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Love Arrives Too Late
Novelix
Completed
" My boyfriend, Adrian Vitale, hated being inconvenienced more than anything. In the three years we'd been together, no matter what I brought up, he only ever had one answer: ""Whatever you want."" I wanted to take a trip to the beach. He said, ""Whatever you want."" The moment we arrived at the coast, he announced he didn't like water. He holed up in the hotel for five days straight, doing nothing but answering emails and scrolling through his phone. The first time I went to meet his parents, I asked what I should bring as a gift. Same answer: ""Whatever you want."" I spent an entire month's salary on expensive seafood. Walked through the door only to learn both his parents were allergic. When I got pregnant by accident, I asked him shyly whether we should start planning a wedding. He was quiet for a long time before he finally said: ""Whatever you want."" I thought that was just how he showed love. But for three whole months, he never once came with me to a prenatal checkup. He never mentioned getting a marriage license. Never breathed a word about setting a wedding date. Then I saw a post from his new assistant, Bianca. ""Adrian ordered an iced oat milk latte with only one pump of syrup not sweet at all."" Adrian had commented underneath: ""Listen to me—don't drink it too sweet."" I scrolled up through six months of interactions. He'd helped her map out her career. Helped her pick which handbag was best for client meetings. Even stepped in personally to scare off some guy who wouldn't stop pursuing her. I clenched my teeth and dialed his number. ""Adrian, my ex-boyfriend wants me back. Do I pick you or him?"" He let out an absentminded mm. ""Whatever you want."" So that was it. ""Whatever you want"" was never about loving me. It was about not caring enough to bother. Fine. This time, I'd give him exactly what he wanted. …"
Chapters (4)
第1章
My boyfriend, Adrian Vitale, hated being inconvenienced more than anything.
In the three years we'd been together, no matter what I brought up, he only ever had one answer:
"Whatever you want."
I wanted to take a trip to the beach. He said, "Whatever you want."
The moment we arrived at the coast, he announced he didn't like water. He holed up in the hotel for five days straight, doing nothing but answering emails and scrolling through his phone.
The first time I went to meet his parents, I asked what I should bring as a gift. Same answer: "Whatever you want."
I spent an entire month's salary on expensive seafood. Walked through the door only to learn both his parents were allergic.
When I got pregnant by accident, I asked him shyly whether we should start planning a wedding.
He was quiet for a long time before he finally said:
"Whatever you want."
I thought that was just how he showed love.
But for three whole months, he never once came with me to a prenatal checkup. He never mentioned getting a marriage license. Never breathed a word about setting a wedding date.
Then I saw a post from his new assistant, Bianca.
"Adrian ordered an iced oat milk latte with only one pump of syrup not sweet at all."
Adrian had commented underneath:
"Listen to me—don't drink it too sweet."
I scrolled up through six months of interactions. He'd helped her map out her career. Helped her pick which handbag was best for client meetings. Even stepped in personally to scare off some guy who wouldn't stop pursuing her.
I clenched my teeth and dialed his number.
"Adrian, my ex-boyfriend wants me back. Do I pick you or him?"
He let out an absentminded mm.
"Whatever you want."
So that was it. "Whatever you want" was never about loving me. It was about not caring enough to bother.
Fine. This time, I'd give him exactly what he wanted.
…
"Okay. Got it."
I hung up and went straight to his office in Manhattan.
It was nearly the end of the workday. His executive assistant Grace Miller spotted me and visibly panicked.
"Miss Bennett, aren't you supposed to be resting at home? Why are you suddenly—"
I unplugged the desk phone in one swift motion, confiscated her cell, and held a finger to my lips.
The office door was half open. Bianca's voice floated out, bright and eager.
"So it's settled—we'll stop by that dessert shop in SoHo first for chestnut cake, and then you can help me pick out a lipstick."
"There's a private evening event at the aquarium tonight. I'm dying to go, but I heard you have to line up early."
Adrian let out a low laugh.
"If you want to go, we'll line up. It's only two hours."
"But it's over an hour's drive from SoHo to the aquarium. You won't get annoyed?"
"How could spending time with you be annoying?"
He paused, and his voice carried a patience I had never once heard directed at me.
"But there's one condition."
I stood frozen.
I could hardly believe that Adrian—who acted like five minutes of shopping with me was a chore—had this kind of tenderness in him.
Bianca turned her head and looked directly into my eyes.
She jumped off the edge of the desk in fright.
Adrian hadn't noticed. He continued, smiling:
"Listen to me—no skipping meals. Eat a proper dinner tonight."
I pushed the door open and walked in.
"You told me you had a board meeting tonight. And this whole time, you were planning to take her out for cake, lipstick shopping, and standing in line at an aquarium?"
Adrian finally turned around.
Surprise flickered across his face for a split second before he smoothed it away.
"Elena, what are you doing here?"
He sighed, a trace of weariness settling into his brow.
"Don't make a scene."
"Bianca passed her probation today. I promised her a little reward."
"You're pregnant—you need rest. That's why I didn't ask you to come."
Outside of business negotiations, he rarely strung that many sentences together at once.
Let alone explanations.
I glanced at his desk. More than half the things on it belonged to Bianca. Even beside his tea set—the one he never let anyone else touch—a pot of herbal tea sat warming.
"Adrian, Vitale Group has over two hundred employees. Do you take every single one of them on a date when they pass probation?"
"Six months ago, I closed a deal that could keep your real estate company afloat for three years. I wanted you to take me out to dinner as a reward. You still haven't found the time."
"Do you actually think I'm stupid? What are your feelings for her? Do I need to spell it out for you?"
A flicker of irritation crossed Adrian's eyes.
"Enough. Bianca is different—"
He stopped midsentence.
As if he realized that saying anything more would only make things worse.
"Forget it. I don't want to fight."
He pressed both hands down in a stop gesture.
"Whatever you want. I won't go. I'll come home right now. Is that enough?"
His effortless, throwaway concession was what nearly broke me.
I grabbed the pot of herbal tea and hurled it to the floor. Then I pointed at Bianca behind him, screaming.
"It's not enough."
"I want her out of your office."
"I want you home on time after work. No more seeing her alone."
The room fell silent.
I was gasping for breath, big, ugly tears rolling down my face.
Adrian clicked his tongue.
He didn't look at me. Instead, he crouched down to inspect the broken porcelain on the floor.
Bianca peered at me cautiously.
"Elena, I'm sorry, I—"
Adrian stood up and quickly stepped in front of her.
"This has nothing to do with you."
He tucked her behind him, his tone cold.
"Fine. Whatever you want."
"I'll move her to another department tomorrow."
"Can we go now?"
第2章
I opened my mouth, wanting so badly to say that I wasn't being unreasonable.
That I'd gone to my checkup today. That the doctor said the pregnancy wasn't entirely stable and told me to keep my emotions in check.
Adrian called Grace over and told her to take Bianca home.
I couldn't help myself:
"Adrian, at the hospital today I actually ran into—"
He turned impatiently, pressing a finger to his lips to shush me.
Then he turned back and spoke softly to Bianca.
"Go straight home. No takeout."
"I'll have the restaurant send dinner over."
"Listen to me—take a hot bath when you get back. Don't overthink things."
My phone buzzed.
Another message from my mother, Margaret Bennett:
"Elena, I'm not trying to pressure you."
"But you mentioned getting married three months ago. Adrian keeps saying he's busy. He still hasn't come to formally meet me."
I wiped my tears away haphazardly and typed a quick reply:
"Mom, I lied. I don't actually have a boyfriend."
The phone was plucked from my hand.
Adrian frowned at the screen.
"Elena, don't do something this childish."
He unsent the message and said flatly:
"Every couple fights. There's no reason to drag your mother into it."
We drove home in silence.
Back at the apartment, I went into the bedroom to change. Adrian followed me in and wrapped his arms around me from behind, fastening the buttons of my pajama top one by one.
"Don't be upset. I had Nora make that fish soup you used to love."
My breath caught.
He used to hold me like this all the time.
The day he confessed, his cheeks had been burning.
"I'm no good with pretty words. But from now on, I want you there. Every single day."
Whenever we fought and I was crying too hard to face him, he'd murmur:
"Okay. I'll do whatever you want from now on."
The hurt I'd been holding back nearly burst its dam.
I almost turned around, the way I always used to, ready to bury my face in his chest and say forget it, I'm not mad anymore.
But the instant my shoulder shifted, he stepped back.
"Bianca got chewed out by a client again today. She was hiding in the stairwell, crying by herself."
"She's not like you. She just got out of school. The Conti family hasn't been doing well the past few years. It hasn't been easy for her to get this far."
"Be good. Don't give her a hard time."
I stood there, rigid.
So the embrace was never about comforting me. It was about protecting Bianca.
I choked back tears, my voice breaking:
"Adrian, I haven't been able to drink fish soup for a long time now."
Pregnancy had changed everything about my palate. For the past three months, the faintest whiff of fish made me vomit.
He blinked, then frowned.
"Didn't you used to love it?"
"That was before."
He let go. His patience had finally run out.
"Bianca never makes this kind of fuss. She's not picky—eats whatever I give her and says it's great."
"She's considerate. She knows I'm busy, so she keeps things light. Says funny things to cheer me up."
"Unlike you. Always fixating on these pointless details."
I looked at him and felt, suddenly, like I was staring at a stranger.
This man I'd loved for three years. The one I'd been willing to bear children for.
"Adrian."
My voice went very calm.
"How long have we been together?"
"Three years, give or take."
"And do you remember how long Bianca has been in your office?"
He answered almost instantly.
"Three months and twelve days."
The words left his mouth, and even he froze.
The silence was deafening.
He looked away, embarrassed, and cleared his throat.
"My stomach hurts. I'm going to the study."
Faking illness was his go-to escape tactic.
I used to fall for it every time. No matter how tired I was, I'd get up and make something easy on his stomach.
But now, I simply washed my face, then calmly took my ex-boyfriend Daniel Mercer's number off the block list.
Two seconds later, a message arrived.
"Elena, as long as you haven't married him, I'll keep waiting."
第3章
The after-dinner fruit had just been brought out when Adrian emerged from the study and tossed a small box at me.
"For you. Don't be mad."
I didn't move.
He opened the box himself. Inside was a bracelet—some brand that was trendy among young women lately. The charm was a tiny letter B.
I asked:
"Bianca's initial?"
His face darkened.
"Don't be ridiculous. It's for Bennett. I picked it out specifically."
I looked down at a message Bianca had sent me two minutes earlier.
"Elena, don't be mad. Adrian's stomach is so sensitive—today he skipped lunch just to help me smooth things over with a client. It broke my heart to watch."
"I tried on this bracelet last week. Adrian originally picked the one with my initial."
"But just now he said you were throwing a fit, so I told him to take it and use it to calm you down."
"Elena, I really don't care about the bracelet. Honestly."
The provocation from the younger woman was as brazen as it got.
But in that moment, I didn't feel even a flicker of desire to compete.
"Adrian, don't bother explaining."
"I'm just tired."
"Tomorrow, I'd like to move out for a while."
He stared at me blankly, as if he couldn't process what I was saying.
"Move out? Why? Aren't we about to get married?"
A dull, dragging pain spread through my abdomen. I gripped the couch to keep from collapsing.
"That's right. We're about to get married."
"So I thought I'd try living alone again for a bit. See what it's like."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, like I was exhausting him.
"Fine. Whatever you want."
"Whatever I want?"
I repeated the words. They had never sounded more hollow.
"Yeah. Whatever you want."
"If you need to get out and clear your head, go ahead. Whenever you want to come back, I'll send the driver."
He retreated once more—the way you'd indulge a child throwing a tantrum.
The real reason I was leaving? He didn't understand it. Didn't care about it. Couldn't be bothered to even ask.
He was certain this was just another harmless little spat. A few days to cool off, and I'd come crawling back.
I didn't answer. I turned and walked into the bedroom.
From the living room, I heard him on the phone. Even with his voice lowered, the smile in it was unmistakable.
"It's nothing. She's just having one of her little moods. Don't worry about it."
"You don't have to be scared about the department transfer. I'll set you up with a friend of mine for a bit. Once she calms down, you can come back."
"I'm transferring thirty thousand to you. Don't say no. You hear me?"
I opened the closet and placed my clothes into a suitcase, piece by piece.
Half the closet sat empty now—as though, in all these three years, I'd never truly lived in his life.
The next morning, I woke early. Adrian was still asleep.
I didn't wake him. I went alone to the private hospital the Vitale family had long funded, stood in line, and completed every examination.
The doctor pointed to a tiny gestational sac on the screen.
"The baby is healthy. Strong heartbeat."
I gripped the test results in my hand.
The decision I'd made wavered in that moment.
I walked out of the examination room and had just turned the corner when I heard a familiar voice.
"Listen to me—no matter how bitter it is, you have to swallow it. Otherwise it'll hurt again tomorrow."
第4章
Adrian was holding a cup of warm water, half-kneeling as he coaxed Bianca in her chair.
Bianca had a painkiller in her palm, tears streaming down her face.
"Why do girls even have to deal with periods? I hate it."
Adrian laughed, pinching her chin and giving it a little shake.
"How are you this cute?"
"Be good and take your medicine. I'll buy you a mystery box after, and then we'll go to that dessert place you liked yesterday."
"Today I'll make an exception and let you add sugar to your milk tea. Deal?"
In a daze, a saying drifted through my mind.
When a man calls you beautiful, he might just be admiring you.
But if he calls you cute, he's already thinking about what to name the kids.
Bianca sniffled.
"Adrian, are you really going to marry Elena?"
Adrian was quiet for a moment.
"She's been with me for three years. And she's carrying my child."
He didn't say like.
He certainly didn't say love.
Marriage was just an obligation he intended to fulfill.
The hand I'd been pressing protectively against my belly dropped to my side.
I turned and went to find the doctor.
"I don't want this baby."
Before I went into the operating room, my phone rang.
It was Adrian.
I hung up.
He called again almost immediately.
I hung up again.
The third time, he sent a text.
"Bianca went to the apartment to find a document for me and accidentally knocked over the miniature landscape on the desk. Go home and clean it up."
That was the birthday present I'd made him.
I'd spent a month building it, piece by tiny piece.
It was the home I'd imagined for us—the one I'd dreamed of a thousand times.
Now it was destroyed by Bianca's hands.
Like a cosmic joke.
I turned off my phone.
The last shred of attachment dissolved completely.
After the procedure, I bled more than expected. The doctor wanted me to stay overnight for observation.
The moment I powered my phone back on, dozens of missed calls and texts flooded in like a tidal wave.
All from Adrian.
"Elena, are you done throwing your tantrum? It's just a model."
"Didn't I tell you to leave her alone?"
"She was forced out of my office because of you. Hasn't she been humiliated enough?"
"Going dark on me? Do you even remember you're pregnant?"
"Nora says the model is shattered beyond repair. She's afraid to touch it. Get back here and clean it up."
"Pick up."
I blocked and deleted him.
The next morning, barely past dawn, the door to my hospital room swung open.
Adrian seized me by the collar, his eyes bloodshot.
"Elena, what the hell did you do to Bianca?"
I turned my head away from the cold radiating off him.
Adrian spoke through gritted teeth, his grip tightening.
"She's missing."
"I can't reach her. I've contacted every friend she has. No one knows where she went."
The fabric was digging into my throat. I had no choice but to look up at him.
"Adrian, I didn't do anything."
Commotion erupted outside. Grace burst in, frantic.
"Mr. Vitale, they found her."
"She has injuries all over her body. And she slit her wrists."
Grace shot me a hesitant look.
"She keeps saying Elena, I'm sorry, I'll leave—things like that…"
Adrian shot to his feet. The color drained from his face in an instant.
He followed Grace toward the door, then whipped back and yanked me upright.
"Don't sit there playing the victim."
"If anything happens to Bianca, you'll be the first person I come for."