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CHAPTER 29
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2021-07-24 08:25:59She wasn’t sure what she said to the sales assistant, didn’t register that the woman had nodded and gone through to the storeroom. Registered only that a hand like steel had gripped around her wrist.
“What did that woman just call you?”
Cheryl rested her eyes on Nikolas’s face, where all she could see was blank stupefaction and disbelief.
“Um… She called me ‘Dr. Richards’,” she replied in an expressionless voice. “Because that’s who I am, Nikolas. I got my Ph.D. last year… the year my father died. He was a senior research fellow at the university, and I’ve just taken up a research post in his former department, guided now by my old colleague, Dr. Maria Shell.”
His eyes were on her, quite blank.
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A self-condemning twist formed at Nikolas’s mouth.“That was for my future wife’s benefit, apparently, not mine. You see, my mother brought no money to her marriage, only her position in society, which my father did not have, being ‘new’ money. Once he’d married her, he acquired her status, and so, after I was born, since she could have no more children, she became… dead weight. She didn’t want that for my wife.” His mouth tightened, and Nikolas looked at her straightly.“We, Adamos, haven’t been a happy family. There has been misery and bitterness and anger and hatred and betrayal. But now it ends. I won’t bring that ugly heritage into our marriage.” His expression changed, lightened.“What I
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Nikolas Adamos glanced around him with irritation. It had been a mistake to come here. A mistake to indulge Angelica. He was only in London for a twenty-four-hour stop-over, and when he’d got out of the day-long meeting in the City and returned to his hotel suite, Nikolas had simply wanted to find her waiting for him. Then, once they had made polite and empty inquiries about each other’s well-being, Nikolas would’ve done what his fundamental interest in Angelina was: have sex with her. Instead, he had ended up in this overcrowded art gallery, bored rigid and surrounded by babbling idiots, among whom Angelica was doing her thing. At this moment, she was giving full descriptions of the art market and the financial worth of the artist on display. He couldn’t have c
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Not again! Not another damn time! Cheryl kept walking forward. If she kept walking, she wouldn’t think. Wouldn’t think she’d just lost her job… again.“Am I doomed to keep losing jobs? Am I so dumb, so stupid? All I had to do was to carry a tray and that was that” she whispered woefully. “Seriously, Cher, you have to stop being like this. You can afford to keep going ahead in this matter.” It had been her own fault, obviously, and she couldn’t blame them for firing her. She’d let herself be distracted in a fatal way by that incredible man. If she hadn’t been staring at him so stupidly, like a high school girl, she’d have been more aware of what was going on.“But, no! Miss Cheryl Richards had to just stand there like an idiot, gawking at that powerful demi-God! Really, girl, y
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She’d gone back to blabbing. The man lowered himself lithely into the seat next to her and reached for his seat belt with a fluid movement. He cast a frowning look at Cheryl.“My… what?”“Your girlfriend. The one I spiled the juice over…” His eyes cleared.“She’s not my girlfriend.” He said the word as if it were deeply alien to him like he just met the woman on the streets and decided to take her with him at the party. Something lifted in Cheryl. Something she knew was quite pointless, but it did all the same. Wonderful! That bitchy snob hadn’t been his girlfriend. Still, it wouldn’t matter if she was, anyway!
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The expression of uncertainty deepened in her eyes.“Um…” she said. “I… I don’t know. I… don’t think so…”“At one point, you’ll have dinner, am I right?”“Yes, but… I…” Cheryl fell silent, just staring at him helplessly as if she was waiting for him to make the decision for her. Nikolas did.“Good,” he decided. “Then that is settled. All we need to decide now is where you would like to eat. Would you like to choose a place you are particularly fond of?” By offering her the choice in order to make her feel more in control of a situation, Nikolas knew it was overwhelming for her. The look of uncertainty in her eyes deepened yet more.“I&he
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Nikolas turned to glance at her again. She was leafing through a glossy magazine now, her head slightly bowed and her lovely profile exposed to him, and he let his eyes linger a moment. Yes, she was different indeed. And not just in looks and style. In personality too. Cheryl was quiet, for a start. She didn’t try to talk to him, to make sophisticated conversation, or demands of him. She simply gave a fleeting smile, almost shy, her eyes only briefly meeting his, before drawing away as if she wasn’t sure whether to look at him. Nor did she seem, like all the other women he knew, to relish and revel in the attentions of other men. All the women he had selected for his leisure hours had always known how prized they were and had taken it for granted that male eyes would be drawn to them. Cheryl was
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She wasn’t sure what she said to the sales assistant, didn’t register that the woman had nodded and gone through to the storeroom. Registered only that a hand like steel had gripped around her wrist.“What did that woman just call you?” Cheryl rested her eyes on Nikolas’s face, where all she could see was blank stupefaction and disbelief.“Um… She called me ‘Dr. Richards’,” she replied in an expressionless voice. “Because that’s who I am, Nikolas. I got my Ph.D. last year… the year my father died. He was a senior research fellow at the university, and I’ve just taken up a research post in his former department, guided now by my old colleague, Dr. Maria Shell.” His eyes were on her, quite blank.
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His voice was low, urgent. Insistent. Somehow, though her mouth was suddenly as dry as a bone, Cheryl forced herself to speak.“There is nothing more to be said. You should get into your fancy car and go as far away from me as possible.” Cheryl’s voice grated out through a throat that had closed completely. His hand slashed negation.“Absolutely not. Not even by a long shot. There is still so much more to be said between you and me! That’s the reason I’ve been searching for you. That’s why I’m here, in front of you. It wasn’t all said, Cheryl. The most important part got left out. I was so devastated with what you threw at me, I let you go. I let you leave me. I should never have done that. Never! I should have told you then! But I didn’t realize… I didn’t realize that…&rdquo
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That question was burning inside him, frustrating and nerve-racking. His team of investigators was worse than useless, it seemed. There were, so they had informed him, a very large number of people with her surname, and with no indication of even what part of the country she might be in, the search would inevitably be extremely long and maybe fruitless. Frustratingly, Nikolas had realized he knew nothing about her… not even her date of birth. Did she have other forenames? Nikolas had been asked, politely but pressingly, by the investigators. He had no information to give them. Did he know where she came from? Where she grew up? Where she went to school? Anything like that? Did he know people who knew her, like friends, relatives, former employers… anyone at all? No, no, and no. &
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The walk in Cheslyn Garden calmed her spirit and after a few hours running around town, Cheryl decided to go to the little flat she was living in since her return to Watford. It was wonderful to be back home… It was what she needed… Wonderful to be back in the town she’d grown up in for most of her life. Everything was as familiar to her as if she had only yesterday boarded the train, heartsore and grieving, to head for London, looking for a new beginning. Everything was somehow unchanged as if she had never left. But that wasn’t true, of course. Things had happened to her that had changed her forever. Nikolas Adamos had happened to her. And she had conceived and lost their child. Starting to work in Maria’s team g
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His mother’s expression changed. He couldn’t tell what she thought, but he couldn’t care less.“Oh, Niko… I’m so very sorry,” she whispered. Mixed emotion speared in Nikolas. His mother would be happy now… Happy to think she’d saved herself five million euros! Happier to think her precious son had been saved from the hideous fate of having to marry a woman he’d got pregnant and who would be the worst wife for him.“Celebrate, mother,” Nikolas said. His tone was harsh and cruel. His eyes lasered into hers, and her face paled.“Celebrate?” Calista said the word as if it had no meaning. But of course, it had meaning for her! It meant her precious son was safe. Blin
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Cheryl stirred, content to leave behind another sleepless night. Lately, it was so hard to catch a few hours of good sleep. Usually, the street noises were easy to bear, but since Paxos, she wasn’t used to it anymore. Nor was she used to sleeping, living, and eating in a single room, where the ugly-patterned wallpaper was peeling off in the corners, the carpet needed to go on a rubbish tip, and the electricity ran on a meter.“I lived like a spoiled brat for too long. Luxury ruined me forever…” she whispered and left the bed. The thought shamed her. Added itself to the mountain of shame she already felt. To the shame of what she had done, what she had been, that had burst from her like an infected wound that last hideous morning. It felt as though it had been lanced from the
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That voice came out of nowhere, from the pool of darkness at the far end of the terrace. A familiar voice, one he didn’t want to hear ever again. Demetrios strolled out of the darkness, like a snake slithering towards a possible prey. His voice was taunting, grating.“Are you already missing her, big brother?” Demetrios continued with a grin on his lips.“What the hell are you doing here?” Nikolas asked and his voice was terse, demanding. A new emotion was taking over, fueled by a rush of adrenaline that had come the moment he’d heard his brother’s taunting voice. An emotion that tensed and coiled in every muscle of his body.“Oh, come on, Niko! Don’t tell me I’m trespassing?” Demetrios responded drawlingly. “Are you going to call your security guys and ask them to throw me ou
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He tried to say something, but Cheryl stopped him. “No… It’s my turn to talk now and you’re going to hear me out right until the end,” she added starting to feel a little tired, physically and mentally. “I know I’m not very good at talking about the stock market and brokers, and funds and charities, and whatever you, rich people, consider important subjects in a conversation. That I’m out of my league here. Still, I think, even for a reclusive, a bookworm like me, I never was so bad. I never embarrassed you. But I never actually thought… that you of all people, saw me in this light… as a brainless whore.” Another ragged intake of breath scissored through her lungs. “That a man like you, someone I thought so highly of, would be the one kicking me down to the ground again. Now I’m done.” Nik
