?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Especially when you're involved.”
Elena's heart skipped.
She hated that he could still make her feel this way.
She hated that one look from him could make her forget all the reasons she had left.
“Don't,” she whispered.
“Don't what?”
“Look at me like that.”
His brows drew together.
“Like what?”
“Like you still love me.”
Silence.
Adrian didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
The look in his eyes was enough.
Elena looked away first.
“I'm leaving.”
“I'll take you home.”
“No.”
“Elena—”
“I said no.”
She turned toward the exit.
Adrian caught up with her.
“I'll have security escort you.”
“I don't need your security.”
“Whether you need it or not isn't the point.”
“Then what is?”
His voice dropped.
“Your safety.”
Elena stopped walking.
She turned to face him.
“You cared about my safety three years ago too, didn't you?”
Adrian froze.
The question hung between them.
Elena smiled bitterly.
“And yet you were the one who broke me.”
His jaw tightened.
“I know.”
“No, Adrian. You don't.”
Her voice trembled despite her effort to remain calm.
“You don't know what it felt like to wake up every morning wondering what I had done wrong.”
“Elena—”
“You stopped touching me.”
He said nothing.
“You stopped talking to me.”
His eyes lowered.
“You looked at me like you couldn't stand being in the same room with me.”
“Elena, I—”
“And then you told me you didn't love me anymore.”
Her voice broke.
The ballroom seemed to disappear around them.
There were only the two of them.
Three years of pain standing between them.
“I believed you,” she whispered.
Adrian looked at her.
“I know.”
“No. You don't know.”
A tear threatened to fall, but Elena quickly blinked it away.
“I believed you so completely that I spent three years trying to convince myself I had never loved you.”
Adrian's expression cracked.
“Elena…”
She stepped back.
“Don't say my name like that.”
“Why?”
“Because I still remember how you used to say it.”
He looked at her for several seconds.
Then he said quietly,
“I remember too.”
Her heart hurt.
She turned away.
“Goodbye, Adrian.”
She walked toward the exit.
This time, he didn't stop her.
But as Elena stepped outside the ballroom, she heard his voice behind her.
“I never stopped loving you.”
She stopped.
Her entire body went still.
She slowly turned around.
Adrian was standing several feet away.
His face was calm.
But his eyes were anything but.
“I know you don't believe me,” he said. “But someday, I'll prove it.”
Elena stared at him.
Then she shook her head.
“You had three years to prove it.”
She walked away.
Adrian watched her disappear through the doors.
Only after she was gone did his expression finally change.
He pulled his phone from his pocket.
“Find him.”
A voice answered from the other end.
“We're trying.”
“No.”
Adrian's voice became dangerously cold.
“Find him tonight.”
“Mr. Blackwood, if this is connected to—”
“It is.”
He looked toward the door Elena had disappeared through.
“And this time, nobody touches my wife.”
There was silence.
Then the voice asked carefully,
“Your ex-wife?”
Adrian's eyes darkened.
“My wife.”
He ended the call.
Outside, Elena entered her car and closed the door.
She leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes.
She shouldn't have listened to him.
She shouldn't have allowed herself to feel anything.
Adrian was her past.
She had built a new life.
She was stronger now.
She didn't need him.
She repeated those words to herself as the car pulled away from the hotel.
But no matter how many times she said them, she couldn't forget the way Adrian had looked at her.
Like three years hadn't passed.
Like the divorce hadn't happened.
Like he was still in love with her.
Elena opened her eyes.
“It's impossible,” she whispered.
Her phone suddenly vibrated.
She looked at the screen.
Unknown Number.
A single message appeared.
You should never have gone back to him.
Elena's blood ran cold.
Before she could respond, another message arrived.
Next time, we won't miss.
Her fingers went numb.
She immediately looked through the rearview mirror.
A black SUV was following her.
And she had never seen it before.
To be continued…
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