The Man Who Waited vs. The Man Who Wasted novel Chapter 255

She knew exactly what he was doing. He was intentionally lowering himself, playing the victim to make her soften and cave to his demands.

No.

Absolutely not.

"I don't want it. Thanks."

Adrian's pride flared, and he snapped.

"If you hate it that much, just go sell it and keep the cash."

Jocelyn didn't get angry; she just laughed.

"Then why don't you skip the middleman and wire me the cash right now?"

Adrian snapped the box shut, a dark, mocking smirk crossing his face.

"Sure. How much do you want?"

Jocelyn blinked, momentarily stunned.

"Don't worry, I'll transfer it from my private account. Grandma and the others will never know. Just don't ask for the moon."

Jocelyn truly had no words left for him.

He had completely lost his mind tonight.

The waiter finally brought out their dessert.

At least the agonizing dinner was almost over.

Adrian excused himself to the restroom.

But he left his phone sitting face-up on the table.

When it lit up with an incoming call, he wasn't back yet.

Jocelyn glanced at the screen.

Lana.

His precious confidante.

Surprisingly, Jocelyn didn't feel any resentment toward the woman.

If anything, she was a little grateful.

After all, this "confidante" had actually helped her twice now.

If it hadn't been for Lana intervening when she was drugged, things would have ended in a total disaster.

By the time the phone started ringing for the third consecutive time, Adrian finally returned.

He glanced at the screen and casually hit decline without missing a beat.

The phone didn't ring again.

But Jocelyn guessed Lana probably had an actual emergency.

Because from what Jocelyn could tell, Lana wasn't the type to be clingy or irrational.

A smart, hidden mistress rarely blew up a married man's phone for no reason.

It was a guaranteed way to start a fire in his own backyard.

Since Jocelyn categorized Lana as intelligent, she decided to poke the bear.

"Must be an emergency," she said lightly. "Aren't you going to call them back?"

Adrian played it off perfectly.

She didn't even have the energy to call him out on his garbage.

It wasn't her problem anymore. The person who should really be crying about this was his beloved Audrey.

Jocelyn announced she wanted to head home on her own.

She didn't want to keep Mr. Lowell from returning his lady's urgent call, after all.

But Adrian stubbornly refused to let her take a cab.

Left with no choice, she climbed back into the passenger seat.

The entire ride back was dead silent.

Jocelyn stole a glance at him twice.

His jaw was clenched tight, like he was wrestling with some intense, heavy decision.

The car eventually pulled up outside The Astoria.

Adrian stepped out, walked around the hood, and opened her door.

Jocelyn assumed he was just keeping up the gentleman charade to let her out, so she didn't think much of it.

But then.

Instead of stepping back, Adrian suddenly ducked inside, caging her against the seat with his body.

His eyes were dark and swimming with a sickening intensity.

"Jo."

Jocelyn forced herself to stay calm. "What do you think you're doing?"