A Misunderstood Morning
Adrian was pulled out of his sleep by the sound of an incessant ringing. His brows furrowed as he blindly reached for the phone on the nightstand. Without checking, he swiped to answer, his voice thick with grogginess.
"Hello?"
"Adrian? You are with Celeste?" a familiar voice responded.
His drowsy mind took a second to process, but then recognition hit—Eleanor. Celeste's mother.
Shit.
His body tensed, but in his half-asleep state, he answered automatically, "Mm." He nodded as if Eleanor could see him. "She's still asleep, Mom. We slept together."
Silence. Then—
"Oh."
Adrian rubbed his eyes, still too groggy to register the slight shift in Eleanor's tone.
"Oh my," Eleanor giggled, her voice suddenly high-pitched. "I didn't mean to interrupt your... uh... morning after."
Adrian blinked, confused. "Morning after what?"
Eleanor ignored him. "I just wanted to call Celeste about that ridiculous news linking her to Ethan, but I suppose there's no need. Since, you know, you two are obviously still in the 'honeymoon' phase."
Adrian's brows knitted together, but before he could clarify, Eleanor went on with increasing excitement.
"And here I thought my daughter was stressed over the divorce, but you two are clearly getting along just fine. Oh, Adrian, you should've told me sooner! You know, I've been waiting for this day. If you keep this up, I might finally get a grandchild!"
Adrian froze.
Grandchild?
His mouth opened to protest, but Eleanor gasped dramatically. "Oh no! I should let you go. You must be exhausted, hmm? I heard the first night back at it can be quite intense—"
Beep.
She hung up.
Adrian blinked at the phone in his hand.
...What the hell just happened?
Before he could make sense of it, a sharp kick landed squarely on his back, sending him tumbling off the bed.
THUD.
Groaning, he pushed himself up, only to hear a furious voice ring through the room.
He turned his head, dazed, to see Celeste glaring down at him from the bed, her face a furious shade of red.
"What the hell was that for?" he grumbled, rubbing his sore back.
Celeste pointed a shaking finger at him. "You told my mom that we slept together?!"
Adrian frowned. "We did."
Celeste nearly exploded. "You—" She inhaled sharply, her cheeks burning. "You know exactly what that means! And now my mom thinks we—" She cut herself off, looking absolutely scandalized.
Adrian blinked. "Wait... You mean—" He finally pieced it together. His words. Eleanor's reaction. The whole 'honeymoon phase' and 'grandchild' talk.
Oh.
Oh.
A slow smile spread across his face. "So that's why she was acting all excited."
Celeste threw a pillow at his face. "You idiot! You made it sound like we—like we—"
"Like we had sex?" Adrian supplied casually, catching the pillow with ease.
Celeste shrieked. "Shut up!"
Adrian, still sprawled on the floor, grinned up at her. "I mean, technically, we did sleep together. Just not in the way she thinks."
Celeste groaned into her hands. "You are impossible."
Adrian chuckled. "Come on, it's not a big deal."
Celeste shot him a glare. "Not a big—why were you even in my room?!"
His smirk faded slightly. "You were too drunk last night. I had to take care of you."
Celeste's breath hitched. Her eyes darted to her clothes—
Wait.
Her clothes.
Her pajamas.
Not what she had been wearing last night.
Her head snapped back to Adrian. "Did you change my clothes?!"
Adrian barely blinked. "Yeah."
Celeste's soul nearly left her body. "YOU WHAT?!"
Adrian let out an exasperated sigh. "Relax. It's not like I haven't seen it all before." He gave her a lazy smirk. "Besides, you didn't complain when I was taking them off you then."
Celeste's entire system shut down. Her jaw dropped. Her brain short-circuited.
"I—what—"
Adrian watched in amusement as her face turned an impressive shade of red.
"That was different!" she finally managed to splutter.
"How?" Adrian mused. "Same body. Same husband." He winked. "I'd say it's even my privilege."
Celeste gaped at him. "You—you pervert!"
Adrian laughed, stretching his arms behind his head. "I'm your husband, sweetheart."
Celeste groaned and flopped back onto the bed, throwing the blanket over her face.
This was a nightmare.
Meanwhile, Adrian leaned back against the bed, arms crossed, watching her with amusement.
Best morning ever.
________________
The morning air was thick with tension as Celeste and Adrian sat across from each other at the dining table, their breakfast untouched. The clinking of utensils against plates was the only sound between them until Celeste, unable to endure the silence any longer, finally spoke.
"Meet me tomorrow at the Civil Affairs Bureau at 9 a.m.," she said, her voice steady but devoid of warmth. "We'll file for our divorce."
Adrian froze, his grip on the coffee cup tightening. Though he'd been expecting this, hearing it aloud felt like a blade slicing through him.
Celeste continued, her tone composed but firm. "I won't take anything from you. Not money, not property. I just want to move on. I've accepted that we were never meant to be, and I don't want anything tying me to you anymore."
Adrian's throat felt dry. "Celeste—"
"I'm resigning, effective today," she cut him off. "I can't work as your secretary anymore. It would be ridiculous."
A sharp, bitter laugh almost escaped Adrian, but he swallowed it down. It was ridiculous. Everything about this—about them—was ridiculous. He had been waiting for this moment, preparing himself for it, yet now that it was here, it felt unbearable.
Still, he forced himself to respond with the composure she deserved. "I understand," he said, though his heart clenched. "I'm sorry, Celeste."
He hesitated, glancing at her carefully before adding, "I asked Ethan to marry you."
Celeste, who had been taking a sip of her water, choked so hard she nearly knocked her glass over. "What?!"
Adrian looked at her, confused. "I thought you loved him. You told him yourself, didn't you?"
Celeste slammed her fork down, glaring at him. "What nonsense are you talking about? What exactly did you say to Ethan?!"
Adrian frowned slightly, trying to piece together why she was so mad. "I told him I knew you liked him since childhood. You told him that yourself last night. I thought... since I was an obstacle between you two, I should at least fix that before we part ways. But he refused."
Celeste's eye twitched, her whole body heating with frustration. "You absolute idiot!" she shrieked, standing from her seat and marching toward him. Before Adrian could react, she started slapping his arm repeatedly in sheer exasperation.
"Do you even hear yourself?! Why would you say something like that to Ethan?! What if he actually believed you?! I want to die of embarrassment!" She continued her soft but rapid blows against his chest, her face red with frustration. "I can't believe this! I wanna strangle you!"
Adrian, caught between amusement and confusion, raised an eyebrow. "What's the misunderstanding? Didn't you love him?"
Celeste stopped hitting him, her hands frozen midair. Then, with all the fury of a woman pushed past her limit, she screamed, "NO!"
Adrian blinked. "Then why did you oppose your grandfather's arranged marriage back then, saying you were in love with someone else?"
Celeste let out a sharp breath, rubbing her temples as if dealing with a particularly dense child. "Because I thought the groom wasn't you, you moron!"
Adrian frowned slightly, trying to piece everything together. "Wait a second, you gave all those chocolates to Ethan on Valentine's Day back in university... and I saw you looking at him so many times. I always thought you were into him, Celeste.
"For your information, those chocolates I gave Ethan on Valentine's Day?
They were for you! I just had him give them to you because I was too embarrassed!
And those times you caught me looking at him in school?
I was actually watching you! But you had a girlfriend back then, so what was I supposed to do? !"
Adrian's brain stalled. He felt like someone had just hit him over the head with a hammer. "Wait... so I was your first love?"
Celeste folded her arms, looking everywhere but at him. "Obviously," she muttered.
Adrian's breath caught in his throat. He remembered every moment she'd been there for him, every time she smiled at him, every gesture that, in hindsight, had been filled with love. He had been blind.
"I thought you only loved me because you were forced into this marriage," he admitted quietly. "That's why I kept my distance... I didn't want to trap you."
Celeste scoffed bitterly. "And in the end, you still trapped me in a marriage where I was the only one in love."
Adrian flinched at the truth in her words.
"But it doesn't matter now," Celeste said, her voice soft but resolute. "It's over, Adrian. We can't change the past. The only thing we can do is move forward."
Adrian looked at her, truly looked at her. She had spent three years loving him, three years fighting for a place in his heart, and now she was tired. The warmth she once had for him was gone, replaced by something cold and distant.
He stepped closer, desperate, his heart pounding. "Celeste, I—"
"Don't," she interrupted, shaking her head. "Don't ask me for another chance, Adrian. Yes, I loved you. I spent our entire marriage loving you. But now, I want to love myself more."
A lump formed in Adrian's throat, but he swallowed it down.
"Meet me tomorrow at 9 a.m.," she said one last time.
And with that, she turned and walked away, leaving Adrian standing there, his heart breaking as he realized—
I had finally lost her.