CHAPTER 072
ADRIAN’S POV.
“I’ve made the transfer,” I said firmly to the receptionist, holding up my phone so she could see the confirmation of the transaction. The screen displayed the successful receipt, proof that I had fulfilled my part of this exhausting arrangement.
Beside me, Mrs. Grayson stood with a look of visible relief washing over her features. She tried to mask it, but it was too obvious. Her eyes slightly brightened, and the corners of her lips pulled into a grateful smile, though it felt forced to me. She was clearly pleased, almost too pleased,
“Thank you for this, Adrian,” she said softly, her voice carrying a slight tremble of genuine gratitude, or at least, what sounded like it. “We are once again in your debt.”
Without warning, she reached out and took my hands in hers. Her touch was cold, frail yet unexpectedly firm, as if she needed to cling to me for strength. The move caught me completely off guard. What the hell did she think she was doing?
I instinctively pulled my hands away, a reflex of disgust jolting through my body. My expression hardened as I withdrew from her touch, quickly adjusting my tie and clearing my throat to regain composure. She really should have known better than to touch me without permission.
How could I, even for a moment, allow her to hold my hands these very hands that should never be held by the woman responsible for my mother’s death? Just the thought of it was enough to make my chest tighten with contempt. It felt like a betrayal of my own blood as if by standing here, helping her, I was spitting on my mother’s memory.
She noticed my reaction, of course, she did, but chose to pretend like she didn’t. A subtle flicker of something flashed across her eyes, perhaps annoyance that I hadn’t played along with her little display.
Trying to keep the atmosphere neutral, I forced a polite smile and said, “That’s not at problem, Mrs. Grayson. I see him as a father too, so why wouldn’t I help?”
The words tasted like ash in my mouth. Lies, every single one of them. If only she knew what I truly thought. Why in the world would I ever see that man as a father? The very notion was laughable.
“Thank you again,” she repeated, her voice softer this time
Her eyes lingered on me for a moment before she continued, her gaze flicking toward the hospital room behind her. “Ir Successfully unlocked! oken to Olivia since you got here. I hope all is well between you…
Her question felt more like an interrogation than a casual remark. I maintained my composed facade, not letting her see the annoyance that briefly flared in my chest.
1/4
- CHAPTER 072
“Yes, of course,” I replied smoothly. “I know what she’s going through at the moment, and I wouldn’t want to disturb her.” It was an easy enough excuse, believable even..
She glanced back over her shoulder, eyes settling on her daughter sitting motionless. on the couch. Her lips parted as if she were about to say something, and though I saw them move, her words were too soft for me to catch.
“Did you say something?” I asked, narrowing my eyes slightly in suspicion.
Mrs. Grayson turned her head back toward me, her expression unreadable. “Oh, it’s nothing,” she dismissed quickly, though her tone betrayed her. There was something there, something she wasn’t telling me.
Then, she added, with a chill in her voice, “Please feel free to communicate with her, even at this time. She’s your wife, after all, so there’s no excuse.”
Π
Her words hung in the air, heavy and deliberate. It wasn’t a suggestion – it was an expectation, perhaps even a warning.
“Will do,” I replied curtly, keeping my tone neutral, though I felt the coldness in her voice pierce through me. She wanted me to play the dutiful husband
She nodded, then turned and walked back into the hospital room, leaving me alone in the corridor with my thoughts. As I watched her disappear behind the door, my mind drifted back to what Olivia had revealed just an hour ago that she was adopted by these people.
–
That revelation must have been earth–shattering for her, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it felt like to have your whole life, your whole identity, flipped upside down in a single moment. Yet, she carried herself with an unsettling calmness. From the outside, she looked composed, almost unaffected, but I knew better. Deep down, beneath that mask, she had to be in pain. There was no way she wasn’t.
I took a few steps closer to the hospital room and stared at her through the glass window. She sat there quietly by the bedside, her posture stiff, her eyes vacant as if she were trapped in her own whirlwind of thoughts. Seeing her like that made -something twist uncomfortably in my chest.
Her revelation also meant something else – she likely had no idea about what these people had done. She was just a child when it all happened, too young to understand the weight of their sins. All this time, I had believed that Olivia had played a part in what her so–called parents did. Especially Sam Grayson – the way he always doted on her, the way he showered her with affection and gave her everything she could ever
ask for.
I used to think that was the very reason he defrauded my mother. I convinced myself that he had done it for Olivia, to give his little girl a life of comfort and luxury, to shield her from the struggles of a poor upbringing. It seemed to make sense back then. I had built my anger around that assumption and wrapped my hatred tightly around it like
armor.
2/4
CHAPTER 072
But now? Now that I know, that Olivia wasn’t even his biological daughter, everything felt like it was crumbling beneath my feet.
My
ly eyes drifted toward Mr. Grayson, lying there in the hospital bed. He looked so weak, so fragile, but none of that could erase the truth of what he was a selfish, cold- hearted man. This new revelation only proved it further. He hadn’t done it for anyone else. He hadn’t done it out of fatherly love or sacrifice. No, he did it purely for himself. To satisfy his own greed, to climb higher without caring who he trampled beneath hist
feet.
I let out a heavy sigh, dragging my gaze back to Olivia.
Does this mean she was innocent all along?
All the hatred I had carried for her, all the bitterness that had consumed me every time I saw her face – had it all been based on a lie? Had I been wrong about her from the very beginning?
My chest tightened as memories of everything I had done to her came flooding back. I stared down at my palms, almost as if they were stained by the past. These hands had humiliated her, insulted her, and even worse I had raised them against her, all because I thought she deserved to suffer for the crimes of her family. Crimes she might have known nothing about.
I don’t like her – at least, that’s what I kept telling myself. But after hearing this today, something inside me shifted. I couldn’t look at her the same way anymore, not with the same burning hatred that had once consumed me.
I watched as she slowly got up from the chair beside her father’s bed and walked out of the room, glancing at me before heading to the bathroom.
After a few minutes, her mother followed.
Since she was no longer there I walked into the room.
Beep beep beep.
The sound of the hospital machine could be heard as I took a seat next to Mr Grayson, I never knew heart attacks could be so fatal, I looked at the oxygen pipe that ran from his nose to the tank.
“You’re a fucking scum,” I said to him, my voice barely above a whisper
“You think you can escape what’s coming for you, no, I’ll make sure they get you fixed up for the real punishment,” I said to him like he was awake to hear me.
A sudden urge to block his oxygen pipe flew through me, and I couldn’t resist, I used the tips of my fingers to hold down the pipe for a few seconds, the machine beeping faster and faster, and a small smirk appeared on my face as I released the pipe and the beeping slowed down
You’re gonna be up soon for judgment day.
3/4
CHAPTER 073
