Chapter 5

Our families had always been close. As a little girl, I’d followed Adrian everywhere, calling his name.

Then middle school and puberty hit. My face broke out in acne. My classmates called me ugly and said my face was ruined.

How could the Bennett family’s little princess simply accept that?

But when I fought back, their cruelty only grew.

My notebooks were torn apart. Sticky liquid coated my desk and wouldn’t wipe off. People put things in my drinks. Whispers followed me everywhere.

Then Adrian had appeared like a hero.

He was handsome and popular in the high school division.

Plenty of the middle school kids knew him, too.

So when he stormed into our classroom, shut down their insults, and raised his fists to warn them not to bully me,

I felt as though he’d saved my life.

I remembered him draping an arm over my shoulders and telling them,

“She’s under my protection. Anyone who wants to mess with her can answer to me.”

I’d analyzed that sentence a thousand times in my diary.

He hadn’t said I was like a little sister or an old family friend. He’d said I was under his protection. Did that mean… I was his?

At thirty-four, I could answer that clearly: not anymore.

After middle school, my parents sent me abroad.

They’d hoped I would grow more confident and outgoing. And so I’d missed the passionate year Adrian now talked about.

By the time I came home, the stone had already sunk to the bottom of the lake. Not a ripple remained.

Those years overseas had helped me grow. I’d become far more confident and comfortable with myself.

But around Adrian, I still got nervous. I agonized over every word I said to him.

Even after he told me he loved me, I never completely let loose around him. He often praised how mature and sensible I’d become abroad.

That wasn’t the reason. I’d simply loved him too much. I couldn’t bear to argue over little things. That was why our marriage had always been so polite and peaceful.

I liked that quiet, steady kind of happiness.

Unfortunately, the things we handle too carefully are often the easiest to break.