Chapter 19

That statement caught Vivian off guard. For a moment, she just stared at him, her eyes searching his face for some crack in his resolve. Then she let out a scoff, sharp and bitter, which slowly melted into a laugh, a sad, hollow laugh that carried more pain than humor.

“Wow,” she breathed, folding her arms tightly across her chest. “So… you don’t even love me?”

Adrian dropped the folded paper onto the bed and turned fully to face her. His voice was calm and deliberate.

“I love you,” he said. “But I’m a married man.” He laid heavy emphasis on the word ‘married’, as though to drive home a truth she couldn’t ignore. “There are certain boundaries I can’t cross.”

Vivian shook her head, her hair swaying with the sharpness of her movement.

“Mm mm… no. You don’t love me enough. Because if you did, you wouldn’t make me feel like I’m nothing.” She turned away from him, her face hardening, her shoulders stiff, her arms still tightly folded.

Adrian shifted cl