Chapter 15 - The Only Thing Worth Keeping
I turned slightly in his arms, shifting my weight so I could face him, lifting my hands to rest flat against the crisp fabric of his white dress shirt. I could feel the powerful, steady rhythm of his heart beating beneath my palms—a rhythm that had become the anchor of my entire universe.
"Your father left this house filled with centuries of art, priceless antiques, historical documents, and enough gold to buy a small nation," I murmured, my dark eyes searching his face. "And yet..."
"And yet," Adrian finished for me, a soft, self-deprecating smile touching the corners of his mouth, "out of all the things my father left behind in this house, that photograph was the only one worth keeping."
I let out a soft breath, a mixture of amusement and profound affection rising in my chest. "Your father would roll over in his marble mausoleum if he knew his prized estate was being run by the girl he hired to clean his chimneys."
"Let him roll," Adrian muttered darkly, the warmth in his eyes vanishing for a fraction of a second to reveal the ruthless, untouchable master of Vale House. "He built a mausoleum. We built a kingdom. There is no comparison."
He reached out, his long fingers tangling gently in my dark hair, tilting my chin upward so our eyes locked completely. The storm outside crashed against the stone walls, a violent reminder of the elements, but inside, the world was utterly still, held together by an invisible, unbreakable thread of absolute loyalty.
"He left you the house, the docks, and the power, Adrian," I whispered, the words carrying the weight of all the history we had rewritten together.
May you like
Adrian shook his head slowly, his gaze burning down into mine with a fierce, unconditional devotion that stripped away every last trace of his dark past.
"No," Adrian replied, his voice dropping into a low, intense register. "He left me a cage. You’re the one who unlocked the door."
