She Went to Prison They Went to Pieces novel Chapter 8

Celeste froze as her eyes met a pair of deep, unreadable ones.

Adrian? What was he doing here?

His long, narrow eyes lifted slightly at the corners, and in the dim light, his gaze shimmered darkly, like a still, bottomless lake.

The image of what had just unfolded at the Wrenford residence flashed in her mind, and her chest tightened with unease.

For a moment, she had no idea what to say.

"It's at least an hour's walk down from here," Adrian said. His voice was low and gravelly. "You're not seriously thinking of walking all the way down, are you?"

Celeste had been planning exactly that until she ran into Adrian. Damien wasn't going to come after her, and he definitely wasn't going to offer her a ride.

"Thank you, Uncle Adrian," she said, pulling open the car door and climbing in.

But the moment she sat down, a wave of dizziness crashed over her. She barely managed to grab the handle in time to keep from collapsing.

Her head pounded. It was a sharp, splitting pain that made it hard to think.

She'd barely settled in when Adrian's deep voice came again. "What did you just call me?"

Celeste turned her head, and her eyes locked with his, and in that moment, a reckless idea took shape in her mind.

Adrian had never married, and not once had he been tied to scandal or rumor. If she wanted to climb higher, she couldn't do it on her own.

But the thought had barely surfaced when the dizziness returned, fiercer than before. Her body gave out, and before she could stop herself, she collapsed sideways.

Adrian moved on instinct and caught her by the shoulder before she could fall.

A faint scent of violets drifted into his nose. It smelled familiar. Where had he smelled that before? Even from the moment he first saw her, Celeste had felt oddly familiar.

But this was their first meeting, wasn't it?

"Ms. Morin? Ms. Morin…" Adrian frowned, looking down at Celeste now in his arms.

They were so close now that he could feel the heat radiating from her, even through the layers of his suit.

He reached out to check her forehead. She was burning up badly.

He pulled back, took out his phone, and dialed his assistant, Joshua Williamson. "Have the doctor come to Serenade Manor."

"Yes, Mr. Wrenford."

30 minutes later, Joshua arrived at Serenade Manor with the family doctor and headed straight for the second floor.

Outside the master bedroom stood a tall, slender figure. Joshua had assumed Adrian was the one feeling unwell, but as he stepped inside, he was startled to find Celeste lying on the bed.

Adrian, with his near-obsessive cleanliness, never let anyone, especially not a woman, enter his bedroom. Susan Foster was the sole exception, and it was only to clean.

Joshua lingered by the door, unable to resist glancing at Celeste. Who was she?

After taking the medicine, Celeste slowly began to come around. By the time she opened her eyes, half an hour had passed.

As she blinked against the light, she sat up slowly, momentarily disoriented by the unfamiliar surroundings. Everything in the room was shades of black, white, and gray. Even the blackout curtains were pitch black.

Then the memory before she passed out returned—Adrian's car. She'd gotten into Adrian's car… So this was his room?

She threw off the covers and got to her feet. Her body still felt like it was burning from the inside out, but she pushed through the discomfort and stepped out into the hallway.

"You're awake, miss?" Susan greeted her with a warm gaze the moment she opened the door. She must've been the housekeeper.