Chapter 17

I looked, confused and bewildered, at the reporters rushing past.

Then I tilted my head, looking at Adrian beside me.

Adrian, I suppose, still understood me.

So with one glance at my reaction, he knew I was still completely in the dark.

He pulled out his phone, flipping through pages of overwhelming news, displaying them before me.

Only then did I realize I was being cyberbullied.

Adrian put away his phone, staring at me in the dim stairwell.

His gaze was almost like a full-blown interrogation.

"Iris Clarke, you know full well what you’ll face if I open this door."

I didn’t quite understand. Was he threatening me?

But what did I have left that he could possibly threaten me with now?

Adrian saw my silence, then gritted his teeth and continued:

"So, are you still planning on telling me nothing?"

My voice was full of doubt: "What do you want me to say?"

Adrian abruptly took a step closer, his body almost touching mine.

He spoke in a low, urgent voice:

"Tell me why you cried when I had that car accident.

"You cried, so why didn't you tell me?"

I looked at him silently.

He grew even more impatient: "Iris Clarke, are you still going to play dumb?

"Did you, back then, actually care about me, actually love me?"

My hands, hanging at my sides, silently clenched into fists.

I whispered, "It’s all in the past."

Adrian’s eyes suddenly turned bloodshot.

It was as if I had uttered words that deeply provoked him.

His voice was almost a snarl, filled with hatred and stubborn resentment:

"It’s not in the past! For me, it’s not over, and it never will be!"

A throbbing pain started in my head.

I looked at him, and suddenly, I felt a pang of sadness too:

"What if I did love you? Adrian, it’s long over between us. Can we really start over?"

I didn't know if it was my imagination, but I saw a flicker of hope light up in the eyes of the man before me.

He stared at me intently, his voice trembling:

"What if we start over? What's stopping us?"

I looked at Adrian, nearly hysterical in that moment.

For an instant, I had the strange illusion of being transported back in time.

To when he, heedless of any consequences, publicly declared our relationship on the awards stage.

Five years had passed, yet his eyes seemed unchanged.

My throat suddenly tightened. Somehow, I found myself asking:

"How far have things gone between you and Chloe?"