Chapter 182 I Want Her Forever
THIRD PERSON POV
Simon made the mistake of staying too long.
He had followed Damien and Tiffany through the inner dining room door with the pleased look of a man who believed he had delivered the perfect final insult. He looked satisfied with himself, certain the moment was over and that he had won.
But Zade hadn’t gone inside yet, and it turned out Zade was not finished.
“Morrison,” Simon said as he turned back at the doorway. “You know, watching you perform for a woman who isn’t even looking at you is honestly entertaining. You should do it professionally.”
Zade looked at him.
“Tell me something, Simon,” Zade said lightly. His voice was almost friendly. “Do you also pick up Tiffany’s dry cleaning, or does someone else on Damien’s staff handle that?”
Simon’s face changed at once.
“You’ve spent the last several years running errands for a man who probably doesn’t notice when you leave the room,” Zade continued in the same easy tone. “You defend his women, fix his problems, clean up his messes. And you do it so faithfully, so loyally-”
He tilted his head slightly. “It’s almost touching. Almost.”
Simon stepped forward immediately.
Nate appeared out of nowhere.
He moved to Simon’s side quickly. He held Simon’s hand. He knew Simon could be reckless and he had to stop Simon from making a scene.
Nate leaned close and said something low near his ear.
Simon’s jaw flexed. He looked at Zade.
Zade looked back with a smile.
After a moment, Simon shook Nate’s hand off, straightened his jacket, and walked through the dining room door without another word.
Nate looked at Zade briefly then he followed Simon inside.
Zade turned away.
-
Sophia had made it about eight feet into the main dining area before her heels became a serious problem.
The floor was marble. The shoes the stylist had chosen were five inches long. They looked perfect, but on this floor they weren’t balanced.
She was managing.....barely.
Anyone paying attention would have noticed the change in her posture, the way she shifted her weight to stay upright. Zade noticed, because he always noticed when she was in the room.
He moved to her immediately. His hand came to her elbow. He didn’t grip her. He just helped her stay steady. He did it subtly, so nobody else would notice.
She glanced at him.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“I can see that,” he teased.
His hand stayed exactly where it was.
He guided her across the room smoothly. He led her to a quieter section near the far wall where there were two chairs and a table.
Sophia sat down with relief. Zade remained standing.
He looked over the banquet tables loaded with food, then back at her.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“I’m not-”
“You didn’t eat before you came in,” he said. “You had half a cup of tea this afternoon. Don’t ask me how I know that.”
He was already turning away. “What do you want?”
Sophia looked at his back and decided arguing with Zade Morrison about food required too much energy.
“Something light,” she called after him.
He returned with a plate filled with small portions of food. The plate had different options. He clearly listened to her.
He placed it in front of her, then pulled the second chair around so he sat beside her at an angle instead of directly across.
That position placed him between her and the room.
She noticed but she said nothing.
Over the next thirty minutes, he got up twice more. Once for water. Once for a small extra plate containing something she had looked at from across the room but never mentioned.
Both times she gave him a look.
Guests moved in and out of their corner of the room. The Stone family gathered in groups to talk. A lot of them looked at Sophia with curiousity.
They had heard the secretary’s comment earlier, and many of them were clearly adjusting their first opinions of her.
An older woman stopped nearby. Sophia recognized her as one of Damien’s maternal aunts.
The woman looked between them.
“And who is she?” she asked Zade directly.
Zade looked up from his plate with a smile..
“She’s my ideal type,” he said simply.
Sophia looked at him in shock.
The aunt blinked in confusion “Your-”
“What I mean is...” Zade set his fork down and gave the matter his full attention. “If I had to describe the exact person I would want beside me for the rest of my life, I would describe her.”
He glanced at Sophia. “I’ve known that for a while. I’m not always good at acting on what I know. But I know it.”
Two nearby guests went very quiet. Sophia stared down at her plate.
The aunt studied both of them then moved away without another word.
Sophia waited until she was gone.
Then she said softly, “You didn’t have to say all that.”
Zade shrugged “It was true,”
“It was embarrassing.”
“For who?”
She looked up at him. He was watching her with an expression that told her he wasn’t sorry about what he said.
She sighed “Zade.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want what you’re describing. I don’t want declarations and drama and all of this.” She gestured around them. “I want a simple life..”
She looked at him as she continued “I want to work, sleep properly, and know the world around me won’t shift every time someone’s mood changes. I’ve had enough instability already.”
Zade was silent for a moment. Then, he said seriously:
“I can cook.”
Sophia stared at him.
“Not anything fancy,” he continued. “But consistently, every day, if that’s what stability looks like.”
He leaned forward, “I know what you think I am. I know the version of me you’ve been reacting to. But Sophia... I would give up all of it.”
He made a small gesture toward the room, the money, the status, the power surrounding them.
“All of it. If simple and stable is what you need, I can be simple and stable. I can fit into your life without breaking it.” he said.
Sophia looked at him for a long time.
Either he was a good actor or he was being very genuine.
She didn’t know what to say to that.
So, she did what she had done with everything confusing that night.
She picked up her fork and went back to eating.
-
The woman appeared twenty minutes later. She was strikingly beautiful, tall, wearing a fitted emerald gown. She had a jade bracelet on her wrist, and Sophia recognized it immediately.
Lyra Chen.
That was the woman from the event weeks ago, the business partner Zade had once mentioned.
She approached them with confidence. Her eyes went to Zade first and stayed there.
“Zade,” she said warmly. “I didn’t know you’d be here tonight.”
Zade looked up. “Lyra.”
She smiled “I haven’t seen you since the Morrison Group dinner. We never finished that conversation about the Hainan project-”
“We can schedule something through the office,” he said coldly.
Lyra was shocked. She didn’t expect Zade to be so dismissive towards her.
Lyra’s eyes moved to Sophia then she looked back at Zade.
“Of course,” she said “I’ll have my assistant reach out.”
She smiled again then walked back into the crowd.
Zade’s attention returned to Sophia the second Lyra turned away.
He didn’t watch her leave. He didn’t even look back.
He simply returned his focus to Sophia completely. Sophia had noticed everything.
“She’s interested in you,” she said.
“I know.”
“She’s beautiful, successful, and you dismissed her in four words.”
“Three words and an office redirect,” Zade corrected. “And yes, I did.”
He lifted his water glass. “Is there a question in there, or are you just making observations?”
Sophia looked at him.
This complicated, flawed man who had cried in her hallway. Who remembered how she took her tea. Who had fed her all evening. Who had just told a room full of people she was exactly who he would choose.
She didn’t have an answer for what she felt. She picked up her fork again.
“No question,” she said softly.
Zade said nothing.