“What is this?”
He didn’t seem the least bit shaken by my shock. Instead, bewildering himself into it—smiling at it.
“We’re celebrating your nineteenth birthday?”
“I’m not sure if you know this,” I claimed while my eyes ran over every object to make sure they weren’t deceiving themselves. “But you’re seven years too late.”
“That’s why I’m doing this,” he sobered. “To make up for lost time.”
Then why did you break up with me?I wanted to ask. We were together. We could havestayedtogether. He broke up with me because he wanted to date around. He wanted to meet new girls.
Then why all of this?
Christian wiped away a tear off my cheek with a kiss. The spot burned and ached and grovelled under his touch.
Instead of expressing all the thoughts in my head, “You obsessed with me or something?”
His eyes softened.“Undeniably.”
If I wasn’t already in love with Christian, this would have been the moment I fell.
THIRTY-SEVEN
CHRISTIAN
When I decidedI’d give her the best date of her life, no existing date was perfect enough for her. They were shallow and Adelaide deserved grand.
When I became CEO of Moonshine, the first land I bought was this one. It was a secluded circular land located at the edge of New York. It was the last green land in the city and buying it? A fucking challenge but I did it.
Breaking up with Adelaide was one of the worst feelings I’d felt in my life. When she walked away and left nothing behind—I fell into delusions. Thoughts ofwhat ifwe saw each other again played in my head.
Every year, I worked on one tent in celebration for her birthday.
Whenever I got hit with the fucking urge to see her, to beg on my knees for forgiveness, I came here to remember.
You did all of this for her and believed you didn’t love her? You fucking idiot.
She loved tent one. Getting materials for a fuckingcarnival was harder than I thought but thank fuck it worked out.
Tent two was for hertwentiethbirthday. On the inside was a built-in library for all of her favourite books. On the table set in the middle was supposed to be her favourite author and Adelaide would get to speak with her.
Adelaide loved it despite it being incomplete.
Tears glazed over her pupils, but she didn’t let them out.
Tent three was hertwenty-firstbirthday and it was an obstacle course, which Adelaide thoroughly enjoyed messing up in. Her hair fell across her face, and she looked inhibited as she miserably failed yet laughed her ass off.
I loved seeing her this way.
Hair down, walls destroyed, and carefree.
No man in this world fucking deserved her—least of all me.
But she was here.
She didn’t run away even though she should.
I was going to tell her the truth today.
