Chapter 6: The Ex Walks In
1342 Words
Bonny’s POV
For three full seconds, no one moved.
Seth stood just inside Adrian’s office, breathing hard like he had run all the way from the street. His hair was disheveled, shirt half tucked in, tie loose around his neck.
He looked nothing like the polished man I had once thought I would marry.
He looked desperate.
Good.
His eyes stayed fixed on the ring on my finger.
Then they slowly lifted to my face.
“Bonny…” he said hoarsely.
I felt something strange.
Not pain.
Not love.
Nothing.
The emptiness surprised me more than his arrival.
Adrian leaned back in his chair as if this were mildly entertaining.
“You entered without permission,” he said coolly.
Seth barely glanced at him.
“Bonny, we need to talk.”
I crossed my arms.
“We already did. Remember? You skipped our wedding to sleep with my best friend.”
His face tightened.
“It’s not like that.”
I laughed.
That bitter sound didn’t even feel like mine anymore.
“Men always say that after getting caught.”
“Please,” he said, stepping forward. “Just give me five minutes.”
“No.”
“Bonny—”
“No,” I repeated, stronger this time.
The office felt very still.
Seth looked shaken by my tone.
Good again.
He wasn’t used to me refusing him.
He was used to excuses.
Patience.
Forgiveness.
The old Bonny.
That woman had cried to death outside a magistrate’s office yesterday.
I was still grieving her.
“I made a mistake,” Seth said quickly. “I know I did. Amelia pushed things too far and—”
I held up a hand.
“Stop.”
He blinked.
“You’re blaming Amelia?”
“She manipulated—”
“You cheated for four years.”
His mouth opened.
Closed.
I stepped closer.
“You fathered a child.”
Silence.
“You humiliated me on my wedding day.”
He swallowed hard.
“And now you’ve come here to say she manipulated you?”
His face flushed.
Adrian spoke without looking up from the file in front of him.
“Pathetic defense.”
Seth finally turned toward him.
“Stay out of this.”
Adrian lifted his eyes slowly.
That alone was enough to lower the room temperature.
“You entered my office,” he said quietly. “You interrupted my workday. You are speaking to my wife.”
The last two words hit Seth like a slap.
His gaze flew back to me.
“Tell me this is fake.”
I said nothing.
He laughed nervously.
“Bonny, come on. This is some revenge stunt, right?”
Still nothing.
He stepped closer, panic rising.
“You married him?”
“Yes.”
The word came out calm.
Clean.
Final.
Seth staggered back half a step.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I was there,” Adrian said dryly. “It seemed legally valid.”
I almost smiled.
Seth ignored him.
“Bonny, you don’t even know this man.”
“I knew you,” I replied. “Look how that turned out.”
That one landed.
He ran a hand through his hair.
“You’re angry. I understand that.”
“You understand nothing.”
“I still love you.”
The room went silent again.
Then I laughed so hard tears almost came.
Not from sadness.
From disbelief.
“You love me?” I repeated.
“Yes.”
“You loved me while sleeping with Amelia?”
“It got complicated.”
“You loved me while hiding your daughter?”
“I was trying to protect everyone.”
“You loved me enough to abandon me in a wedding dress?”
His face crumpled.
“Bonny…”
“No.”
I pointed to the door.
“You lost the right to say my name like it belongs to you.”
He stared at me as if seeing a stranger.
Maybe he was.
Because I was seeing one too.
Adrian pressed a button on his desk.
The office doors opened instantly and security stepped in.
Efficient man.
“Escort him out,” Adrian said.
Seth’s head snapped around.
“You can’t do this.”
“I already am.”
“I need to talk to her!”
“You already did,” I said.
Security approached.
Seth backed away, still looking at me.
“This isn’t over.”
“It was over years ago,” I replied.
They guided him toward the door.
Then he shouted one last thing.
“You think he’ll love you? Men like him don’t love anyone!”
The doors shut behind him.
Silence.
Thick and sharp.
I stared at the floor, breathing harder than I wanted.
Adrian said nothing.
Which, unexpectedly, helped.
After a moment, he slid a glass of water across the desk.
I looked up.
“For dramatic recovery?” I asked.
“For dehydration,” he replied.
I took it.
My hand trembled slightly.
Annoying.
I drank anyway.
“You didn’t have to let him in,” I said quietly.
“I know.”
“Then why did you?”
He studied me.
“To see whether you would choose weakness again.”
I almost threw the glass at him.
“Excuse me?”
“You didn’t.”
I froze.
It wasn’t praise exactly.
But it was close enough to be dangerous.
“I hate when you phrase things badly,” I muttered.
“I phrase them accurately.”
“You’re impossible.”
“And yet you remain employed.”
I set the empty glass down.
“I quit.”
“No.”
“You can’t say no to my resignation.”
“I just did.”
I glared.
He returned to his paperwork.
Infuriating man.
A knock came at the door.
Vanessa entered holding a tablet.
Her eyes flicked between us.
“Should I ask?”
“No,” Adrian said.
“Yes,” I said.
She looked interested.
“Seth came to embarrass himself,” I explained.
Vanessa’s lips twitched.
“Ah.”
Was that… approval?
She handed Adrian the tablet.
“The board meeting is ready.”
He stood.
“Come with me.”
I blinked.
“Why?”
“You’re my secretary.”
“I thought that was punishment, not participation.”
“It can be both.”
He walked toward the door.
I looked at Vanessa.
“Does he always move through life like a legal threat?”
“Constantly,” she said.
Then lowered her voice.
“But that was the first time I’ve seen him enjoy anything all week.”
I stared.
“He enjoyed that?”
“A great deal.”
Wonderful.
---
The boardroom was long, sleek, and full of wealthy men who looked startled when Adrian entered with me beside him.
Whispers began immediately.
“Who is she?”
“Is that—?”
“Ring?”
Adrian took his seat at the head of the table.
I moved toward the wall.
He looked up.
“Sit.”
Every head turned.
I smiled tightly.
“Where?”
“Next to me.”
The whispers doubled.
I sat.
One older executive cleared his throat.
“Mr. Knight, perhaps private matters should remain outside corporate governance.”
Adrian’s gaze chilled.
“My marriage is not a private matter when the market is already speculating.”
The man stiffened.
“And for clarity,” Adrian continued, “Mrs. Knight is now part of my executive schedule operations.”
I nearly coughed.
That sounded far more important than secretary.
No wonder everyone looked horrified.
The meeting began.
Numbers. Expansion. Acquisitions. Market risk.
I understood maybe sixty percent.
But I noticed something else.
Everyone feared Adrian.
Yet everyone obeyed him.
Then midway through a presentation, the boardroom doors opened again.
Vanessa entered, unusually pale.
“Sir… there’s a woman in reception demanding to see your wife.”
Adrian’s expression sharpened.
“Who?”
Vanessa looked directly at me.
“Amelia.”
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