Ficorpio
Chapter 1
When I saw the scrolling comments, I froze.
This was the ninth time I had confessed.
By now, I should have been numb to it. I had already braced myself for mockery, for ridicule, for all the familiar reactions that came with throwing my feelings at someone who had never once met them halfway. And yet, the moment I read those words, something in my chest still tightened.
The comments were different this time.
Not the usual laughter. Not the same tired dismissal. It was as if even the people watching had sensed that something had shifted, that this time I was not simply repeating the same hopeless mistake again. I bit down on the inside of my cheek and looked at Adrian Sterling.
He was standing right in front of me.
His face was as composed as ever, his expression so controlled it gave nothing away. But the atmosphere around him had changed. There was no way I could pretend I did not feel it. I had not come here because I wanted to embarrass myself, and I had no intention of making a scene. I was just looking at him, trying to read the answer in his eyes, trying to understand whether the distance between us was still the same as before.
It turned out the comments had noticed too.
Some of them were saying I had gone too far. Some of them were saying I was being shameless. Some of them sounded as if they had already decided the ending for me, as if they knew exactly who I was and what I was worth. But mixed in with all that noise was a strange, undeniable thread of truth: this time, Adrian’s reaction was not what I expected.
I had thought he would still treat me the way he always had.
I had thought he would brush me aside, leave me standing there alone, and make me swallow the humiliation myself.
Instead, I was forced to remember the investment proposal in my hands.
That proposal had been prepared by me.
Not by anyone else. Not by the person the comments assumed was standing behind me. By me, with my own time, my own effort, and my own stubbornness. And once that thought surfaced, I could no longer ignore the strange feeling pressing against my ribs.
Maybe this time really was different.
I could only turn back to Adrian Sterling. “Do you… hate me?”
His thick brows drew together slightly. He studied me for a long moment.
There was a complicated look in his eyes.
Adrian was handsome.
Not just handsome. Stunning.
Of course, that was also why I had been so hopelessly obsessed with him.
When I confessed to him for the ninth time, it had been right before finals.
I told him, “I won’t let this distract me from studying anymore. So can you give me an answer now?”
I smiled at him, my eyes full of expectation.
But he shook his head firmly. “We’re not right for each other.”
The first eight times, his excuse had always been that he didn’t want me distracted from school. This time, he had changed the reason.
I didn’t think much of it then.
If the scrolling comments hadn’t appeared in front of me.
If I hadn’t noticed the way our lives seemed to be following their script.
Chapter 2
If I hadn’t realized that, according to them, this whole world was built around me, yet the person I married wasn’t supposed to be him.
So I chased him all the way to the city where he went to college, and for his sake, I lived through a stretch of poverty I could barely recognize as my own life.
It wasn’t until my tenth confession that he finally agreed to be with me.
“I’ll take you to the library.”
Adrian’s voice pulled me out of the memory.
When I looked up again, all I saw was his retreating back.
“Let’s go to the cafe with Adrian.”
The words brushed past me, followed by a few light, teasing remarks.
“Chloe must be happy now. Someone finally stepped in for her.”
I didn’t answer. I just reached for my bag and pulled myself out of the mess around me. There was no point staying here any longer.
I’d already been embarrassed enough.
Without saying another word, I turned and left.
I walked away with my back straight and my head held high.
Only after I’d gone a few steps did I realize the scene behind me had gone quiet. I glanced back and caught sight of Adrian standing there, his shoulders still and his expression unreadable.
He didn’t even turn around.
For some reason, that made me want to laugh.
Maybe he really didn’t care.
Maybe that was fine.
Then, all at once, a memory from my previous life crashed into me.
Ten years.
That was all I had left.
In other words, I only had a little more time to live.
The pity in other people’s eyes suddenly felt distant and meaningless.
I should live well from here on out.
For myself.
That was pathetic.
The whole process of chasing after Adrian Sterling was enough to make people laugh.
At the same time, the scrolling on-screen comments kept flooding in.
“Besides, aren’t you still in school?”
“He already turned you down so many times.”
“This is the ninth time, isn’t it?”
“If you really like him, then keep going. He’s handsome, and you’re pretty too.”
“Still, you can’t keep doing this forever. You have exams to think about.”
The classmates around me were all talking at once, some snickering openly, others shaking their heads like they were watching some ridiculous show. Even the class rep, Megan Carter, had a smile on her face when she spoke, but the amusement in her eyes was impossible to miss.
“Chloe.”
Adrian’s voice cut through the noise, calm and detached.
That only made the comments around me worse.
“Look at her. She really doesn’t know when to stop.”
“She’s humiliating herself and still won’t quit.”
“How much longer does she think she can drag this out?”
Every word landed squarely on me.
I didn’t argue. I just looked at the faces around me, then at Adrian Sterling standing there with an unreadable expression, as if none of this had anything to do with him.
No one knew whether he would ever give me the answer I wanted.
I hadn’t expected the classmates to react so strongly.
They’d only come because of our business, but once they were here, they kept making a bigger and bigger scene. The private dining room was already packed.
Chapter 3
Adrian Sterling had come too, and I couldn’t tell whether he had already heard what Megan Carter was planning. His expression stayed unreadable, like none of this had anything to do with him.
In front of everyone, I politely turned Megan down.
“You don’t have to do this,” I said. “Really. Thank you, but I can’t accept it.”
I could still feel the trace of Adrian’s presence from a few seconds earlier, sharp enough that I couldn’t ignore it. But I also knew this couldn’t keep dragging on.
Megan looked at me, and so did the people around us. They were clearly still unwilling to let it go.
I gave them an awkward smile.
“I’m not pursuing it anymore,” I said.
The moment the words left my mouth, the room burst into noise. The classmates started teasing each other, their laughter rising one after another, each voice more exaggerated than the last.
And then Adrian slowly lowered his head.
The room was still buzzing, but I had already stopped paying attention.
In my previous life, I had spent years entangled with Adrian Sterling, and I knew exactly how much damage came from pretending my feelings did not exist. It never made the feelings disappear. It only made me look more ridiculous.
So this time, I was just going to be honest.
I liked him.
That was all there was to it. I liked Adrian Sterling, and it had nothing to do with anyone else. It had nothing to do with whether the people around us thought I was shameless, stupid, or unrealistic. Their opinions were theirs. Mine was mine.
If I liked someone, I had the right to say so.
The scrolling comments kept flashing across my vision, some mocking, some excited, some waiting for Adrian to reject me on the spot. But he did not.
Adrian only lowered his head a little, long lashes hiding the look in his eyes. He was silent for a long time. That silence made the air feel tight, but it was not a refusal.
I could tell.
That alone was enough to make my pulse jump.
By the time class was over, the noise had gradually faded. I went back to my apartment, set my bag down, and forced myself to open the laptop. There was work to do, and I needed something to keep my mind occupied.
The investment proposal from the company was still waiting in my inbox.
I skimmed through it twice before I could focus properly. Every now and then, my mind drifted back to Adrian’s reaction from earlier. He had not pushed me away. He had not looked at me like I was a joke. He had simply stayed there, quiet and unreadable, as if he were weighing something I could not see.
That was somehow more unsettling than an outright rejection.
When I finally headed to the company, the coworker responsible for the proposal was already there. The documents were sorted neatly on the conference table, and I handed them over after a quick check.
Adrian was in his office.
He was seated behind his desk when I went in, one hand resting on the file as he reviewed the investment proposal. When he noticed me, he lifted his eyes.