Married with the Broken Hearted CEO novel Chapter 86

How do you react when you get a confession? 
The best way to deal with it is to be honest. If you don’t like the person, you should tell them so you don’t seem like you’re leading them on, and they can move on. If you think it’s too soon and maybe had feelings but wanna give it some time, then tell them that. Being completely honest with that person is better than lying. 
Sometimes, people who got confession from their friends never ever bring up the confession again or act extra nice because it will only confuse the confessor and make them think you are in fact interested. 
For normal people, those are the usual rules in dealing with the confessors, whether they like them or not. However, such considerations aren’t in Adira’s vocabulary.
Due to her beauty, intelligence, and maturity(?), it is quite normal that men and woman adore her. Thence, she got a lot of confessions ever since she was young. 
Years ago, a shy boy with brown hair picked up his courage to confess his crush to the president of their class, Adira Hale.
“I like you!” the boy said as he offered a bar of chocolate he brought from Switzerland when their family visited the place. 
Adira did not shy away and stared at the chocolate. “Thank you for the chocolate,” she said at ease and accepted the gift. 
An innocent smile, as sweet as melted chocolate, spread on the boy’s lips. He thought that his feelings were reciprocated. 
“Then, starting from now on, I am your boyfriend?” the boy asked. 
Adira’s brown eyes observed him from head to toe. “I accepted the chocolate. But that does not meet that I will accept your crush too.” 
The boy mulled over her words and tilted his head. “Then, what should I do for you to like me back?” 
“Did you see how the grown-ups confess?” 
“Yes. Somehow. So, I mimicked them by saying that I like you.” 
Adira shook her head while unwrapping the foil of the chocolate bar. “Men gave them diamond rings.” 
He could not hide her perplexion about this. “What? But I can’t buy that! I am still a kid.” 
Lading a grin on her lips, Adira peered at the boy and pointed his direction. “You got the point, little kid.” She took a bite on the chocolate and murmured while walking away, “Chocolate from Switzerland is really the best.” 
When Adira went to high school, her locker was filled with gifts, flowers, chocolates and love letters. She read some of the letters when she was bored and laughed at the cheesy lines. She distributed the chocolates to her group of friends, used the flowers to decorate her room and skillfully used all of the gifts. However, she never accepts any of the confessions from the courageous teenage men.
That did not change when she went to college. There was a time when a famous basketball player from another university confessed to her in front of everyone. The ending is obvious. Adira did not accept the confession and made a ridiculous deal. 
All in all, Adira has only three rules in dealing with confession. 
‘Be cool. Chill. Decline.’ 
This continued until she reached the age of 32. She believed that her beliefs in family, love and life wouldn’t easily break down as she built a huge wall that separates her from everyone. 
But she’s changing. 
As the days passed by, she noticed these weird changes in her behaviors and thinking, as if the wall she built was slowly crumbling into pieces. 
When Geoffrey and Chadwick confessed sincerely to her at the same day, they day she divorced her husband, she forgot the three rules of dealing her confessors. 
Adira is not sure. 
She already rejected Geoffrey in his first confession, but when he did it again this time, Adira couldn’t say anything. 
Next, Chadwick came and confessed his love too. How did Adira react? 
Nothing. 
She sat in front of the counter with pursed lips which didn’t seem like a plan to open. Her drinks, which were prepared by Vernon, arrived on the table and only then she moved. 
Geoffrey is still standing inside the counter. 
Chadwick is sitting beside her. 
Adira did nothing except of drinking her tequila. 
There was a chilling atmosphere inside the bar. Maybe because of the silence around, or because the aircon was set in very low number. 
Chadwick’s eyes, which had always been cold to everything, peered straight into Adira’s side profile. He stared at her as if he was pouring honey from her wavy red hair, downward. Her skin is immaculate and white, but under the lights, he saw her cheeks getting red. Maybe not as red as her hair, but enough to notice the blush. 
Is it because of the tequila he’s drinking? 
Not sure. 
But Chadwick just wanted to stare at her beautiful face in silent without giving attention to the other person inside the place. 
He’s talking about Geoffrey, who is standing inside the counter while gawking at his favorite customer. 
Two men staring at her with immense intensity. Seeing them from her peripheral vision, Adira felt as if there was a fire lit under her feet. Her stomach churned and her body temperature rose. Those eyes which are peering at her direction, watching her every movements or even counting her breaths, seemed to devour her entire being right here and then.
Even so, she pretended to be nonchalant, gulping the bitter alcohol as if it she’s drinking water. 
Adira wanted to get drunk as soon as possible. She couldn’t deny the overwhelming nervousness caused by the two men’s confession.
‘I wasn’t like this.’
For a moment, Adira remembered the novels that her high school friends loved to read before. Famous novels consist of female character dying in vain and then her soul will swap to another woman’s body. 
Adira felt like another soul was trapped in her because she’s acting different than what the usual Adira does. 
She never mulled over confessions like these in her entire life! 
Clink. 
Clink. 
Clink. 
Adira continued drinking until she almost emptied the tequila bottle she ordered. No matter how heavy drinker Adira is, there’s always a limit. Soon, her wish to get drunk came true.
The two men couldn’t stop her anyway. 
Rustle. 
They watched her take her wallet from her bag. She had a handful of bills in her hand. Not sure how much all the bills were, she placed it on the counter. 
“Keep the change,” is the first voice that broke the silence inside the cold space after long minutes. 
Adira hopped down from the highchair and swayed a bit. 
The two men flinched while watching her swaying while trying to stand straight. This isn’t the first time they saw her drunk, and they are certain that her sanity was long gone. 
Adira stood on the ground and looked around. Her vision is blurry, and her breathing is heavy. She’s entering the euphoric stage of intoxication that she cannot control her body motors well. 
She fidgeted and sighed. It became difficult to focus on things around her, and her eyes are glossy, drifting around. Her gaze floats, like clouds.
Then the dizziness set it. 
Creak.
She stumbled on her own and quickly grabbed the chair beside her to lean over. 
“Adira!” the two men shouted her name in unison. 
Adira could not tell who’s who, but when she regained a bit of her consciousness, she felt two hands holding both of her arms. One from the right, one from the left. 
There is this minty scent from the right. She can tell it’s her ex-husband, Chadwick. 
Meanwhile on the left, there is this forest smell that makes her relax. It’s Geoffrey.
 
Her jaw hung slack, letting her mouth hang open. 
“Pfft…” she laughed. Her smile spread broadly then when she’s sober. 
Geoffrey and Chadwick looked at the woman who suddenly laughed. 
“Two men are fighting over me,” she slurred her words. “This is so thrilling.” She waved her arms to get them away from the two, making a wide sweeping. 
Geoffrey and Chadwick were easily swept back. 
‘She’s really strong,’ Chadwick thought. 
‘As expected from a volleyball player,’ Geoffrey praised inwardly.
“These sh*tty bastards,” she murmured before she turned around. 
Her brown eyes went to the two with a certain intensity to them, as if she was a beast looking at her prey. 
Geoffrey and Chadwick’s eyes shook. Without realizing it, their mouths were dry, and they swallowed repeatedly. They couldn’t deny the overwhelming power of Adira even though she’s drunk. 
“I need to get away from the two of you,” Adira said. 
She approached. One step at a time. 
The two stepped backward. 
“I hate being involved in messy things,” she said while walking closer. Her footsteps are irregular, and her body lurched unpredictably as she tried to keep their balance. But at Adira’s vision, nothing is really wrong and she’s making straight line quiet well.
“Oh, oh, oh,” Chadwick murmured, while Geoffrey raised his hands as if he wanted to support her but he’s afraid to come closer. 
At this moment, Adira does not seem like a human, but a tiger that will swallow two persons at the same time. 
“I had to get away but…” She said in loud voice. 
Before they knew it, she stood right in front of them. 
“You two just don’t leave me alone.” 
She stumbled. 
“Oh!” the two gasped.