12. Adelaide
TWELVE
ADELAIDE
Christian was either the biggest two-faced man on earth or he wanted to get on my nerves.
He guided me inside with one hand on the small of my back, while the other held the door open. The gentle push me was borderline teasing, but the look I gave back to him was full on murderous.
All he did was chuckle .
And that chuckle not only travelled into the voids in my heart, but also fell south towards my quickly heated core. Naturally, I caught onto his lips. That plump, salacious mouth of his .
Clearing my airway, the exuberating smells of espresso and coffee calmed my nerves. The last time I came to Morning Star—amazing as it was—some woman asked if I had a foot fetish and stole my drink.
The place bustled with effervescent energy.
Kaan smiled at me from behind the counter. He was on the older side, but kept his body built. If I wasn’t marrying the man that was now shooting daggers at Kaan’s direction, he would’ve been my ideal husband. Plus, he made the absolute best sugar cookies during the holidays.
I love men that can make cookies.
All I wanted today was a vanilla bean latte, so remember that alongside a grilled cheese. I left my credit card at the apartment but there should be a twenty-dollar bill inside my purse for emergencies. If the drink is seven ninety-nine and the sandwich is nine ninety-nine, that means I’d maybe have some change left. I took a deep breath and practised the order in my head while Kaan took the customer’s order in front of me.
There were four people waiting behind me so there was no room to mess up my order or hesitate—if I did—there’d be those cold sighs, those under-the-breath curses, and the judgemental looks.
Did I even have twenty dollars on me? What if it wasn’t enough? That would be embarrassing, and these people would surely hate me if I took more of their time.
“Wait, wait, wait. You’re telling me you’re on Hong Hae In’s side? Baek Hyun Woo locked his feelings for so long and did everything for her when he found out she was sick. What do you even mean by that ?”
I’d recognize that voice anywhere.
Umaima sat on our usual table in the corner, she wore a long sky-blue dress and paired it with her go-to favourite chiffon hijab. Lids of her elongated eyes were painted with baby pinks and gold shimmer in the inner corners. As usual, the high placement of her blush made her look an ethereal princess.
Beside her, Hasan wore a bored expression. Sunglasses perched up high on his nose and body facing away from Umaima’s constant yapping. I bet he was watching Yunus with Hasan’s Mom through his home cameras.
Then there, leaning against the window with a straw between his teeth, was Osama. Only he’d know how to charm Kaan into giving him a drink not even five minutes after he left me alone in the car with his abhorrent friend.
“I’m not saying he was bad; I’m saying he should’ve empathised with her a bit more. She had a miscarriage and he completely neglected her.”
Umaima’s mouth opened then shut—repeating the process twice—before she folded her hands over her chest and pouted, “Whatever.”
Osama kept his eyes lowered, but his mouth curved into a tender smile.
Isn’t that interesting?
“Thank you,” the person in front of me said.
My head jerked forward.
What was my order again?
“I’ll have a large black coffee with your best-selling sandwich and Adelaide will have a vanilla bean latte with?—”
My head snapped to him. There was no way he remembered…
“A grilled cheese,” Kaan interrupted with a smile. “I know her order.”
The corner of Christian’s lips twitched like his tongue couldn’t lift the weight of the words piling on top of each other. They tugged at his mouth, hoping for a chance to unleash their spitty nonsense.
Words weren’t enough to describe how I was feeling. “You remembered.”
Christian leaned down. What is he doing?
His cheek brushed against my own which elicited a quiet gasp. Subtle, warm breath fanned against my cheek. “I remember everything about you, Sunshine.”
My heart was panting like a nun reciting a mantra of celibacy to herself. It would be so easy to press my lips against his. Would he taste the same?
Instead, I choked out, “Thanks, Kaan.”
Before I could hand him the twenty-dollar bill, Christian gave Kaan five twenties, grumbled a quiet, “Keep the change,” before walking past me to the waiting side—taking my limited breaths with him.
It wasn’t until the person next cleared their throat that I shoved the cash back in my purse and headed straight into the direction of my friends.
My heart did a little pitter patter, skittering past the most important organ of the mind to the pits of my stomach.
Christian was just so… manly .
Clenching the space between my thighs, only I’d get turned on by a man paying for me.
“Hello, earth to Addie?” Umaima waved her hand in front of me while smirking. “Has the postnuptial bliss already hit you?”
Umaima attempted to slap away the napkin I threw at her, but the key word was attempted as the tissue fell flat on the table exactly at the same time Umaima did some overexaggerated kung-fu slap.
Hand mid-air.
Eyes wide.
A slow blush crept on her cheeks.
“I was going to ask how you two became friends, but it all makes sense now.” Despite there being chairs all around, Osama perched his bottom on the tiny ledge of the window.
Umaima sneered right at him. “And what makes you think we would have told you that story?”
“They bonded over a campus cat,” Hasan interrupted without looking up from his phone.
An odd look passed by Osama’s face before contorting it back to its original expression.
Umaima whipped her head. “ Seriously , Hasan bhai?”
He shrugged. “I was getting tired of watching two people with one brain cell communicate.”
“Ouch,” Osama rubbed over his heart.
A smile tickled the back of my pressed lips.
“Actually,” Umaima rolled her eyes before crossing her arm over the other. “Addie and I met through a little deal.”
“You did drugs ?” Hasan glared at his sister, but she simply batted her hand like it was nothing.
“No, how did you hear drugs from that ? Adelaide sold handmade jewellery back in college. It was lowkey and she did these custom designs for everyone,” she extended her hand so she could show the bracelet I made for her years ago. The chain supplemented her elegant wrists with green gemstones. Back then, I thought I’d be making jewellery as a career. I’d own multiple stores, be the boss of it, but I’d spend time making each unique piece for every customer that wanted it for themselves.
But Eda had other plans for me.
“Holy shit,” Osama let out breathlessly. “That’s amazing.”
A blush spread across my cheeks.
Without realising it, I twirled the ring around my finger.
“Holy mother freaking shit,” Umaima pulled my hand towards her, making me half-stand and fall over the table. “This had to cost like a million dollars.”
The incandescent blue shone brighter under the sunrays, who also wanted a peek at the new ring. The blue was magical and unlike any rock I’d ever seen. Oddly, it seemed familiar. Like I’d seen it somewhere before. Considering it wasn’t unique, I might have passed by it once. But I wonder where?
Hasan grabbed Umaima’s hand and dragged both of us towards him. I sprawled over the table, while Umaima was half-off her chair. His brows knitted together in confusion while carefully touching the stone. His mouth widened a fraction. “It’s beautiful,” is all he said before he fixed his attention to the very man who put the ring on my finger.
Dashing, smouldering, and…
“If you’re done chit chatting,” Christian’s arm brushed against my shoulder as he placed my order in front of me. “Can we talk business?”
So demanding.
His hair sat perfectly, parted in the middle, and one side more flattened down than the other. Some inner strands naturally waved against the straight ones, making him appeal ruggish.
Not wanting to torture myself, I looked away.
“Are you always like this?” Umaima placed her arms on the table, in hopes of intimidating him.
Through my peripheral vision—Christian’s jaw tightened—he wasn’t the least bit bothered by her domineering actions.
Which was rare, because even Hasan occasionally got intimidated.
“If you mean serious? Then yes.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Ask me if I care.”
“Do you car?—”
“ Enough ,” Hasan snapped. “Both of you.”
Umaima fell back into her seat while Christian didn’t even bat an eye.
Umaima was intimidated by him, which never ever happened to her
Hasan remained locked in a kind of telepathic war with Christian, both staring at each other like they could somehow hear the mysterious secrets they kept.
This has to be their first time meeting each other, but they seemed comfortable enough to be informal. In some other timeline, I might’ve been happy if Hasan easily opened up to my future husband.
“Our first order of business,” Osama began. “Is using the marriage ploy as a distraction. Starlight’s board members will be thrilled at this new addition, mostly because it means celebration and they find an excuse for it. With that?—”
“They won’t pay attention to the investigation,” Umaima added thoughtfully.
Osama spluttered over his words for a moment before clearing his throat. “Exactly, that gives us a good chunk of time to hack into the city's cameras, access their money spendings, and figure out which one of them specifically is impersonating Adelaide.”
“As well as who was involved with Ayeza’s case,” I said quietly. “It has to lead back to her.”
Christian’s voice overlapped with mine. “There could be other girls from the past. You only know of one because only she had the courage to speak up, but there could be more.” He sounded certain that there were.
Disgust and nausea mixed together and created a terrible combination for a chemical reaction, exploding in a goopy consistency that blanketed my nerves. “Do you think that’s possible?”
Hasan’s eyes caught mine. “Christian’s right.”
“That means I have more work to do,” Umaima tucked invisible hairs back into her hijab. “I have to find out if the board members are all involved, if there are more cases like Ayeza’s, involving them, and hack into cameras across the city to track their movements? I think I may need a clone of myself.”
“Good thing you have one,” Osama added. “Not to brag, but I’m one hell of a computer genius.”
Umaima gave him a side eye. “Uh, okay. Sure .”
“You don’t believe me?”
She didn’t answer.
“Right,” I cleared my throat. “So, what about us? What exactly do Christian and I do besides pretend to be married?”
“First of all,” gruff and steady, Christian said. “We’re not pretending. This is real?—”
“For a year,” I clarified.
His eyes glittered with anger.
“ We ,” he ignored my comment. “Are going to catch your precious board members in the act.”
“What?” Shock trickled down my spine. “How do we do that?” I turned back to Osama. “I’m not willing to put another one of my employees under risk.”
A wave of unease passed through Christian and me. Pathways of unidentifiable feelings, blocked roads, and rocky walkways—but we spoke to each other, and I understood it well.
“Seduction,” I turned my head to look right into Christian’s eyes. A flash of emotion swam through them before drowning. “You want me to seduce them.” The board members saw me as fragile and weak, the perfect female representative. They didn’t know me well. Six months wasn’t enough for that. But I could use that animosity and that unknowingness to an advantage.
He looked mad and vicious all at once. Which was weird because why was he?
“Men are simple beings, throw on your prettiest dress, flaunt some skin, and they’ll drool after you.” Christian took a tentative sip of his coffee. He really didn’t care about his future wife seducing other men.
You’re not the girl he wanted for himself, which is why he broke up with you, remember? Just because circumstances brought you back together, doesn’t mean you’re the one he picks for himself.
Whatever reaction I expected never showed. We were to be married for a year. Those days were nothing compared to the years we spent apart. Christian didn’t care about the distance between us—honestly, I didn’t know what he cared about or how he became selfish enough to want Starlight too—I had to stop feeling this way.
My heart may be confused but my mind wasn’t a web of tangles.
The four of them continued to talk about some well-thought-out plans. Starting from the police to the engagement party, to the wedding. I should take more part in it because that’s what a good boss and wife did.
But all I could do was think about the ring on my finger, Christian, and our marriage that would soon wreak havoc on me.
And the incessant buzzing coming from my phone told me that the rest of the world felt the same.
It was one message in particular that made my heart drop.
Eda
I’m ashamed of you.