Living Under One Roof

Morning light entered through the glass walls of Adrian’s penthouse, making the room color turn gold.

Lia Carter woke up to silence not the comforting kind, but the heavy kind that came with too much space and too many memories.

For a second she wasn’t aware of her surroundings, she didn’t know where she was. Then her gaze fell on the diamond ring on her hand, and reality set in.

Right. Adrian Blake’s home.

Her husband to be.

The man she couldn’t bring herself to trust but couldn’t stop thinking about.

The smell of coffee drifted through the hall. Lia carefully followed it barefoot, her silk robe sweeping the floor after her.

Adrian stood by the kitchen counter, sleeves rolled up, hair slightly tousled, pouring two mugs of coffee like he’d been doing it for years.

“Morning,” he said without turning around to glance at her.

“You make coffee?” she asked, surprised.

He smiled faintly. “Contrary to rumor, I’m capable of basic human tasks.” He said still with a smile while opening his arms to make his statement.

She accepted the cup he offered with a smile even though she was skeptical about the taste. Their fingers brushed just a moment, but enough to send an unexpected spark through her chest.

“Thanks,” she murmured, taking a sip. It was perfect. Of course it was.

“So,” he said casually, “you survived the gala.”

“Barely she said with a shrug.”

“You were incredible.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Are you complimenting me again? You might pull something.”

Adrian smirked. “Don’t get used to it.”

“I won’t.” She said with a smile.

They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment something neither expected or exist in their books for a while. The morning sun was so bright it caught the edge of his profile, making him look softening him in a way she wasn’t used to seeing.

Then he said casually, “There’s a meeting at ten. I want you to come with me.”

She blinked repeatedly. “To your company?”

“Yes” he said with a pause. If you’re going to play my fiancée, people should see you by my side, I think you should get used to it. And…” his tone softened “I think you’ll actually find it interesting. It’s a design pitch for our new interiors division.”

Lia frowned. “You’re expanding into interior design?” She said with confusion written on her face.

He nodded. “Part of the merger plan with Carter Designs.”

Her breath caught. “You mean my company.”

“Our company,” he corrected gently with a smile.

She stared at him, unsure whether to feel flattered or furious.

Two hours later, Lia followed him into the glass conference room at Blake Enterprises, feeling every pair of eyes turn her way as she walked in.

“Miss Carter,” someone whispered. “That’s her.”

Adrian gestured toward a chair beside him focusing on something on his phone“Sit.”

She sat, with her back straight and chin high. If they were going to continue the whisper, she’d give them something worth talking about.

The meeting began with slides, figures, sketches. Lia watched, intrigued despite herself. When the designers showed a mockup of a suite, she couldn’t help leaning forward.

“The concept is quite strong,” she said finally, “but the layout seems cold. You’re designing for luxury, not comfort. No one wants to live in a museum.”

The room fell silent.

All eyes turned to her. Adrian looked at her, surprised by her take on it and then something else. Proud.

“Go on,” he said.

Lia pointed towards the screen. “If you soften the color with warmer tones, more natural texture you can balance modern design with emotional appeal. That’s what makes people stay and not just pass by.”

The lead designer nodded slowly. “She’s right. We’ve been focusing too much on aesthetic minimalism.”

Adrian leaned back on his chair, watching her with admiration in his eyes. “Then that’s our adjustment. Miss Carter, thank you.”

Lia blinked. “You’re… taking my suggestion?” She said shocked.

He smiled. “I’d be an idiot not to.”

For the first time in weeks, something happened between them not anger, not obligation, but something dangerously close to partnership.

After the meeting, Lia gathered her notes, trying to calm her racing heart from giving her off.

Adrian stopped her at the door and turned. “You were brilliant there.”

She hesitated. “You mean that?”

“Yes.” His gaze softened. “You belong in rooms like that, Lia. You always have.”

She didn’t know how to respond. Compliments from Adrian Blake were rarer still when they felt real.

She cleared her throat. “Thank you. I should….. head upstairs.” She stammered.

He nodded. “Dinner tonight?”

She frowned. “Dinner?”

“Consider it a celebration.”

“Celebration of what?” She asked with a genuine confusion.

“Surviving your first official day by my side as my fiancée.”

Despite herself, Lia smiled. “Fine. But I’m choosing the restaurant.”

That evening, they ended up at a cozy Italian place tucked away in a quiet corner of the city. Lia had chosen it deliberately no photographers, no reporters, just pasta and candlelight.

“This is… nice,” Adrian admitted.

She arched her brow. “Don’t sound so surprised. I have good taste.”

“I never doubted it,” he said, sipping his wine.

The conversation flowed easily more a casual thing, almost naturally work, travel, small talk that didn’t feel forced. Lia laughed more than she expected to. Adrian’s backend humor surfaced, and she caught glimpses of the man she once thought she knew, the one who used to tease her with every information mercilessly during study nights, who once drove across town just to bring her soup when she was sick.

But every time she felt herself softening, she reminded herself: This is still a contract.

After dinner, they walked through the park nearby the restaurant. City lights shimmered in the distance, and for once, neither spoke. The silence was too comfortable.

Then Adrian said quietly, “I missed this.”

Lia stopped walking. “Missed what?”

“Talking to you. Being near you.”

Her chest tightened. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Say things that make me forget who you are.”

He sighed. “Maybe I’m trying to remind you of who I was and still am before everything went wrong.”

She looked away. “That person doesn’t exist anymore.” Paused and said “he died a while ago more of he never existed.

“Maybe not,” he said slowly. “But I’m trying, Lia.”

She didn’t answer.

Later that night, back at the penthouse, Lia sat down staring at the city through the glass walls again.

Adrian had gone to take a call, leaving her alone with her thoughts that are filled of dangerous company.

She remembered the first time she ever saw him the arrogant, handsome business major who’d sat next to her in the lecture room , always one step ahead, always impossible to ignore. He’d made her furious, happy she is alive.

And now he was her husband on paper the man who could ruin her life or save it.

A knock brought her out of her thoughts. Adrian stood in the doorway, his expression nervous but softer than she’d ever seen it.

“I have something for you,” he said with a shaking smile, holding out a small black box.

She frowned. “What is this?”

“Open it.”

Inside was a silver pendant that looked simple, elegant, shaped like a moon.

Lia blinked. “Why?”

“You used to wear one like this in college,” he said quietly. “You lost it at graduation.”

Her breath caught. “You remember that?” Then confusion set in. “Who then are you?.

“I remember everything.”

The confession was quiet, raw. For a moment, the air between them in the room was charged not with anger this time, but something far more dangerous to them.

She closed the box slowly. “You shouldn’t give me things like this.”

“Why not?”

“Because it keeps making it harder for me to hate you and take you away from…...”

He smiled faintly, sadness so evident in his eyes. “Maybe that is the point.”

Before she could respond, his phone buzzed again. He glanced at the screen, frowning a bit . “I need to take this, please .We’ll talk later.”

Lia nodded, watching him leave.

She held the pendant in her palm long after he was gone for a while, her heartbeat pounding loud in the quiet apartment.

Six months, that’s everything, she reminded herself again.

Six months of pretending for the public..

So why did it already feel like something more?