The Man Who Waited vs. The Man Who Wasted novel Chapter 197

Audrey nestled intimately against his shoulder.

"Then feed it to me."

Adrian picked up a piece of fruit and brought it toward her lips.

Audrey gave a soft, breathy whine, turning her face away. "No. I don't want it like that..."

That single, sultry sound instantly dragged Adrian's mind back to the front seat of his SUV. A sudden, intense hunger clawed at his chest.

He traced her lower lip with his thumb, his voice dropping an octave as the dirty thoughts spilled out. "I had no idea this pretty little mouth of yours was so good at whining... and so good at other things."

Audrey leaned in, her breath hot against his ear, completely shameless. "Do you want to find out again?"

That night, Adrian didn't leave Audrey's room until well past midnight.

When he finally emerged, he had the unmistakable, thoroughly satisfied glow of a man who had gotten exactly what he wanted.

Michelle, who had been listening from her own doorway, smiled victoriously and hurried into Eleanor's bedroom.

"Mom, you were right! Adrian just left her room. It looks like it's a done deal. There shouldn't be any more complications between them. Now we just have to wait for him to finalize the divorce with that woman."

Eleanor didn't look nearly as thrilled. "Don't celebrate just yet. There's a mandatory one-month divorce cooling-off period. If Adrian still has lingering feelings for that nobody, he could change his mind before it's official."

"Mom, relax!" Michelle scoffed. "Adrian isn't an idiot. Are you seriously suggesting he'd throw away control of the entire family empire just to stay with her? He's not that blind."

"He's not blind, but he is too clever for his own good. And sometimes, being too clever is a massive liability."

Michelle looked thoroughly confused. "What do you mean? Why is being smart a bad thing?"

...

The very next morning.

Just like the two days prior, Claire Lowell arrived promptly at the front doors of Vanguard Tech.

The security guard looked like he wanted to cry the moment he saw her. "Ms. Lowell, please just go home. Mr. Vance is not going to see you."

Claire wasn't deterred in the slightest. "Then I'll just wait here until he does."

The guard shook his head helplessly. He was about to tell her to leave the lobby when his radio earpiece buzzed.

A few seconds later, his eyes widened. "Ms. Lowell... Mr. Vance said to send you up."