Chapter 310: Unsure
Here is the diary. I’m giving it to you for safekeeping," Melanie said quietly, pressing the old but carefully preserved diary into Adam’s hand.
He looked down at it, brows drawing together in surprise, and then back at her."I thought you wanted to go into this with no prejudice," he said, his voice even but curious.
Melanie’s gaze dropped to the diary, now in his hands — the same diary she’d impulsively retrieved from storage earlier that afternoon. Her fingers curled at her sides as she exhaled slowly.
"I do," she replied after a pause. "I want to meet them with an open mind - no assumptions, no stories playing on loop in my head so that I can give them a fair chance. But I also remember what happened when you sent me the proof about Spencer. I didn’t even open it. I just... refused to look. And later, you kept saying how I was burying my head in the sand, pretending things weren’t what they clearly were."
She gave a small shake of her head, part regret, part frustration. "This time, I don’t want to make that same mistake. I’m not ready to read it yet, but I need to know it’s there. That if things go sideways, there’s something solid I can come back to. That’s why I’m giving it to you."
Adam smiled and held her," You want me to read it?"
Melanie shrugged a touch too nonchalantly and muttered, "I don’t care if you read it or not," though her eyes flickered briefly — betraying more than her words did. She didn’t want to read it. But she was worried too. So, she was going to revert to her old style. Bury her head in the sand.
Without waiting for a response or for him to tease her about her tendency of doing this, she leaned forward and gently tugged down the collar of Adam’s high-neck sweater. Her fingers smoothed over the fabric, brushing along his chest and shoulders with exaggerated care, as if checking that everything was in place. In reality, she was ensuring that her ’mark’ was clearly visible.
Adam watched her with a raised brow, then rolled his eyes, a teasing glint lighting up his face. "Would you like me to get a collar with your name engraved on it? Maybe add a tag — ’Property of Melanie’?"
Melanie gave an indignant little huff, but couldn’t hide the smirk tugging at her lips. She leaned up to kiss him lightly, as she said, "Stop dawdling. And go."
Adam straightened with a reluctant sigh. "Are you sure you don’t want to meet them?" he asked again, searching her face. "If not, I’ve arranged surveillance in the private room. You can sit behind the glass and watch — no interaction, no pressure. Just... see them."