Page 158 of Nothing Without You
Six…
This will pass.
Seven…
His steps stuttered with his backwards shuffling, withdrawing with a horrified expression. The second he disappeared out the closet, I sighed.
Eight…
It passed.
FORTY-SEVEN
CHRISTIAN
At first mysubconscious thought it was nothing—ignoring the jabbing, pressuring feeling tightening around my pelvic area.
It shifted, higher and higher until my eyes opened and I let out an insane high-pitched scream. “Fucking hell!”
Throwing the blanket off of me, the fucking simulator Umaima gave to Adelaide sparked maliciously. I tore it off me, chucking it across the room.
Only for it to land at Adelaide’s feet.
If tears weren’t running down her face, I would’ve been fucking proud of her for using it on me.
Instantly, I was on my feet.
“I don’t know what I hate more.” She resembled an ice statue melting in the fucking sun. “That you used me or completely took the one job I had.”
I should feel relieved that she now knew about the technicality of Starlight’s shares, but I didn’t. After I found hersleeping on the couch, I took a melatonin pill and hoped it would knock me out. I didn’t hear her come in or wrap the fucking torture device around me. “It was all a part of our plan.”
“You didn’t think to tell me that either? After taking shares from me, from Hasan, from all of thefuckingboard members—you didn’t think to tell me that my job wasn’t my job anymore.” She backed away when I took a step forward. “Who else knows that you’re Starlight's main shareholder?”
“I only wanted to see Starlight fall,” I begged. “Not you.”
It’s the biggest fucking mistake of my life.
Adelaide bitterly wiped away a tear. “IamStarlight, Christian.”
Seeing her broken and disheartened was an arrow in the gut. Her swollen cheeks swallowed her eyes and replaced the light with dullness. In a single night—a mere couple of hours, she turned into a lifeless version of herself. Whatever fucking explanation I had wasn’t good enough. They were all stupid and idiotic, because how the fuck did, I have the strength to do this to Adelaide in the first place? “Starlight means everything to Eda, it was the only choice I had.”
“Starlight means everything tometoo, do you know why?” Her tone was sharp. “That’s the last reminder I have of my parents.”
“Adelaide, I?—”
“I may not give a fuck about Starlight and sure as hell am not competent enough to take care of it, but you snatched it out of my hands before giving me a chance.” Another swipe of a tear. “Did you stop to think that maybe if you told methe truth from the get-go, I would’ve been on your side? I would’ve handed the company over to you if you hadjustasked.”
Searching her face for any kind of opening to walk towards her, there was none. Not a hint of Adelaide from this morning. She shut me out.
“I wasblinded—thinking you were like Eda, and you hated me.”
“Eda and I have always been different, and you knew this from the very first moment we met.” A chill swarmed over me like a ripped baby blanket, doing nothing but making me fucking freeze. “And I never hated you. I hated what you did to me, how badly you broke my heart, but you?Never.”
“Fuck, Adelaide. I should’ve told you the truth and I regret it so fucking much.” My arms trembled as I outstretched them for her to take. She didn’t. I grabbed the period simulator from the ground and forcibly put them in her hands. “Use this on me for as long as you want—until you feel better.”
“Seeing you in pain doesn’t make me feel better, Christian.” She threw it to the side with a fiery gaze. “Consider yourself lucky for not loving me the same way I love you.”
“I love you, Adelaide.” I pleaded. “I will spend the rest of my life asking for your forgiveness.”
