Page 70 of His By Contract

Georgia’s breath caught in her throat. The mug slipped from her fingers, clattering against the counter.

“But I never filed them.” Adrian’s words fell heavy between them. “Even after you left, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. You’re still my wife, Georgia.”

Georgia’s fingers tightened around the cool granite, her knuckles going white with tension, her mind struggling to process Adrian’s words. The silence stretched between them, thick withunspoken truths. She was still his wife. The thought sent a jolt through her system, making her heart race and her throat tighten.

“Do you…” Her voice caught. She cleared her throat, forcing the words past her lips. “Do you want the divorce now?” The question hung in the air, each syllable weighted with the fear of his answer. “The contract was meant to be temporary. We both know that.”

Adrian’s expression darkened, his eyes narrowing with an intensity that made her breath catch. His posture stiffened, jaw setting in a hard line that spoke of barely contained emotion.

“The contract?” His voice remained eerily calm, but carried an undercurrent of steel. “Is that what you think this was? Just business?” He moved toward her, his body heat and scent surrounding her until every nerve tingled with awareness. “If it was just business, Georgia, I wouldn’t have spent the last three years searching for you.”

Georgia’s heart hammered against her ribs. She gripped the counter behind her, needing its solid support. “Then why?” The question spilled from her lips before she could stop it, raw and desperate. “Why didn’t you go through with it? You had the papers drawn up, everything planned…”

The mask Adrian always wore slipped, and for a moment Georgia glimpsed something raw beneath his careful composure, a flash of hurt that made her breath catch. His practiced certainty wavered, and in that unguarded instant, she saw his true self.

“Because when you left,” his words came out hoarse, as if they’d been trapped inside him for years, “I realized I couldn’t do it.I searched every city, every small town. I followed every lead, hoping… The thought of making it final, of legally severing what we had—I couldn’t do it. I kept the papers unsigned because I needed to believe you’d come back.”

Georgia watched as each word seemed to chisel away at the careful walls he’d built. She hadn’t known such hurt could lurk beneath his polished surface.

“I went to your mother.” His voice carried a rawness that made Georgia’s chest tighten. “I was… desperate. Angry.” Adrian went still, tension visible in the subtle clench of his jaw. “I thought surely she’d know where you were, that she’d help me find you.”

Morning light caught Adrian’s restless energy, betraying the careful composure he worked to maintain. Georgia’s throat constricted as she pictured him facing her mother, his carefully maintained control stripped away by desperation.

“Evelyn was as shocked as I was. Hurt.” Adrian’s gaze fixed on a point beyond Georgia’s shoulder. “She told me you’d come to her the day you left, but hadn’t contacted her since.” His voice roughened. “She refused to help me find you, even when I insisted. She said if you wanted to disappear, you had your reasons.”

Georgia’s eyes burned with unshed tears. The image of her mother standing firm against Adrian, protecting her decision even while suffering from the loss herself, made her heart ache.

“I left that day with something your mother said echoing in my head.” The words came out strained, as if Adrian was forcing them past a barrier he’d rather keep intact. “She told me to respect your choice. But I couldn’t—” He stopped himself, running a hand through his hair. “I couldn’t reconcile withlosing you. I kept searching, following every lead, no matter how small.”

Guilt welled up inside Georgia, thick and heavy. She’d been so focused on protecting him, on preventing herself from becoming his weakness, that she’d never considered the possibility that her absence might have affected him this deeply. Her carefully constructed justifications began to crumble as she watched the emotion play across his features.

Georgia’s chest tightened as a new, insidious thought crept in. Her fingers curled against the counter’s edge, knuckles whitening. “Did you…” The words stuck in her throat, but she forced them out. “Did you keep looking because you couldn’t stand losing something that belonged to you?”

She watched his face, searching for signs of the calculating businessman she’d known. “Was it about maintaining control, keeping what you saw as yours?”

Adrian moved toward her with a quiet intensity that made her pulse quicken, each step carrying the weight of years of unspoken words between them. The morning light caught the fierce intensity in his eyes, but there was something else there, something unguarded that made her breath catch.

“Control?” His voice carried a roughness she’d never heard before. “Georgia, I didn’t even know about our son when you left. But losing you…” He stopped, close enough that she wanted to reach out to him. “It made me realize I couldn’t picture my life without you in it. Not because of some contract, not because of maintaining power or appearances.”

His words washed over her, stripping away layers of doubt she’d built up over three years. “You weren’t just another asset toprotect. You were the only person who ever mattered. You’re still the only person who matters.”

The tension melted from Georgia’s shoulders, his honesty breaking through walls she’d constructed to protect herself. Relief flooded through her veins, but caution still held her back. Three years of hurt and misunderstanding couldn’t disappear in a moment, no matter how much she wanted them to.

“I want a life with you and Theo,” Adrian’s voice remained steady, certain. “Not out of obligation. Not because of pride or appearances.” He reached for her hand, his touch gentle but firm. “Because we belong together. Because you’re my family—both of you.”

The morning air softened around them, the weight of years of misunderstanding beginning to lift. Georgia felt something she hadn’t allowed herself to feel in years: hope.

Georgia watched Theo arrange his dinosaurs in careful lines across her mom’s living room carpet, his small face scrunched in concentration. The now familiar warmth of the room, with its worn furniture and family photos, wrapped around her like a comfortable blanket. Adrian sank into the cushions next to her, close enough that his shoulder brushed hers. The contact sent ripples of comfort and unease through her body, as if her skin couldn’t quite remember how to react to him after all this time.

“We need to discuss arrangements,” Adrian said, his voice low enough not to disturb Theo’s play. “The penthouse has the security we need. I’ve already had a spare room prepared for Theo.”

Georgia’s stomach clenched. The thought of that vast, cold space with its marble floors and endless windows made her chest tight. “Theo’s whole world is here now. His routine, his comfort zone. Another move would be too abrupt.” She watched her son make quiet roaring sounds as he moved a T-rex across the carpet. “That penthouse… it’s not exactly child friendly.”

Adrian shifted, his shoulder brushing hers. “What if we found something else?” His eyes tracked Theo’s movements with an intensity that made Georgia’s heart flutter. “I could purchase a house nearby. Something with a yard, space for him to play.” He paused, considering. “There’s an excellent kindergarten in the area. Private, secure.”

The words settled between them, quiet but loaded, touching on far more than just real estate. Georgia’s fingers twisted in her lap. A house. A real home, not just somewhere to survive. But the thought of accepting something so significant from Adrian made her pulse race. What were they to each other now? Parents to Theo, yes, but everything else felt uncertain, fragile.

“That’s… that’s too much.” Georgia’s voice came out barely above a whisper. “We can’t just?—”

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