Chapter 8
Audrey’s POV
He raised his glass and looked at me with hopeful eyes. But just as I was about to respond, Luke lifted his hand and stopped him.”
“She doesn’t drink,” Luke said calmly. “I’ll drink on her behalf.”
He downed the wine in one go, his Adam’s apple moving in a smooth, graceful motion.
Melvin’s face went pale. Luke’s words carried more than just concern, they were a declaration. And suddenly, old memories crashed into Melvin. The countless nights where I used to take drinks for him at similar parties. Now someone else was doing it for me.
Regret crept up slowly, tightening its grip on his chest. His eyes reddened as he forced a bitter smile, took two steps back, and turned to leave.
Later, when the engagement party was over and most guests had cleared out, Luke tilted his head and looked at me.
“So… my fiancée’s not taking me home tonight?” he asked playfully.
My face flushed. “What?”
He stared at me for a moment, then sighed a little, his tone softening. “You don’t want to take me home, do you? Well, I get it. I’m just a cripple. It makes sense you’d be uncomfortable with me.”
That caught me off guard. It didn’t line up with the image I had of him at all. Instinctively, I tried to reassure him. “No, no. It’s not like that. I wasn’t thinking straight. You came.all the way from the Washington, D.C.; I should’ve made proper arrangements for you.“}
Off to the side, his assistant quietly turned away, clearly too embarrassed to keep watching his boss work the sympathy angle.
Luke held onto my hand, his voice soft and needy. “So… you really don’t mind that I’m disabled?“}]
My eyes instinctively dropped to his legs, and I nodded.
But then my gaze drifted upward.
He was… big.
“What are you looking at?” he asked with a knowing smirk.§
I quickly looked away, my face burning. “I didn’t look at anything, I just… It didn’t matter to me, actually. We could just do IVF in the future.” He squeezed my hand gently and asked, “But why IVF?”
I hesitated, unsure how to even explain.
Luke let out a sigh. “When it comes to having kids, I think it’s better to go the natural route.“}
My eyes widened. I stared at him, stunned. Wait, did that mean he could?
He placed his hands on the sides of the wheelchair and slowly stood up.
The man I thought was wheelchair–bound towered over me by at least a head and a half. He had to be over six feet three.
He pulled me gently into his arms, his movements soft and steady.”
“I was in a car accident,” he said. “Hurt my legs. Took a while to recover. I still use the chair sometimes mostly because I’m lazy. The rest? Just rumors.”
I stood frozen, caught between shock and embarrassment.
His explanation made sense. Being seen as “disabled” probably made people drop their guard.
And that thought sent a cold shiver down my spine.”
If Luke did have some kind of plan for the Rodgers, then wasn’t I walking straight into the lion’s den?
I felt a chill spread through me.
Luke glanced at me and noticed my cold sweats, so he concernedly asked, “Are you cold? Let’s go back.”
I nodded slowly, my mind racing
As we walked, Luke pulled out a bracelet, a delicate string of crystal beads, and slipped it onto my wrist.
The moment I saw it, something clicked.
“You were the one who saved me back then?!“S
When I was seventeen, I was kidnapped by one of my father’s enemies. Back then, there was another boy held captive with me. He was the one who kept me safe, hiding me inside an old, rusty paint barrel to protect me
Later, it was Melvin who opened the barrel and “found” me. That day, the police, my father, and others were all there. But in my terrified. eyes, I only saw Melvin &
That was when gratitude slowly turned into infatuation
But looking back now, it was never Melvin who saved me. He just happened to be the one who opened the lid &
Luke’s expression darkened slightly. “Yep. And someone, who promised to never forget me, left Washington, DC. the next month and didn’t even leave a number
