Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 165: Chapter 165

"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling sick?" Adrian asked.
"I didn't want to kill your mood," Elara said softly.
"So you'd rather suffer in silence just so you don't kill my mood?" Adrian said, clearly annoyed.
'Elara must've been feeling off at the restaurant,' he thought. 'She complained the food was bland and barely ate anything. And just now... she gave me her first time. She even bled.'
A wave of guilt washed over him. He scrambled out of bed to find a thermometer and some fever medicine.
He checked Elara's temperature. "101.5°F," he muttered. "Well, you've probably been running a low fever all day, and now it's spiking."
Adrian came back with a pill and a glass of water, helping her sit up to take it. "Here. Take this and get some sleep."
Elara swallowed the bitter pill. "Alright. So you're not... disappointed, right?"
'I did promise him we could go again in half an hour...' she thought.
Adrian crawled back into bed and pulled the covers up around her. "Disappointed? What the hell do you take me for, an animal?"
"I just don't want you to be..." Elara trailed off.
"You're sick, and you're worried about me being disappointed?" Adrian asked.
Elara smiled weakly. "It's a textbook case of a 'people-pleaser.' Comes from my family, how I was raised. It's a flaw. I used to be the same way with Alex..."
She had completely changed herself for Alex, giving up on her interest in extreme sports. She learned to cook and even took finance classes, all to become the kind of girl she thought he wanted.
Elara was totally normal around her friends, but whenever she got into a relationship, this side of her would come out.
It all started when she was a kid, trying to earn her parents' affection. To get Fabian and Janice to pay more attention to her, little Elara would clean the whole house without being told.
While other kids begged for candy, she'd force herself to skip treats, thinking maybe that would make her parents love her more. Then it was Alex she tried to please. And now here she was, falling into the same old pattern with Adrian.
"Listen to me," Adrian said. "You don't have to please me. Ever. And you don't have to run yourself into the ground for my sake. If you feel bad, you say it. Don't torture yourself like that."
"But... all I ever wanted was for them to love me a little more," Elara whispered.
"You've got to love yourself first," Adrian said. "Then other people will follow. I want you to take care of yourself, and I'll love you. You are worthy of being loved. Elara, you matter to me."
Elara lowered her gaze. "Am I really worth it? Then why doesn't Janice see it that way?"
"She loves you, too, just in the wrong way. Or maybe she has her own reasons," Adrian said gently.
"Reasons? What kind of reasons? She acts like she wishes I'd never been born," Elara said bitterly.
Adrian shifted, sliding his arm flat on the pillow and tilting his head, a clear invitation. Elara moved closer, melting into his strong, safe embrace.
"Elara," he murmured, his voice a steady rumble next to her ear. "Whatever garbage she's fed you about yourself, forget it. It doesn't define you. You decide who you are and how you live."
And later, Elara really did get over her people-pleasing habit. As she spent more time with Adrian, her confidence deepened, and her happiness blossomed.
She'd often thought back to that night, to his words. Adrian was the one who taught her to put herself first. He was the one who made her believe, deep down, that she was truly worthy of being loved.
He felt the lingering dampness in her hair against his skin. Quietly, he slipped out of bed, retrieved the hairdryer from the bathroom, and came back to finish the job.
The low, steady hum of the hairdryer was surprisingly soothing, like a lullaby. By the time he was done, Elara had drifted off.
He checked her temperature again. It crept up to 102°F. Worried it was still rising, he gently placed a cool, damp cloth on her forehead.
There was no way Adrian could sleep while he was worried her fever would spike. He grabbed his laptop, settled onto the sofa in the corner of the bedroom, and got to work.
He shot a quick text to Janice on WhatsApp: [Elara's fine. She's staying at Ruby's tonight.] It was a necessary lie. If Janice knew Elara was here, in his bed, she would absolutely lose her mind.
He stayed up all night, checking Elara's temperature every hour. Thankfully, it stayed below 102.2°F and didn't get any worse.
The next morning, Elara woke up naturally but felt weak and drained.
Just then, Adrian pushed the door open, looking comfortable and relaxed in a white shirt and gray casual pants. "You're up?"
"Yeah," Elara croaked, sitting slumped against the pillows. She clearly still felt like garbage.
He checked her temperature with the thermometer. "Still running a bit of a fever. Think you can get up and eat something?"
"Sure," Elara said.
"There are clothes for you on the sofa," Adrian said.
Elara glanced over, trying to look casual, but her mind was racing. 'Wait, since when did he have women's pajamas and slippers lying around?' she thought.
"Justin's mom bought them," Adrian said, seeming to read her mind. "She got your measurements that day, remember? She had everything sent here."
It clicked for Elara then. 'Right. I'd forgotten about that.'
She got dressed and followed Adrian out of the bedroom, hit by the amazing smell drifting from the kitchen.
Adrian had brought in a chef from No. 9 Restaurant. He hated strangers in his space, but no way was he letting Elara eat garbage while she was sick.
'I can live on takeout and whatever's in the fridge,' he thought. 'But I'm not letting her do that. Besides, if we're going to live together down the line, we'll need someone to cook. I might as well get used to it now.'
Adrian pulled a chair out for Elara at the dining table. Just as she sat down, the chef brought out their brunch.
Elara got plain cereal with veggies and two eggs—bland and easy on the stomach. Adrian had a sandwich, salad, and coffee.
Elara still couldn't really taste anything, but she managed to finish it anyway.
"Janice called me this morning," Adrian said after a while. "She's worried about you."
Elara didn't say anything. "Elara," Adrian continued gently, "it's up to you what you want to do."
"Okay," she said finally. "Just tells her I'll be staying somewhere else for a while."
"Alright," Adrian said, the corners of his mouth twitching into a slight smirk.
"And I'm not staying here," Elara added quickly. "I'm going to Ruby's."
'Adrian is still engaged,' she thought. 'Even if we're going to be together, we can't live together right now. It's not right.'
The smirk on Adrian's face disappeared, but he nodded, respecting her choice. "Alright. I have a business trip tomorrow, anyway. I'll be back in about a week."
"Oh, right. I almost forgot," Elara said, the thought suddenly hitting her. "I should go home and pack. And book your flight." As his secretary, she always traveled with Adrian on business trips.
"Don't. Justin already handled the tickets," Adrian said flatly. "You're staying here and resting. I'm taking Justin. Besides, you're on bail. You can't leave Veritasiton, remember?"
"Right," Elara said.
After their meal, Elara took another fever pill and went back to sleep. Adrian left her alone and worked in his study all day. As evening fell, he went back to the bedroom to wake her for dinner.
Elara felt much better when she woke up, but the fever had been replaced by a nasty head cold. She let out a series of loud sneezes.
Elara gave a wry smile. "Are we jinxed or something? We slept together once, and I got a fever and a cold."
"Sounds to me like you're not sick enough if you still have the energy to joke around," Adrian teased.
Elara leaned in and planted a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth. "There. Now you'll get sick, too."
"That's not how it works. Needs more saliva," Adrian said with a playful grin.
Before Elara could blink, Adrian pulled her in for a deep kiss. "I've been going crazy in the study all afternoon," he breathed against her lips. "Elara, when can I have you again?"
Elara gently broke the kiss, a playful smile on her face. "When you get back from your trip, maybe?"
"When I get back, you won't even be able to walk straight..." Adrian teased, his voice low and full of promise.
Elara rolled her eyes. They kissed for a little while longer, but her stuffy nose made it hard to breathe, killing the mood. Adrian reluctantly let her go.
"The chef made beef stew," he said, changing the subject. "Hungry?"
Elara nodded. They walked hand in hand to the dining room and sat down side by side at the table. The chef served them soup, but to Elara, it might as well have been a bowl of hot water. She couldn't taste a thing.
"You need to eat, even if you can't taste it," Adrian said gently.
"I know," she said. "What time's your flight tomorrow?"
"Ten a.m. You're staying here tonight. I'll drive you to Ruby's in the morning," Adrian said.
"Sure," Elara said.
Suddenly, Elara's phone rang on the dining table. She dropped her fork to answer it. "Hey, Ruby, what's up?"
"Elara," Ruby said, her voice tight with panic. "Can you... meet me at the hospital?"
"What's going on?" Elara asked, her own concern rising.
"I think... I think I'm knocked up," Ruby whispered.