Secretly Mine-Chapter 171: Still Need Her [Christian POV]

I stood quietly by the window in the conference room, looking down at the ground below me. This was the third time this week that he’s come to pick her up.

Leslie’s smiling face both uplifted me and stabbed me as she happily greeted the familiar blonde. I was happy that she was smiling. I’ve caused her too much pain, and was relieved that she could smile again.

The painful part now was that she wasn’t smiling at me.

"The bishop’s nephew, huh? Lucky bastard. I hope he’s as respectful as he looks," I mumbled, as I took in the painful scene below me. When I met with Zach earlier this week, he shared the information he found on this Lucas Christaphori.

From everything Zach dug up, Lucas was clean. No skeletons, no dark past. That’s the only reason I stayed out of it—not that I had any right to interfere anyway...

It was only after the white car was no longer in view that I stepped away from the window. My chest was aching painfully.

I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself. I don’t have to watch this every day.

No, I needed to do this. The pain helped me fuel my motivation to get to the bottom of this.

I made my way back to my office, but not before swinging by Leslie’s. The moment I opened the door, the scent of flowers surrounded me.

I’ve been sending her bouquets of flowers daily. All with handwritten notes, hoping that she doesn’t fully give up on me.

I approached her desk and smiled.

She really likes these chocolate-covered almonds.

Ever since I had them delivered the first day, I’ve noticed that she ate them all. I made sure to send them over again each following day.

The empty crystal jar sat in its usual place with not so much as a single crumb left behind.

Adorable, like a little chipmunk.

I sat down in her chair and closed my eyes, hoping the scent would settle the ache in my chest. Lavender and something warmer... Like her skin, after a long bath. It was pathetic, how much I needed this. It was the only way I could comfort myself. What I really needed was to hold her in my arms.

After a few minutes, I opened my eyes and glanced down at her desk drawer. This part was what brought me the most joy. I gently opened the drawer, noticing today’s neatly folded note sitting on top of all the other notes I’ve sent her.

They were what gave me hope that she wasn’t completely done with me. That I still had a chance to win her back. And I planned to do just that.

With every passing day, I felt like I was closer to understanding what love was. To what it meant. Every day without her, I understood a little more. And every day, I became a man who didn’t deserve her, but still needed her.

-

I spent almost an hour in her office before finally pulling myself together. I went over and grabbed my coat from my office and made my way down to my car.

Today was the day that I was going to make a trip down to the port and check it out for myself. Zach said that he’s been hanging around there too much, and people started to become suspicious of him.

To make a cover for myself, I had Blake order a random shipment of items using the Vittoria Global company name. This way, if I were stopped, I could provide a reason for my presence.

As soon as I drove out, I noticed the sky get darker. Large grey clouds covered the sky above me.

Looks like it’s about to rain.

It didn’t matter. Rain or shine, I was going to do what I needed to do to find the evidence.

The drizzle had started just as my car passed the rusted gates of the industrial port on the outskirts of town. It was more like a fine mist that clung to your clothes and made your hair feel damp before you even knew about it.

I parked my car in the nearly empty parking lot and walked over to the front gate.

"It’s a bit late to be coming here, we’re closed to non-authorized personnel. Port opens at seven am tomorrow for visitors," the gate guard said as he put out his cigarette.

"Perhaps this could change your mind?" I asked, handing him an envelope of cash.

He glanced at the envelope before reaching out to take a peek inside. His eyes lit up, and he leaned back in his chair. "State your business."

"I’m not here to cause trouble. I only want to take a look around. Here, I have a shipment here I need to inspect," I said, handing him the documents from the shipping container.

He glanced down at it, "Fine. Just be quick and avoid going to the west side of the port. That’s a restricted zone."

Restricted? Interesting.

"Sounds good, thanks," I said before walking in.

Inside were towers made from shipping containers that were stacked on top of one another. It was like a giant, colorful maze.

Flood lights from above illuminated the pathways, allowing me to see the labels and logos of various shipments as I walked by them. It was only then did I realize that I could end up being here all night searching for any clues about the Moresis.

Let’s head over to the West side. It’s only too convenient that it’s restricted.

The walk to the west side of the port felt like a never-ending loop. The path I walked was between rows of shipping containers that blocked all other scenery from view. Only the mist-like rain continued to fall, fully soaking my hair.

Good thing I brought a jacket.

It took me almost ten minutes of nonstop walking to make it over to the west side, where I quickly heard a group of people talking.

"We need to get this shipment moved in by morning. They need space for the next shipment to arrive," one of the dock workers said with a sigh.

"Move all of this? We’re going to be here all night," a different worker replied.

"There’s no use in complaining. You know what they’re capable of."

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