When His Perfect Mask Shattered I Awoke (by Opal Aguilar) novel Chapter 768

Pepper had no intention of letting Adrian leave.

She caught his hand again and spoke exactly as she had planned.

Pepper had always placed Adrian above everything else. No matter what happened, she always seemed to think of him before herself.

The moment she finished speaking, another soft cry slipped from her lips. Pain trembled through her voice, as if the burn hurt too badly for her to bear. Her fingers tightened around Adrian's hand.

Her nails pressed into his palm.

Then, as though her strength had run out, her hand slowly slid lower. Her fingertips brushed across his palm and down to his fingers, leaving a damp, ticklish trail that made him pause again.

At their age, both past fifty, people needed companionship and understanding more than passion.

At least, that was what Pepper believed.

All these years, she had been gentle and considerate. She had stayed quietly by Adrian's side without asking for much.

She had never stood beside him as his wife or lover. Still, other than their business partners, she was the woman who had remained closest to him.

That was why she believed she only needed one chance—just one to break the cycle between them.

She wanted Adrian to see her as a woman deserving of staying by his side, someone capable of offering warmth, care, and tenderness—rather than simply as his ex-wife's sister or the biological mother of his adopted daughter.

So, Pepper had come fully prepared when she brought the burn ointment and hot soup to his office.

She had also slipped something into the bowl of chicken and mushroom soup she brought for him, though the dose was light enough not to seem obvious.

Even if Adrian reacted to it, he would simply think his body had been suppressed for too long, and that desire would surface naturally. His metabolism was also healthy. Even if he had sensed something unusual and gone to the hospital later, the tests would have revealed nothing.

"Adrian..." Pepper held on to his hand.

She thought, Everything is prepared. The timing is just right. Today, I must cross that line with him. If I tried this again, Adrian would surely become suspicious.

A restless heat moved through Adrian's body.

This was his private lounge. Usually, no one came in except the secretary who cleaned it. Yet now, the air was filled with the scent of an unfamiliar woman.

Adrian was over fifty, yet he was wealthy and maintained an air of elegance. He kept his wife's position vacant all those years and took good care of himself. His body remained firm with age, and his refined, scholarly demeanor made him even more appealing.

For years, many women had set their sights on him.

Women of all ages had attempted to get near him. Tricks like Pepper's were familiar; he encountered them multiple times each year.

Only this time, it was Pepper.

In Adrian's mind, Pepper belonged under the category "family."

Because of that, he had not thought too deeply about it at first.

Something's not right, he thought.

Right, my shirt really is wet.

A large patch is soaked, and the fabric is wrinkled too.

If Pepper genuinely aims to have people misunderstand us, she wouldn't keep bringing it up.

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