Chapter 426
Adrian looks up the moment he sees us. He immediately rises from where he’d been seated in the waiting area and walks toward us, looking slightly tense in a way I haven’t seen before.
“Lilly,” he greets politely with a small nod, every bit the gentleman he has always been.
Lilly gives him a small nod back before his attention shifts fully to me.
“Sierra p>
“Hi,” I reply softly.
For a second, neither of us says anything. Then I finally ask the obvious question.
“What are you doing here p>
Adrian exhales quietly before answering. “First, I needed to see for myself that you were okay.” His eyes move over me carefully before settling back on my face. “And second, I wanted to talk to you p>
I study him silently, unable to stop myself from wondering why now. The shooting happened days ago. If he wanted to ‘See for himself,’ why wait until now?
Adrian seems to sense my hesitation because his expression softens slightly.
“Would it be okay if we talked somewhere p>
I don’t answer immediately because honestly, I don’t know. My head is already crowded with too many thoughts, too many emotions, too many things I need to focus on.
Part of me already knows where this conversation is heading, and I’m not sure if I’m emotionally or psychologically prepared for it. Before I can come up with an excuse or politely turn him down, Lilly suddenly pats my hand.
“I’ll be upstairs,” she says casually.
I turn toward her immediately, but she doesn’t even give me time to argue. She simply smiles knowingly before walking past us toward the elevators, leaving me alone with Adrian.
I sigh quietly before finally looking back at him only to find him watching me carefully, almost expectantly.
“There’s a café not far from here; we could walk there,” he says softly.
I hesitate for a second longer before nodding. “Okay p>
The walk there is quiet. Neither of us says much, and strangely enough, the silence doesn’t feel comfortable the way it once used to between us. Instead, it feels weird, like when you are caught off-guard and you don’t know whether to smile or be mortified.
When we finally reach the café, Adrian steps ahead of me and pulls the door open. I walk inside slowly, my gaze moving around the cozy little space filled with warm lighting and the scent of coffee.
“There’s a table in the corner,” Adrian says gently. “Is that okay p>
“Yeah p>
He leads the way over before pulling out the chair for me. I sit down quietly while he settles across from me moments later.
A waitress comes over to take our orders, and once she leaves, I decide not to drag things out.
“What did you want to talk about?” I ask softly.
Adrian leans forward slightly before taking a deep breath, and then he says the last thing I expected.
“I’m sorry p>
I blink in surprise. What the hell is happening today? Is today somehow ‘Apologize to Sierra Day’ because this is officially the second apology I’ve received in less than twenty-four hours.
I stay quiet, because thanks to my therapist, I’ve learned to listen. She told me no matter how useless I feel apologies are, I should learn to listen to them first because we usually aren’t aware of it, but they do heal some parts of us.
“I’m sorry for walking away that day,” he says, his voice heavy with regret. “And I’m sorry for allowing doubt to cloud my judgment p>
He swallows hard before looking directly at me.
“You didn’t deserve that from me, Sierra.” He continues, “I let my own fears and insecurities get in the way and instead of listening to you, instead of standing by you the way I should have, I walked away when you needed me to stay p>
Pain flashes across his face and something about the raw honesty in his voice makes my chest tighten slightly.
“And the worst part is that I knew while I was doing it that it was wrong; I felt it in my heart, felt it as my soul screamed at me, but I still did it anyway.” He lets out a shaky breath.
I stay silent, letting him speak.
“I hate myself for that, because no matter how much I try to justify my reaction, the truth is simple: I let you down,” he admits softly, his eyes glistening slightly as he continues. “You trusted me, Sierra. You opened your heart to me after everything you’d been through, and instead of choosing you, I chose the doubts. I chose the lies p>