Chapter 9 The Edge

SOREN'S Pov

"I said I don't want the press near the building," I snapped, my voice echoing through the glass conference room. "If they try again, have them removed. No exceptions."

Nathan nodded, tapping on his tablet, but his tone was sharper than usual. "They're not backing down. Your sudden disappearance after the wedding scandal has made the situation worse. People are wondering if you've... gone soft."

I gave him a look. "Soft?"

"You've been avoiding meetings, missing events, and hiding in your penthouse with your new husband," he said carefully. "The board is starting to notice."

My grip tightened on the edge of the table. "Watch your tone."

Nathan met my eyes, unflinching. "I'm your assistant, not your enemy. But you can't ignore the fact that your father's already moving. Victor's been calling everyone he can. He wants the company back under his control."

That was what truly irritated me, not the press, not the gossip, but the thought of Victor Knight circling like a vulture, waiting for my next mistake.

"Let him try," I muttered, straightening my tie. "He won't get it."

"Then stop acting like you're already defeated," Nathan said. "If you're going to stay married to Adrian Vega, at least make it look intentional."

The name hit me like a quiet jolt. Adrian.

He'd been asleep when I left this morning, curled on his side with the blanket tangled around his waist. There was something strange about seeing someone like him in my space, too bright for the sharp edges of my world. Every time I told myself I'd send him away, I didn't.

Maybe because he didn't treat me like everyone else.

He didn't flatter or fear me. He challenged. He annoyed me. He made me feel, something I hadn't in years.

But that was a weakness.

"I'll deal with it," I said.

Nathan sighed, but he knew better than to push further. "Fine. You have a meeting with the investors at noon. I'll handle the press."

He left the room, and I was finally alone with my thoughts, not that I wanted to be. Silence never stayed quiet long enough around me. It always brought ghosts.

When I looked out the window, I saw the reflection of a man who'd built an empire on control, and suddenly, I didn't feel like that man anymore.

*********************

By the time I got home that night, the penthouse lights were dim, and the faint sound of a movie played from the living room. I stepped inside, and the smell of something warm, pasta, maybe, hit me.

Adrian sat cross-legged on the couch, a plate balanced on his knee. He looked up, surprised, as if he didn't expect me to actually come home.

"You're back early," he said.

"It's past eight."

"For you, that's early," he said with a small grin.

He wasn't wrong. Normally, I didn't come home at all.

My gaze flicked to the kitchen counter, where two plates were set. "You cooked?"

"I was hungry," he said. "And you didn't leave anything edible here. You seriously live on black coffee and nothing else?"

I ignored his tone and loosened my tie. "I don't have time to cook."

He shrugged, turning back to the TV. "Then it's a good thing one of us knows how."

I didn't reply. I should've walked past him, gone straight to my study, buried myself in work. But my feet didn't move.

"Are you going to stand there, or are you actually going to sit?" he asked without looking up.

I hesitated, then walked over and sat down beside him. The couch dipped slightly between us. The movie, some old comedy, played softly, laughter filling the quiet space.

I didn't care for it, but I found myself watching anyway.

After a few minutes, he spoke again. "You look tired."

"I'm not."

"You lie like you breathe."

My head turned sharply. "Careful."

He smirked faintly. "There it is, the CEO tone. I was starting to miss it."

"Adrian......"

"I'm just saying, you don't have to keep acting like everything's fine." His voice softened. "You got humiliated on live television, your father's trying to destroy you, and you're stuck with a stranger as your husband. Anyone else would've cracked by now."

I didn't answer. I didn't know how to.

Instead, I looked at him. Really looked. He wasn't dressed like someone trying to fit into my world, just a plain shirt, soft hair falling into his eyes, a faint bruise near his jaw from where a camera had hit him during the chaos last week.

He'd been thrown into my life by mistake, but somehow, he fit here better than I wanted to admit.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

"That you talk too much."

He laughed, low and easy. "You're welcome for dinner, by the way."

"I didn't thank you."

"You should."

The faintest curve tugged at the corner of my lips before I caught myself.

He noticed. "Was that almost a smile?"

"Don't push it."

He chuckled and went back to eating, but the quiet between us wasn't heavy this time. It was... strange. Comfortable.

And that was dangerous.

Later that night, after he fell asleep on the couch, I stood by the window with a glass of whiskey in hand. The city stretched beneath me, bright, endless, demanding.

Nathan's words echoed again: Make it look intentional.

If I wanted to protect what I'd built, I needed to turn this accident into strategy.

An idea began forming, reckless but possible. If I made this marriage look real enough, long enough, I could control the narrative. Turn scandal into opportunity.

But to do that, I'd have to keep Adrian close. Too close.

I looked back at him. He shifted in his sleep, the blanket sliding down his shoulder. The soft light caught on his skin, the faint rise and fall of his chest.

Something twisted in my chest, something I didn't like.

I wasn't supposed to feel anything. Not for him.

I finished the whiskey, setting the glass down quietly. Tomorrow, I'd fix everything. I'd meet the board, silence Victor, and make the world believe this marriage was my choice.

Because the moment I started believing it myself, I'd lose.

Still, I couldn't tear my eyes away from him.

Maybe Nathan was right. Maybe I was going soft.

The thought made me scoff under my breath.

And yet, when Adrian murmured my name in his sleep, just once, quiet and unguarded, I froze.

For a long second, I couldn't move. Couldn't even breathe.

I told myself it was nothing. Just a dream. Just noise.

But it didn't sound like nothing. It sounded like danger.

Because if he could say my name like that without meaning to...

Then what would happen when he did mean it?

I turned away, forcing my voice back to its usual steel.

"This changes nothing," I muttered to the empty room. "Absolutely nothing."

But the city outside didn't believe me. And deep down, neither did I.

He shifted again, mumbling softly before going still.

I should've left him there, but I didn't. I reached down, pulled the blanket over his shoulder, and stood there for a second longer than I should have.

Then I whispered something I couldn't take back....

"You're going to ruin me, Vega."