\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adrian and I got married quietly. No big spectacle, no cameras. Just sunlight, and the people we loved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wore a dress Adrian had designed for me. Not some store-bought designer dress. He\u2019d spent three months working on the details.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d hand-embroidered the hem with the first complete piece I\u2019d ever written-the one I\u2019d written after everything fell apart, and I started over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He knew every scar I carried, and he cherished the strength it took to heal them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we said our vows, he held my hand. His eyes were wet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLily, I promise to cherish you. Through the quiet days and the chaotic ones. I\u2019m yours.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t stop smiling, even through the tears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The years that followed were good. We wrote music and traveled. We saw places I\u2019d only ever dreamed\u00a0<\/p>\n
about.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u05d9\u05d0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The film I scored did well when it came out. I won Best Original Score for it at the International Film Festival.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the ceremony, when I went up to accept it, I looked out at the audience. Adrian was smiling at me from his\u00a0<\/p>\n
seat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I told them he was the reason I could do any of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We had a son. He looked just like his father. Quiet, with Adrian\u2019s gentle smile. His fingers were long and\u00a0<\/p>\n
quick, born for the keys.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d stopped chasing the dreams I used to have. When he started reaching for the keys, I told him what I\u00a0<\/p>\n
wished someone had told me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo whatever makes you happy. Your dad and I will be here, no matter what.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hands never went back to what they\u2019d been. But I could still play simple things for him as he grew up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was more than enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every now and then, I\u2019d hear about Julian. After Adrian and I got married, Julian\u2019s health began to deteriorate. His company tanked. People said he\u2019d turned cold. Unpredictable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He went after the Summers with a scorched-earth vendetta. He destroyed them. Vivian\u2019s father took his own life. Her mother died not long after. Vivian broke down and ended up on a psychiatric ward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian never married again. No one ever saw him with anyone else. He just worked, like he was trying to\u00a0<\/p>\n
work himself into the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some people thought he was punishing himself. Others thought he was waiting for me to change my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were all wrong. What we had was gone. There was no getting it back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
100.00%\u00a0<\/p>\n
A few years later, Adrian and I brought our son back home to see family. We ran into Julian at a restaurant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He sat alone in the corner, at a table set for two. Untouched plates filled the table-all my favorite dishes. He\u00a0<\/p>\n
wasn\u2019t eating, just staring at the empty chair opposite him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked thin. Gray at the temples. He looked twenty years older than he should\u2019ve. Nothing like the man I\u00a0<\/p>\n
remembered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When he saw us, he froze. His eyes went to the little boy holding my hand. Something broke in his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My son looked up at me. \u201cMom, why is that man crying?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stroked his hair, but didn\u2019t answer. I took his hand, and we walked past Julian\u2019s table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t look back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside, the sun was bright. It felt warm on our faces as we stepped into the street.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian stayed in that dim corner, trapped in the shadows of his own regrets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 001 Divorce\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella\u2019s storytelling style is immersive and addictive\u2014perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.<\/p>\n
The Blackened Odds by Mark Twain 10 \u00a0 Chapter 10\u00a0 Adrian and I got married quietly. No big spectacle, no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broken-heart"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}