Chapter 8
Adrian had spent the last forty–eight hours consumed by a single thought.
Isabella is alive.
1/2
He hadn’t slept. He hadn’t eaten. His entire world had shifted the moment she had stood before him in that crimson dress, looking like a dream–and then, in the next breath, like a
nightmare.
She had erased him. She had smiled, mocked him, and walked away like their marriage had never existed. Like she had never loved him.
Now, Adrian was pacing his office, his mind running in a thousand directions at once. His hands curled into fists at his sides, frustration simmering beneath the surface.
He had called every contact he had, tried tracing her movements from the night of the gala, but there was nothing. No records, no paper trail.
She had covered her tracks well.
But Adrian wasn’t a man who gave up.
And he sure as hell wasn’t letting her disappear again.
Across the city, Aria Laurent moved through her new world as if she had never belonged anywhere else.
She sat in the sleek, modern office of Carter Industries, reviewing investment reports with ease. She had buried herself in work, in strategy, in rebuilding herself into someone Adrian could never control again.
But she knew him. She knew he wouldn’t let this go.
He would try to find her, try to pull her back into his orbit.
But this time, she wasn’t trapped. She was free.
And she would make sure he suffered for every moment he had stolen from her.
Adrian had always prided himself on being in control.
But tonight, as he sat at the edge of his bed, scrolling through every piece of information he had found on Aria Laurent, he realized he was unraveling
She had rebranded herself flawlessly.
She had connections, influence, a name that meant something in business circles.
And she wasn’t alone. One name kept appearing beside hers. Liam Carter. Adrian’s grip on his phone tightened.
His wife–his wife–was working alongside a man he despised.
Liam was a snake. Calculated, powerful, and dangerously charming. He had always been in Adrian’s periphery, circling but never close enough to be a threat.
Until now.
Now, Liam wasn’t just close. He was standing beside Isabella. Adrian gritted his teeth, his jaw tightening
She wasn’t Isabella anymore. She had made that clear. She was Aria Laurent. A woman who looked right through him as if he was a stranger. And he couldn’t stand it.
Celeste Laurent was furious.
She sat across from Adrian in his penthouse, tapping her manicured nails against the glass table, watching him with barely contained rage.
“You’re obsessed with her,” she accused, eyes flashing.
Adrian didn’t look up. His attention remained on the laptop in front of him, skimming through another article on Aria’s latest business move.
Celeste’s lip curled. “She’s dead, Adrian. Or at least, she should have been. Why can’t you just let this go?”
His head snapped up, his stare so sharp it made her tense. “Because she’s not dead.”
Celeste folded her arms. “She might as well be. She’s not your wife anymore.”
Adrian slammed the laptop shut. “She never stopped being my wife.”
Celeste let out a batter laugh “She certainly acts like she did.”
Adrian exhaled sharply, his patience running thin. “What do you want, Celeste?”
She leaned forward, her voice dropping into something softer. Dangerously persuasive.
“I want you to wake up,” she murmured “She left you she disappeared and made sure the world believed she was dead. You don’t owe her anything.”
Adrian’s jaw clenched “I don’t owe her. But I need answers.” Celeste’s eyes darkened
She had spent years in the background, waiting for the moment Adrian would finally be beis.
But even nW
even after Isabella’s supposed death he still wasn’t looking at her.
He was chasing a ghost
And she wasn’t going to let him
“You know she’s playing you, right?” Celeste’s voice was calm, measured “This in’t some grand revenge story. She’s just proving she can live without you.”
Julian’s gaze fuckered He knew that
He had seen it in her eyes at the pala. The absolute indifference in her expression when she looked at bir
She wasn’t trying to hurt lam She just didn’t care anytusse And that that was worse.
Celeste leered chops, her fingers by ustung against his wrist “She’s not corning back. You need to move o
Adian hd cran et her touch but felt nothing No warruth No comfort Ouly a deep, cousing emptiness
He pulled has band back, standing “I need to be alone”
Celeste’s hps piased into a thun tine Adrian”
“Giga, Celeste ”
Het fingers curied to frats as she watched him walk away
11 he wanted to waste lus time chasing a woman who didn’t ward him, bet bir
Chapter 8
But Celeste wasn’t about to let Isabella–Aria–walk back into Adrian’s life so easily.
She had worked too hard to lose now. Adrian couldn’t stay still.
His mind refused to quiet, his thoughts circling the same truth over and over again.
Aria was alive. She was moving on and working with Liam Carter.
Adrian had spent months grieving, falling apart over a woman who had walked away willingly.
A woman who had chosen to erase him.
And for the first time in his life, Adrian didn’t know what to do. He had power, influence and money. But none of that could bring her back. Because she didn’t want to come back. He exhaled slowly, leaning against the window of his office, staring down at the city.
This wasn’t over. She could pretend all she wanted. But he knew better than anyone.
And he knew that somewhere beneath all that ice, all that distance, she still felt something.
She had to. And if there was even the smallest chance that he could get her back, he would take it. No matter what it cost.
Meanwhile, miles away, Aria sat in her own office, flipping through the reports Liam had given her.
But she wasn’t reading them. She was thinking about Adrian.
Thinking about the way his face had shattered when she had looked through him like he was nothing.
