Unexpected Love

Chapter 13: The Ones Who Made Me

Bonny’s POV

For a second, I thought I misheard him.

Then the words settled properly.

My adoptive parents.

Downstairs.

Here.

In a building they had no right even entering.

My body went cold in a way that had nothing to do with temperature.

“What?” My voice came out sharper than I intended.

Adrian was already moving.

“They’re in the lobby,” he said. “Security flagged them.”

My stomach tightened painfully.

“Why would they come here?”

He paused at the door.

“That’s what we’re about to find out.”

I followed him before I even decided to.

---

The elevator ride felt too fast and too slow at the same time.

My reflection in the mirrored walls looked different again.

Tighter jaw.

Harder eyes.

A woman I didn’t recognize was forming under pressure I never agreed to.

Adrian stood beside me, silent, watchful.

“You don’t have to speak to them,” he said.

I let out a short laugh.

“That’s funny.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

“I know.”

The elevator chimed.

Lobby.

The doors opened.

And there they were.

Victor Hart.

Martha Hart.

My adoptive parents.

Or as I now understood them: the people who collected me like an inconvenience and raised me like an investment that never matured.

Martha spotted me first.

Her eyes lit up instantly.

“Oh! Bonny!”

The way she said my name made my skin crawl.

Victor stood beside her, already scanning the lobby like he was calculating exits.

Then his gaze landed on Adrian.

And everything changed.

Interest.

Greed.

Recognition.

Adrian stepped slightly in front of me without making it obvious.

Security moved closer.

“Mrs. Knight,” Martha said brightly, ignoring everything else. “We’ve been trying to reach you.”

“I’ve been busy,” I replied flatly.

“Oh, we know,” she said, eyes flicking to Adrian. “Very busy, it seems.”

Victor smiled in a way that never reached his eyes.

“So this is him.”

Adrian didn’t respond.

I crossed my arms.

“What do you want?”

Martha gasped softly.

“Is that how you speak to your parents?”

“You’re not my parents,” I said simply.

Silence dropped like a stone.

Victor cleared his throat.

“We raised you.”

“No,” I corrected. “You housed me.”

Martha’s smile tightened.

“Bonny, don’t be dramatic.”

There it was.

That word.

Dramatic.

The way they always reduced everything I felt into inconvenience.

Adrian spoke for the first time.

“State your purpose.”

Both of them turned to him immediately.

Like he was the real audience.

Like I was just background noise.

Victor stepped forward slightly.

“We came to congratulate you, Mr. Knight.”

“That is not a purpose,” Adrian replied.

Martha quickly added, “And to reconnect with our daughter.”

I laughed once.

It came out sharp and humorless.

“Daughter?”

She looked offended.

“Of course you’re our daughter.”

“No,” I said quietly. “I was the girl you kept because I made your life financially easier.”

Victor’s expression darkened.

“Be careful.”

I met his eyes.

“For once, I am.”

Adrian’s hand brushed lightly against my lower back.

Not possessive.

Anchoring.

Subtle.

It steadied me more than I wanted to admit.

Martha turned her attention fully to Adrian now.

“We always knew Bonny would end up with someone… successful,” she said carefully. “We just didn’t expect this level.”

There it was.

The real reason they were here.

Not me.

Him.

Victor added quickly, “We’d love to support your union in any way possible.”

Translation: money.

Adrian studied them like a problem to be solved.

“I see.”

Martha smiled again.

“We could even—”

“You are not part of this marriage,” I interrupted sharply.

Both of them looked at me like I had spoken out of turn in a meeting I wasn’t invited to.

Victor sighed.

“Bonny, don’t embarrass yourself.”

That sentence.

That exact sentence.

Something in me snapped quietly.

Adrian’s voice cut in before I could respond.

“Enough.”

The lobby went silent.

Even security froze.

He looked directly at my adoptive parents.

“You will leave.”

Martha blinked.

“I’m sorry?”

“This is not a negotiation.”

Victor straightened.

“You can’t just dismiss—”

“I can,” Adrian said coldly. “And I am.”

A beat.

Then security stepped forward.

Martha’s face shifted quickly into panic.

“Bonny, tell him we’re family!”

All eyes turned to me.

Family.

The word felt like rust in my mouth.

I looked at them both.

Years of empty promises.

Controlled affection.

Conditional care.

“How much?” I asked softly.

Martha frowned. “What?”

“How much do you want this time?”

Silence.

Victor exhaled.

“Don’t reduce this to money.”

I smiled faintly.

“That’s funny coming from you.”

Adrian’s hand tightened slightly at my back.

Martha tried again, softer now.

“We just want what’s best for you.”

I laughed.

This time there was no humor at all.

“You’ve never wanted that.”

Security began guiding them toward the exit.

Martha’s voice rose.

“Bonny! We raised you!”

I stepped forward before I could stop myself.

“No,” I said clearly. “You tolerated me.”

That hit something.

Victor’s face tightened.

Martha looked shaken for half a second.

Then her eyes hardened again.

“You’ll regret this,” she whispered.

I held her gaze.

“No,” I said quietly. “I won’t.”

They were escorted out.

The doors closed.

Silence returned.

Too heavy.

Too real.

I stood there for a moment, breathing unevenly.

Adrian didn’t speak.

He didn’t comfort.

He just stayed beside me.

Which, somehow, was worse and better than anything else.

Finally, I said, “That was my family.”

“Yes.”

“That’s what I had.”

“Yes.”

I swallowed.

Then laughed once under my breath.

“What a downgrade.”

A pause.

Then Adrian said quietly:

“No.”

I looked at him.

His eyes were steady.

“That was not family,” he said. “That was ownership.”

Something in my chest cracked open at that.

And for the first time in a long time…

I didn’t feel like I had to defend them.

I just felt free of them.