Obsession His Runaway Bride (Noelle and Adrian) novel Chapter 14

Chapter 14: No Matter

Chapter 14: No Matter

Miles let out a slow breath, shaking his head as if he had already expected this. He exhaled through his nose, dragging a

hand down his face in frustration.

“Good luck with that,” he muttered dryly, before turning on his heels. He didn’t spare Adrian another glance as he walked

toward the door.

Because if he did… he might actually say something he’d regret.

He couldn’t watch Adrian like this. He couldn’t watch him unraveling, spiraling into something ugly.

It reminded him too much of the past. Back when Adrian Blackwood was a man people feared, not admired. Back when

his fists spoke louder than his words, when he thrived in chaos, when his name meant violence and blood, not flashing

cameras and magazine covers.

Back when he was everything Miles had tried to avoid becoming.

And Miles had been thankful for the change. Thankful that Bianca’s betrayal all those years ago had somehow broken

Adrian enough to make him walk away from that life. To choose something better. To use that cold rage of his to build something out of himself instead of burning everything in his path.

Adrian had worked his ass off to leave that part of himself behind and to erase the man who once didn’t know how to live

without destruction.

But now… Now, Miles saw it again. That look in Adrian’s eyes. That razor-sharp edge in his voice. That barely restrained,

volatile energy crackling under his skin, waiting to explode.

And it scared him.

Because if Noelle was truly gone…

Then so was the man Adrian had become.

Miles hesitated at the doorway, his fingers gripping the doorknob. His jaw clenched.

Who the hell was Noelle McGrath?

Who the f**k was she to Adrian?

Miles had barely given her much thought before. Sure, she was a nice girl. Pretty in a quiet, unassuming way. Nothing like the glamorous, high-profile women Adrian was always seen with. She wasn’t a model, an actress, or some wealthy

heiress.

Just a flower shop owner.

A nobody in their world.

And yet… she had Adrian losing his goddamn mind.

She had him tearing apart his own house, had him standing in the wreckage of his own emotions, breaking down in a way Miles had never seen before.

And that terrified him.

Because if a woman like Noelle McGrath could bring Adrian Blackwood to his knees…

Then she was more dangerous than any enemy Adrian had ever faced.

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Chapter 14 No Matter

With one last glance at his friend, Miles turned the knob and walked out, leaving Adrian to his madness.

Because if Adrian was truly slipping back into the man he used to be…

Then there was no saving him.

Not this time.

Meanwhile, Adrian sat in silence. The thought of their empty house that was once filled with good memories began

pressing down on him like a deadweight.

The bedroom felt colder than it should have.

The bed beneath him that was once warm, once familiar-now felt foreign. The scent of her was fading, barely lingering in

the sheets. He sat on the edge with elbows resting on his knees. His hands folded together while his fingers interlocked

so tightly they trembled.

His mind was a battlefield.

Noelle was gone. Gone.

The word rang in his skull, over and over, until it became unbearable.

His jaw tightened as he forced himself to breathe. Inhale. Exhale. A slow, measured drag of oxygen through his lungs, though it did little to steady the chaos inside him. Then, without another thought, he reached into his pocket and pulled

out his phone.

His thumb hovered over the screen, hesitating for just a second before pressing the contact he knew would answer.

The line rang.

Once.

Twice.

Then-

“A?” Grace’s voice came through, thick with exhaustion-or maybe alcohol. He couldn’t tell.

Adrian swallowed hard. “Where is she?”

Suddenly, there was silence on the other end.

Then a low chuckle erupted from the other line. “Damn, Adrian. No ‘hello’? No ‘how’ve you been’? Straight to the interrogation?” Grace sighed. “You sound desperate.”

Adrian’s grip on the phone tightened as his patience began thinning. “Grace,” he warned.

She clicked her tongue. “What makes you think I know where she is?”

“Because you were the last person to talk to her,” Adrian shot back, his voice cold. “And you knew exactly what you were doing when you gave Bianca that f*****g ring.”

Another pause came from Grace before she let out a soft hum. “Ah, so you think you finally figured it out.”

Adrian clenched his teeth. “Grace.”

Grace’s laughter echoed as she asked, “You really think I was the one who handed that ring to your beloved Bianca?” she mused, her voice laced with amusement. “Didn’t it ever cross your mind that Noelle has a mind of her own? That she-oh, I don’t know-made a choice?”

Adrian flinched.

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Chapter 14: No Matter

Grace continued, savoring every word. “I simply led her to where she wanted to be. And where did that take her, Adrian?” Her voice turned sharp, the taunt in her tone unmistakable. “To that goddamn photoshoot where she saw you and Bianca all over each other. God, what a sight. If I were Noelle, I would’ve burned the place down.”

His fingers curled into a fist as nails dug into his palm. The memory of that day flashed in his mind-Bianca draping herself over him, the camera lights flashing, the way he barely even thought about anything else because it was just another damn job.

But that wasn’t what Noelle saw.

She saw something else entirely.

“You took her to the photoshoot,” he said, voice low, deadly.

Grace didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I did… Because she asked me to.”

A muscle in Adrian’s jaw twitched. His entire body was coiled so tightly with anger he felt like he might explode.

“I’m going to f*****g kill you, Grace,” he seethed.

But she only laughed, unbothered.

“Sure, cousin,” she said sweetly, her voice dripping with challenge. “If you can. In case you forgot,” Grace added, her voice turning colder, “we grew in the same garden. You’re not the only one who knows how to fight dirty.”

Adrian breathed harshly through his nose, his patience hanging by a thread.

Grace’s voice softened, but it was no less sharp.

“You made your choice, A. Noelle just finally made hers. So leave her alone.”

And with that, the line went dead.

Adrian stared at his phone as the dull beep of the ended call rang in his ears. His grip tightened before he finally hurled the device across the room. It crashed against the wall with a sharp crack, but the sound barely registered in his mind.

Leave her alone.

Grace’s words echoed in his head, gnawing at him, sinking deep into his bones like a slow poison.

He shoved both hands into his hair, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. His patience and his restraint were slowly slipping. The logical part of his brain told him that Noelle had every reason to walk away. That she had seen what she saw and made the only choice that made sense.

But the problem was-he couldn’t accept it.

Adrian pushed off the bed abruptly, pacing the room. His gaze flickered to the empty closet, to the vacant dresser where her things used to be, to the faint trace of her scent still lingering in the air.

She was gone.

Really gone.

And he had let it happen.

His breathing grew uneven as frustration clawed at his insides. He ran a hand down his face before turning and landing a hard punch against the nearest wall. Pain exploded across his knuckles, but he welcomed it-anything to drown out the helpless rage consuming him.

He wasn’t letting this end here.

And so, he yanked the door open and grabbed his jacket before storming out. If Noelle thought she could disappear

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without a trace, she was wrong.

He’d find her.

No matter what it took.