Now You Miss Me

When I left Adrian Schwimmer, everyone thought it was a tragedy.
After all, I was the woman who had been by his side the longest, the one with the best chance of marrying him.
I had even given him twins, a boy and a girl.
The day I told him I was leaving, Adrian was lounging on the sofa, rattling a toy to amuse the babies in their crib.
“If you walk out that door, you’ll never see these two little ones again,” he said, his voice casual. “You’d better be sure.”
I nodded. “I’m getting married. He doesn’t mind that I’m older, that I’m not a beauty, and he doesn’t care about… you and me. I want to marry him.”
The rattling stopped.
A long moment passed before a slow, careless smile spread across his face.
“Fine,” he said. “Be my guest.”
He was so utterly unconcerned.
That’s why later, when he systematically destroyed my husband’s company, forced me into a divorce, and stood before me with our children in his arms, begging me to just give him a scrap of affection…
I couldn't believe it was the same man.

1
I was the Schwimmers' ward, raised from childhood for one purpose: to be Adrian’s wife.
As a little girl, I was lovely. But as I grew up, my looks settled into a quiet plainness. Among the parade of stunning models and socialites Adrian dated, I was a clumsy, homely shadow.
He didn't love me.
But I had been with him for many years. A fixture. So, he allowed me to carry his children.
The twins were doted upon by his parents, the most cherished grandchildren of the Schwimmer dynasty. Everyone whispered that it was only a matter of time, that I was destined to marry Adrian.
Until the day I chose to leave.

2
It was a late autumn evening. The villa was bathed in a warm, golden glow, a fortress against the encroaching chill.
Adrian was on the plush sofa, a silver rattle in his hand, teasing the infants in their cradle. I placed a platter of sliced fruit on the coffee table in front of him.
And then I told him I wanted to go.
“If you walk out that door, you’ll never see these two little ones again,” he said, his tone light. “You’d better be sure.”
“I am.” I twisted my fingers together. “I’m getting married. He doesn’t mind my age, or that I’m not beautiful, or… my history with you. I want to build a life with him.”
The motion of his hand froze. A beat of silence, then a lazy, almost amused smile touched his lips.
“Fine. If you’ve made up your mind, then go. Whatever you want.”
He was the picture of nonchalance.
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. Men of his stature often possess a terrifying possessiveness. The women they mark as their own, loved or not, are rarely allowed to leave.
Thankfully, Adrian wasn't like that.
I dried my damp hands on my apron. He had already turned back to the twins, the rattle dancing in his hand again.
“Mommy doesn’t want you anymore,” he cooed in a singsong voice, dripping with mock pity.
The babies’ startled cries erupted, filling the room with piercing wails.
My body went rigid. I turned and fled.

3
When the news got out, a procession of people came to reason with me.
Adrian’s mother flew back from Europe. She held my hands, her voice a soft, persuasive melody.
“You have his children, Kate. You have a lifetime of history together. Who could possibly compare to that? These women he sees now… they’re just pretty faces. They don’t have a fraction of the connection you share. The title of Mrs. Schwimmer has always been meant for you. You’ve waited a decade, my dear. Why give up now?”
I kept my head down, silent. I had heard these words, or variations of them, a thousand times. From the day I turned eighteen, through my pregnancy, and after the twins’ first birthday. Adrian’s girlfriends came and went like seasons, yet the “inevitable” wedding I was waiting for remained a distant, ever-receding horizon.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Schwimmer,” I said, my voice quiet but firm, finally looking up to meet her gaze. “I’m done waiting.”
I pulled a vibrant, crimson-colored envelope from my purse. An invitation.
“I’m getting married next month. I hope you can be there. As my mother.”
Her lips trembled, but she took it, sighing. She had brought me from the orphanage, raising me as her own. She was the only mother I had ever known.
“Of course, I’ll be there. But please, think about it one more time. Adrian cares for you, truly. He just… has a terrible way of showing it.”
She continued to sing his praises until her throat was dry. She reached for her tea, but the invitation was snatched from her hand.

4
Adrian had just returned, a gust of winter air clinging to his overcoat, his cheeks flushed with cold.
He flipped open the invitation with a condescending grace. A low chuckle escaped him as he examined the cardstock—cheap, with rough edges.
“Has your taste really fallen this far?” he murmured, his eyes glinting with amusement. “Even if you weren’t with me, you didn’t have to throw yourself away on the first man who’d have you.”
“It wasn’t like that,” I whispered, clutching the hem of my dress. “He was my friend at the orphanage. He’s brilliant and he’s so good to me. He just doesn’t have money right now… but I know he’ll do great things.”
A dismissive smile played on his lips. With a sharp, deliberate motion, he tore the invitation in two.
CRACK.
“Adrian!” his mother gasped, a mixture of shock and anger in her voice. “What are you doing?”
He ignored her, his gaze fixed on me. “If you’re leaving, you leave with nothing. The jewelry, the clothes, the penthouse my mother gave you last year, the shares… you leave it all behind. If you’re so eager to struggle with another man, you won’t do it carrying a single shadow of the Schwimmer family. Understand?”
I had expected this. I nodded. “I know.”
“And if I recall correctly,” he drawled, his eyes slowly raking over my body, “the dress you’re wearing… I bought that for you too.” He gestured lazily toward the front door.
“Take it off. And get out.”

5
The blood drained from my face.
Mrs. Schwimmer shot to her feet, ready to argue, but she withered under the icy glare Adrian shot her. A butler appeared, respectfully but firmly escorting her from the room. Her lips trembled as she looked back at me, her eyes filled with apology. She had no real power over him, not anymore.
“Don’t you dare go too far, Adrian,” was all she could manage to say as she was led away.
Adrian only smirked. He leaned back against the sofa, spreading his legs in a posture of complete dominance. “Well?” he taunted. “Why aren’t you undressing? Weren’t you so determined to leave? What’s the hesitation? Second thoughts? Missing the money already? Or is it me you can’t bear to leave?” His voice dripped with condescending poison. “If you want to stay, just say the word. No one’s forcing you out—”
His words caught in his throat.
Because, with tears blurring my vision and my hands trembling uncontrollably, I had risen to my feet and begun to unbutton my dress.
Piece by piece, the clothes fell to the floor, pooling around my bare feet.
His expression hardened, turning darker with every item I shed. His eyes burned as they scanned my body, and then he let out a harsh, guttural laugh.
“You have some nerve!”
The mask of indifference was gone. He was furious. With a roar of rage, he swept the tea set from the table, shattering porcelain against the marble floor. He strode toward me, snatched a cashmere throw from the back of the sofa, and roughly wrapped it around my trembling body.
He pointed a shaking finger toward the door.
“Get out!” he bellowed.

6
Snow was falling outside, thick and silent. The wind howled, a mournful cry that cut through the air.
I sat on the top step of the porch, the thin blanket the only thing covering my naked skin. My teeth chattered violently. I was waiting for the man I was going to marry to come and get me.
The lights were on in Adrian’s second-floor study. Through the sheer curtains, I could see his tall, imposing silhouette. He was standing at the window, watching me. Unmoving. I could almost imagine the faint glow of a cigarette between his fingers.
The cold was seeping into my bones, a deep, numbing ache that made my blood feel like slush. I closed my eyes and curled into a tighter ball, refusing to show any weakness.
I knew what he was doing. He was waiting for me to break, to come crawling back and beg for forgiveness. His earlier indifference was a facade. The reality of my departure had finally sunk in, and his pride was stinging from the perceived betrayal—the audacity of his possession wanting to leave.
This was his act of mercy. A chance for me to repent. All I had to do was turn around.
A low rumble cut through the silence as tires crunched on the gravel driveway. A battered black van pulled up to the gates, its paint peeling, one of its taillights dark. It was as out of place in this neighborhood of pristine luxury as a weed in a rose garden.
The driver’s door flew open and a man scrambled out, his face etched with panic.
When he saw me, his eyes reddened instantly, shimmering with unshed tears of pure anguish.
“Kate!”
He rushed forward and swept me into his arms. A hot tear fell from his cheek and landed on my chest, a stark contrast to the freezing air.
“I’m here,” he choked out, his voice thick with emotion. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to take you home. We’re going home.”

7
His name was Leo. We had known each other as children in the orphanage.
Honestly, I had forgotten him completely.
Until a few months ago, when he found me. He told me I was the white moonlight of his life, the one pure and beautiful memory he had held onto. He said he would do anything for me.
Anything.
I let the word echo in my mind, and a bitter smile touched my lips.
“Then can you marry me?”
His arms, which were supporting me, went stiff. He stared at me, first with stunned confusion, then with an explosion of radiant joy.
“Really? I can marry you? Is something this good actually happening to me?”
I watched him, my expression unreadable. After so many years with Adrian, I was an expert in deceit and ulterior motives. But looking into Leo’s eyes—so clear, so bright—I could find no trace of falsehood. It was all genuine, heartfelt emotion.
But… genuine affection? Was I even worthy of something like that? A woman used and discarded by Adrian Schwimmer, a woman who had debased herself for a life of comfort, who bore his children without ever earning the dignity of his name—I was little more than a high-class prostitute. The thought almost made me laugh out loud.
“Are you sure you want to marry me?” I pressed.
He nodded without hesitation.
“Then go and die.”
The words were pure malice, designed to wound and drive him away. I expected him to recoil in anger, to leave me there in the snow.
Instead, his eyes widened in disbelief. “Do I… do I have to die to marry you? But then you’d be a widow. Can we not do that? I’m very healthy! I can even help you change lightbulbs!”
I was speechless.
I learned later that Leo had been adopted by a wonderful couple. He grew up surrounded by love and warmth, a life that was the complete inverse of my own. It had nurtured in him a personality that was a little naive, a little silly, but fundamentally good.
When he said he wanted to marry me, he meant it. From the moment I’d said yes, he had been meticulously planning our small wedding.

8
Leo tried to lift me and carry me to his van. He’d barely taken two steps before a wall of men in black suits surrounded us. The Schwimmer family security—all former special forces, built like brick walls, their faces grim and imposing.
The head butler, Mr. Henderson, bowed respectfully.
“Miss Kate,” he said, his voice polite but firm. “Mr. Schwimmer has instructed me to inform you that if you wish to leave, you must first repay the family for the expenses incurred in your upbringing and care over the years.” He paused. “The total comes to twenty million dollars.”
I poked my head out from the blanket. My body was so numb with cold that even a figure that astronomical failed to register as anything more than a distant sound. I glanced back at the second-floor window. Adrian’s silhouette stood there, a dark and powerful presence looking down on the scene below. The aura of oppressive control radiated from him even from that distance.
“He really is a heartless bastard,” I murmured.
Mr. Henderson’s expression softened with pity. “Miss Kate, if you would just apologize to the master… this would all go away. You know you hold a special place with him.”
“Special? What’s so special about being treated with the same ruthless cruelty as everyone else?” I let out a low, humorless laugh. I snuggled deeper into Leo’s embrace, my bare arms wrapping around his neck.
“Leo,” I whispered, my voice trembling theatrically, “what do we do? That’s so much money. I’m so scared.”
His arms tightened around me, and he gently patted my back. “Don’t worry,” he said, his voice a comforting rumble against my ear. “I’m here.”
He was nervous; I could feel the tension in his body. His family was comfortable, but a sum like that was beyond his wildest imagination. Yet, he didn't flinch. He didn’t even consider letting me go. He held me closer, took a deep breath, and looked the butler in the eye.
“We will pay what is owed,” he said, his voice surprisingly steady. “But you can’t just name a price. We’ll need an itemized list, proof of these expenses.”
The butler’s smile never wavered. “Of course. The documentation will be prepared shortly. In the meantime, to prevent Miss Kate from catching a chill, perhaps you would both care to wait inside?”
He made a graceful gesture toward the villa. Leo, who had just graduated college and was used to being polite, instinctively started to comply.
“Don’t,” I whispered, tapping his arm. I stopped him, then tilted my head back, my eyes finding the shadowy figure in the window. I smiled, a cold, sharp thing.
“Mr. Henderson,” I said, my voice carrying clearly in the cold air, “please be so kind as to inform your master that if he does not let me leave today, I will smash my head on these gates until I am dead. And he knows I am a woman of my word.”

9
The butler was gone for a long time. So long that I started to drift off, lulled by the warmth of Leo’s body. He held me without complaint, though I could tell his arms were tiring. He dipped his head, his forehead gently brushing the tip of my nose before he straightened up again, a faint blush on his cheeks.
“Kate,” he murmured, “you smell so nice…”
A slow, deliberate clapping sound echoed from the villa’s entrance. The sharp click of leather shoes on marble followed.
I looked up. Adrian stood there, leaning against the doorframe, impeccably dressed in a tailored suit. He watched us with a lazy, mocking expression.
“All this drama,” he sneered, “just to marry yourself off to someone so… pathetic?”
I closed my eyes, refusing to look at him. “Please, Adrian. Just let it go. You have no shortage of women. I’m begging you…”
“I was willing to let it go,” he said, his voice turning dangerously smooth. “But there is the matter of the Schwimmer family code. I’m sure you remember it. For those who break a vow to the family… the punishment is thirty lashes. Do you recall?”
He looked at me, a glimmer of triumph in his eyes. “The rules are the rules. My hands are tied. Endure the thirty lashes, and I will not stop you again.”
For a moment, my mind went blank. I knew the Schwimmers were an old family, bound by archaic traditions and vows. But Adrian was the head of the family now. His word was law. The entire clan depended on his favor. If he chose to ignore a rule, no one would dare question him.
He was doing this purely to torture me.
The silence that followed his words was absolute, broken only by the howling wind. Mr. Henderson looked at me, then at Adrian, a deep sigh escaping him.
“Miss Kate, please, just apologize to him. The master was already making preparations for your wed—”
“Silence!” Adrian’s voice was like a whip crack. He cut the butler off, his sharp, fox-like eyes boring into me. Seeing no sign of surrender, he turned his cold gaze back to Henderson.
“Open the family hall.”

10
The Schwimmer family’s private hall was a vast, solemn chamber lined with portraits of ancestors, their stern eyes following your every move. It was cold and imposing. I knelt on the freezing marble floor, dressed in clothes borrowed from a maid, a sharp pain already shooting through my knees.
The family rules dictated that all members be present to witness a punishment. The room was filled with faces—some I recognized, some I didn’t. Many of them had always resented me, and now their eyes shone with unconcealed glee.
“I knew it. I knew Adrian never truly cared for her. So what if she had his children? She’s still just trash.”
“It’s a pity, really. Once the mother has been disciplined by the family, her children can never be considered for inheritance.”
“Thirty lashes… Will she even survive?”
The whispers swirled around me, a cloud of naked, undisguised malice settling on my shoulders. I remembered a time, long ago, when I had witnessed a punishment here. I had clung to Adrian’s sleeve, terrified, and asked if I would ever have to kneel here like that.
He had stroked my hair, his smile gentle. “Silly girl. You’re mine. Who would dare touch you? I’ll always protect you. Don’t be afraid.”
Now, the man who had promised to protect me was wiping dust from a long, leather whip with a silk handkerchief.
He was going to administer the punishment himself.
I closed my eyes, my body trembling.
The click of his shoes approached. The tip of the whip tapped my shoulder lightly. He didn’t look at me, but at the portraits of his ancestors.
“It’s not too late to change your mind,” he said, his voice echoing in the cavernous room.
A bitter smile formed on my lips. “There’s no turning back for me, Adrian.”
“Isn’t there?” He leaned down, his face close to mine. His thumb gently wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. “With me by your side, you could set the world on fire and no one would dare question you. Come back. I will marry you. You will be the matriarch of this family. All these people who mock you now will grovel at your feet. Think about it, Kate. Don’t be stubborn.”
For a man as proud as Adrian, a man accustomed to being worshiped, these words were the closest he would ever come to pleading. His dark eyes were fixed on me, his intention perfectly clear.
He was waiting for me to take his hand.
One word, and my future would be paved with gold and glory.
I looked up, meeting his intense gaze, my fingertips tingling with a strange, exhilarating thrill.
And I heard myself say, “I can’t, Adrian. I’ve fallen in love with him. I’ll marry him or no one.”

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