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Chapter 3

Author: Velvet
I placed the last project file inside the suitcase without answering Adrian.

He looked from my passport to the clothes missing from the closet.

“You’re leaving on a business trip?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“The day after tomorrow.”

“And you weren’t going to tell me?”

“You said I didn’t need to report every decision to you.”

Adrian was quiet for a moment. “I told you to trust your own judgment. I didn’t mean you had to shut me out completely.”

His attention returned to the suitcase.

“You’re planning to travel the day after surgery?”

“Yes.”

“Your blood pressure drops after anesthesia, and you react badly to pain medication. You may still be dizzy the next morning.”

“Sofia will stay with me.”

“That isn’t the point.”

“Then what is?”

“Dr. Lombardi isn’t available tomorrow. Move the surgery to the day after tomorrow. I’ll review the anesthesia plan and stay through recovery.”

“I don’t need you to.”

“You’re my fiancée, Elena. I’m not letting you go through surgery alone and board a plane before you’re stable.”

A suitcase rolled across the hall. Mia had finished packing, and the house manager was preparing to move her out of the penthouse.

She stopped at the bedroom door. “Is Elena leaving because of me?”

“This has nothing to do with you,” Adrian said.

“I can go back to the hospital residence. The threat in my locker may have been a prank. You shouldn’t be arguing because of me.”

Adrian told the house manager to take her to a hotel until security finished checking the East Side apartment.

Before leaving, Mia looked at me. “Doctor DeLuca is only trying to protect me. He never meant to make you uncomfortable.”

I let the comment pass.

When the elevator closed, Adrian said, “I know you’re angry.”

“I’m not.”

“Leaving for Geneva without telling you was wrong. I should have called.”

It was the first time he had admitted it.

“I’ll have my secretary send you my schedule from now on. But don’t shut me out just to prove you don’t need me.”

“You were the one who wanted me to stop depending on you.”

“I wanted you to make your own decisions. I never wanted you to disappear without a word.”

“I’m going on a business trip.”

“Then tell me where you’re going.”

Before I could answer, his phone rang. Mia called twice before he picked up.

“Doctor DeLuca, someone tried my hotel door code twice. Security still hasn’t reached the floor, and I can hear someone outside.”

“Lock the inner door and stay away from the entrance.”

“Please come. I don’t feel safe here alone.”

Adrian called the DeLuca security team and ordered them to check the hotel floor.

“Adrian, about the surgery—”

“Mia may be in danger. I can’t ignore that because we’re arguing.”

“This isn’t about Mia.”

“Then we’ll talk when I get back. I’ll still be there for your surgery the day after tomorrow.”

I had been trying to tell him that I did not need him there, but he was already at the door.

“Don’t leave before I come back.”

He left without waiting for my answer.

I closed the suitcase after the door shut.

This time, I had no intention of waiting for him to return.
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  • When I Stopped Needing Him   Chapter 10

    The next afternoon, I left the office early.I still had not decided how to answer Matteo, and I did not want to face him before I was ready.When the elevator reached the lobby, I saw Adrian outside in the snow, holding white tulips.“Elena.”“What are you doing here?”“I wanted to see you.”He offered me the flowers.“I spoke to the hospital. Mia will no longer be part of my private life, and she will never enter our apartment again.”“That is not our apartment anymore.”His hand tightened around the stems.“I know I failed you. But I can start over. The places you wanted to visit, the films you asked me to see, the dinners I kept postponing—I remember them.”“You remembered them then too.”Adrian fell silent.“We had years,” I said. “I gave you chance after chance.”“I thought we had more time.”“So did I.”Every postponed dinner and canceled plan had rested on that belief.“I can come to Boston,” he said. “I’ll reduce my work at St. Gabriel and find a position here.”Once, that wou

  • When I Stopped Needing Him   Chapter 9

    I spent several days recovering before I returned to the office.On my first morning back, there were no files waiting on my desk. Only a cup of tea and a note.The doctor cleared you to work. That does not mean you are allowed to stay late.Matteo had signed his name beneath it.I took a picture and sent it to him.Is this an order?A recommendation.It becomes an order if you ignore it.After that, our conversations slowly changed.At first, they were about work. He asked for project updates, and I sent documents that needed approval. Then unrelated things began appearing between reports and schedules.He sent me the evening sky outside his office, complained when a restaurant delivered the wrong dinner, and sent pictures of his black cat stretched across contracts or occupying his chair.I began sending things back: a coffee shop had misspelled my name, someone on the train was holding a dog in a sweater, a delayed approval had finally gone through.None of it mattered. Matteo answe

  • When I Stopped Needing Him   Chapter 8

    The cyst had worsened and was now causing complications. The doctors recommended immediate surgery.Adrian arranged the operating room and surgical team within hours. He reviewed the anesthesia plan, reminded the doctors about my allergies, and stayed until I was taken in.Matteo remained at the hospital. He did not interfere with the medical decisions or ask questions I was too tired to answer. Before the nurses wheeled me away, he placed my phone and handbag in the cabinet beside the bed.“I’ll have someone bring your work files tomorrow,” he said. “For tonight, let the doctors handle everything.”When I woke, the room was dark except for the lamp beside the bed.Adrian sat near me. A bowl of plain broth rested on the table.“The doctor said you can eat when the nausea passes. I asked the kitchen to make what you usually have after anesthesia.”He still remembered which medicines lowered my blood pressure and which ingredients could trigger an allergic reaction.Once, those details w

  • When I Stopped Needing Him   Chapter 7

    Early Saturday morning, I arrived at the hotel where Sofia was getting ready.She was half asleep while the makeup artist adjusted her veil, looking almost exactly as she had during early classes in school.I held a piece of candy to her lips.Without opening her eyes, she smiled. “I knew it was you.”When she turned toward me in her wedding dress, I suddenly realized how far we had come from being seventeen.Sofia took my hand.“Are you all right?”“At least I am today.”She did not press further. Instead, she pointed to the bouquet on the table.“I was going to throw that to you.”“Changed your mind?”“I’m afraid you’ll throw it back.”I laughed, and some of the heaviness inside me eased.Before the ceremony, I stepped onto the terrace for some air.“Elena.”Adrian stood near the stone columns, looking as though he had come straight from New York.“What are you doing here?”“You said Sofia asked you to bring a date. I cleared my schedule.”“We’re no longer together.”His jaw tightene

  • When I Stopped Needing Him   Chapter 6

    By the time I left the office, night had fallen over Boston.Adrian had called several times since I left New York. I had ignored every call until that evening.“You transferred your medical records to Boston and left without telling me.”“Yes.”“Are you there only for the surgery?”“No. I transferred to Bellini Holdings.”The line went quiet.“For how long?”“The position is long-term.”“You moved to Boston?”“Yes.”“Why didn’t you tell me something this important?”I stood outside the office, watching headlights pass over the wet street.“You said it was my career. You said I didn’t need your opinion on every decision.”“I told you to make your own decisions. I didn’t tell you to stop telling me anything.”“What’s the difference?”“There is a difference.” His voice rose before he forced it lower. “You used to tell me how your meetings went. You asked when I would be home. Now you changed hospitals, left New York, and accepted a long-term transfer without telling me. I had to learn fr

  • When I Stopped Needing Him   Chapter 5

    My first week in Boston did not go smoothly.My name was missing from the employee system on my first day. By the time the transfer was processed, I still had no building access or company email.Then Director Rinaldi assigned me a project that had been stalled for months and expected a restructuring plan within two weeks. The records were incomplete, the budget was frozen, and every department involved found a reason not to cooperate.It took me several days to understand why.Matteo Bellini had recently taken control of the group’s core operations and the family interests behind them. Several senior executives still answered to Rinaldi, who had spent years building influence inside the company. My project had been approved by Matteo himself, which meant every delayed approval was also a test of whether he would defend his appointment.When another request sat unanswered, I opened the conversation pinned at the top of my phone. I meant to complain to Sofia, but my fingers moved too qu

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