He Chose My Copy I Became The Law Chapter 05
My hands curled into fists inside my coat pockets, whitening my knuckles as I hobbled along the marble hallway.
Behind me, the click of Adrian’s leather shoes drew nearer. “Valentina, I’ll arrange for a car to drive you back to the estate.”
Rather than turn around, I forced myself to move faster.
My foot caught on something, and I crashed to the floor. The burn beneath its fresh dressing split open at once, soaking the bandage crimson.
The landing was vicious. Something deep within my chest broke apart, carrying away the final pathetic sliver of hope I had clung to.
I locked my jaw, but however fiercely I fought them, tears I didn’t want still streamed down my cheeks.
As a child raised in a convent orphanage, nothing frightened me more than holidays devoted to families coming together.
Whenever I saw warmly lit windows beneath the streetlamps and heard laughter spilling from other homes, envy carved through me like a blunt blade, cutting away one piece at a time.
No one understood that better than Adrian.
And yet, merely to indulge the woman sobbing behind him, he kept ripping that ancient wound open with his own hands.
He darted forward and reached to lift me, anger barely contained in his voice. “Valentina! Is this really the time to pretend you’re strong?!”
Before he could say another word, someone flung a steaming cup of black coffee straight at my face.
The dark brew drenched me, and a worn leather handbag struck my temple, making it swell almost immediately.
A few paces away, Sofia’s mother shook from head to toe like someone deranged. “You bitch! How dare you make a move on my son-in-law? I’ll teach you not to be a home-wrecking whore!”
She charged at me and cracked her palm across my face.
The blow snapped my head sideways and sent me crumpling to the ground.
A heartbeat later, the rigid old purse slammed down against my shoulder.
The nauseating thump seemed to reverberate through my bone, and darkness swallowed my sight for an instant.
As she raised her arm for a third strike, Adrian seized it. “That’s enough! Calm down! You’ve got it wrong!”
“What else am I supposed to think?” the older woman screeched. “That homewrecker was throwing herself at you! Do you take me for a fool?”
Bracing myself against the coffee-slick tiles, I lurched upright. “Control your daughter. She knows exactly who the actual mistress is—the one who whored her way into his life!”
Adrian’s head snapped toward me, and he released a quiet snarl meant for my ears alone.
“Her heart condition is serious, and stress could be dangerous! Valentina, please, I’m begging you not to cause a scene!”
Then he immediately turned to steady the woman again. His voice softened so abruptly that he sounded like someone else entirely.
“You misunderstood. This woman is only… an acquaintance. She recently lost a baby, and she isn’t well…”
He even gestured toward the prescription for the powerful painkillers I had just collected.
The woman looked it over, gave a cold snort, and spat on the floor. “That explains it! No wonder she’s such a freak. Fine, then. I’ll take pity on her and forget the whole thing!”
With one arm around each of them, Adrian guided the mother and daughter down the corridor. Not once, from the moment they left until they vanished, did he turn to look at me.
I sagged onto the tiles soaked with coffee and watched his back recede, unable now to produce even a single tear.Â