Chapter 31
Thirty-One
James
If freeze frames could happen in real life, he was damn well engulfed in one.
Seconds ticked by, and words balanced on his tongue but stayed there instead of tumbling out. He blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I said we’re done.” Her voice wobbled, and she clenched her jaw, gesturing to her office door. “Well. You know the way out, don’t you? Keep in touch, Mr. Tian.”
His feet grew roots. “What?”
“If you are ever in need of our services again, please don’t hesitate to reach out,” she said thickly. “And we would appreciate it if you could recommend us to any associates you have.”
She can’t be serious, can she?
She turned away from him, staring out the window, but he caught the tremble in her lips.
“Sophie,” he murmured. His feet finally deigned to move, dragging over the worn carpet lining her office floor. And even though he wanted to take her in his arms, his hands remained at his sides.
She shifted a little to reveal lips pressed so tight, they were practically nonexistent.
“Look at me, bǎobèi.”
After a moment, she met his gaze. Tears rimmed her eyes, threatening to fall with each blink, and she crossed her arms as she perched on her desk. “Don’t call me that. Not anymore.”
A sickening feeling crawled into his belly and died there. “Why not?”
“Because it’s inappropriate to do so. ” She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “So please, stop and show yourself out.”
An arrow launched itself into his chest. No, a fucking sledgehammer, and her flat tone worsened the blow.
“When did we decide it was over?” he demanded. His voice rose slightly, and black crept into his vision. “After everything we went through, when—why would we decide that?!”
She shook her head. “We didn’t decide anything, James.”
“What?!”
“I did. You asked me to, remember?” She stopped in front of him. “I think I always had this answer, and I just never wanted to face it. The article changed that, and I understand why you would want to walk out. I get why you want to dust your hands of everything.”
His eyes rounded, and his pulse raced. “What?! What are you talking about?”
Chest heaving, she hugged herself tight. “Did you forget already? What I said about you, the money, and power?” She lifted her chin slightly. “It is always the woman’s fault, even when it’s not. I’m only going to drag you down, and you don’t deserve that.”
He rested a hand on her desk, mind reeling. “Sophie—”
She held up a hand. “Like I said, the article made me think about what’s on the line for you.
Everything you’ve done so far has been to finally prove to your family that you don’t need them to be successful.
I can’t just let you throw all that away over me.
Over a nobody when there are so many better women out there that could help lift you, and—”
“Is that what you think?” he cut in. “That you don’t matter?”
“Yes,” she admitted after a moment. “I mean, look at you in conjunction with me. Don’t tell me that hasn’t crossed your mind before.”
He frowned as her voice hissed in his head. ‘James, you have money and power … you’re a good-looking man who’s barely older, but they’ll take those five years and blow them into fifty.’
His dad’s voice joined hers, swirling in the muck. ‘She’s just a woman with nothing to her name. She doesn’t matter in our world.’
On top of it all, she’d been left one too many times and told she was better in retrospect.
And he unintentionally added to that.
No wonder she’s reacting like this. He gritted his teeth.
The smooth wood under his palm grounded him, and he curled his fingers into a fist, fixating on the tiny succulent she kept next to her computer.
“I don’t care,” James whispered. “I’m not leaving you.”
“What?”
“I don’t care,” he repeated. “I’m not leaving you, or us. I’m not leaving, period.”
Yes, he would have no problem finding someone to date him.
But the problem was they wouldn’t be with him like Sophie was. They wouldn’t share her smile or dry humor. They wouldn’t love him for his accomplishments, but rather his father’s.
Her lip quivered as she stared at him. “But—”
“No.” He strode to her, stilling his hands before they could reach for her. “Sophie, why would I want to leave when you’re all I want?”
She stared up at him before curling her arms around his waist. “What if—what if we run, and they catch up?”
Tension melted from his shoulders, and he pulled her close. Cradling the back of her neck, he dropped a quick kiss to the top of her head. “Then we let them.”
Her cheek pressed into his shoulder. “And what if you get tired of me?”
He shook his head. I understand why she believes that, but…
He’d gladly walk through Hell and back if it meant he could spend forever with her. She was his alluring obsession, his sweetest infatuation.
She might’ve gotten used to being a simple recollection, but it was far past time he changed that.
His hold tightened. “Like I could.”
A smile painted her lips and she kissed him like she was about to take her dying breath.
He melted into her, a brightness bubbling in his chest and buoying there.