The Underboss Voted No So I Chose A New Life Chapter 12
Cameron left first.
Hadrian caught my wrist, then let go almost immediately when he saw me frown.
“You changed your emergency contact to him?”
“The company requires a local colleague.”
“It could have been me. I can fly over anytime.”
“But it was you before.”
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Once, I’d had an acute appendicitis attack in the middle of the night and called him six times.
He had been helping Chloe sort through her assets after her marriage ended, and his phone was on silent.
In the end, it was a coworker who took me to the hospital.
He came the next day, held me, apologized, and said he would always answer my calls first from then on.
“That time, I didn’t know it was that serious,” he said now.
“You never know.”
“Mireille, I’m changing.”
“But I already learned how not to wait.”
Something lost flickered in his eyes.
For all those years, everyone had told me to be more mature, to not chase after every issue demanding an answer.
Now I had learned.
I didn’t ask anymore, and I didn’t wait anymore.
Hadrian stayed in Austin for four days.
Every morning he brought a latte. Every evening he waited outside my office for me to get off work.
I never took one.
On the fifth day, he got a group photo from Leo.
Even though Hadrian had left the Hamptons early, the others had stayed and finished the trip.
Chloe stood beside a vase of white roses, the De Luca family signet ring on her finger.
The caption read: *Whoever’s absent will always be replaced.*
Hadrian stared at that line for a long time.
Then he canceled the seat he’d booked next to mine on the return flight.
For the first time, he understood that not every ticket someone buys will be used.
Before he left, he slipped the other ticket under my office door.
On the back, he had written: *I’ll wait for you.*