All The Wrong Reason episode 34
đžALL THE WRONG REASONSđž
đč EPISODE THIRTY-FOURđč
Adrienne quickly spun around and found herself staring
at a pair of crystal blue eyes. She blinked back at him, all
the muscles and bones in her body froze, including her
voice.
He looked as handsome as ever, dressed in a black
tux. His hair was still a little disheveled but it only added to
the charm of his devilishly handsome face. His eyes though,
werenât dancing, like they used to. They had a shadow of
circles under them, as if he hadnât been sleeping properly in
days.
Adrienne realized that she hadnât been breathing in a
long time. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking for
sure that he would disappear once she opened her eyes. But
when she did, he was still there, looking back at her
curiously.
âJustinâŠâ she whispered.
He didnât speak. He looked as dumbfounded as she
was. Then he took a deep breath and instead of uttering a
word, he reached to pull her wa-ist and in a second, he
crushed her to his arms and his l-ips devoured hers into one
hungry k-ss.
Adrienne didnât think. Her arms wound around his
neck and she k-ssed him with the same intensity as he was
k-ssing her. She poured all her love in that k-ss. She knew
that she promised to let him go, but right now, she felt that
after suffering for weeks, and yearning to feel his existence
again, she deserved this moment of insanityâŠthis stolen
piece of heaven.
When the k-ss ended, they were both breathless. She
was sure her dress was slightly crumpled, her hair probably disheveled and her makeup could be ruined, but she didnât
care. Right now, all that mattered was this moment, and this
man in front of her.
He leaned his forehead against hers. âHoneyâŠ.â he
whispered in a hoarse voice.
âJustinâŠwhat are you doing here?â
âWhat are you doing here?â he asked. âI thought you
were in New York.â
She pulled away from him, to look into his eyes.
âJustinâŠâ she started. She didnât even know where to begin
telling him what happened to her while they were apart.
âSomethingâŠbig happened to me. I found out that my mom
wasnât really my mom. Sheâs my stepmom. And nowâŠI
found my real Mom. She lived here in Paris all throughout
these years. Iâve been living with my new family for two
weeks. I have a stepdad and a brother. Kim is not my sister,
Justin!â
She knew they didnât have a lot of time to talk. Justin
the Neanderthal just might walk in on them any minute
now, and once Justin met him and he opened his mouth, she
was ninety-nine percent sure the Neanderthal would get the
beating he deserved for the way heâd been treating her
since he met her.
Justin looked at her with a confused expression on his
face, absorbing everything that she just said, trying to make
sense of what little information she could provide him.
âJustinâŠare you okay?â she asked.
He blinked back to reality and looked at her with
narrowed eyes.
âHoneyâŠâ she said.
âAdrienneâŠâ He took a deep breath. âYour
mother…your real motherâŠâ he said. âWhatâs her name?â
âAriana,â Adrienne replied. âAriana Blanc-Starck.â
Justin released her and took a step back from her.
Adrienne suddenly felt cold once the warmth of Justinâs body
left hers. He continued looking at her with that dazed expression on his face, which made her curious and nervous
at the same time.
âJustinâŠâ she whispered. âCould you please say
something? Youâre scaring me.â
Justin closed his eyes for a moment. He took a deep
breath. And then when he looked at her again, his eyes were
suddenly teary.
âHoneyâŠwhy are you crying?â she asked.
He shook his head. And then suddenly, he smiled.
Then he chuckled. And then he just laughed. Adrienne
stared at him as if he just completely lost his mind.
Justin wounded his arms around her wa-ist, lifted her
off her feet and spun her around while he laughed his heart
out. He laughed as if he hadnât been doing that for weeks.
âJustin, whatâs going on?â Adrienne asked.
He settled her back on her feet. He shook his head.
âNothing, honey,â he said. âI thinkâŠIâve just been given the
miracle I was asking for.â And then his face descended
towards hers and he gave her another head-spinning,
sanity-disturbing k-ss.
âJustinâŠâ Adrienne whispered after the k-ss. âI know
we have a lot to talk about. But you should go. I should be
going down to the party. My esc-rt will come any minute to
get me. And itâs not advisable for you to actually meet him.â
He raised a brow at her. âWhy not?â
She sighed. âBecause I donât want to you to go to jail
for assault orâŠworse, murder.â
Adrienne didnât expect it, but Justin actually laughed
again. âHeâs that bad, huh? Damn! Heâs good,â he said
under his breath.
Adrienne blinked back at him. âWhat did you say?â
Justin shook his head again. Instead he asked, âDid
your mother tell you that youâre arranged to be married to
this guy?â
Adrienne nodded. âWas. Sheâs going to call it off.â
Justin stared at her with a sober expression on his
face. âAnd what if your fiancĂ© doesnât allow her to call off
the engagement?â
âHe doesnât have a choice. And besides, he hates me
as much as I hate him.â
Justin shook his head. âHe doesnât hate you, honey. In
fact⊠he is head over heels in love with you, he wants to
marry you right now.â Adrienne stared back at him, her eyes
wÂĄdened. Then Justin added, âI donât think your fiancĂ© will
come any minute and interrupt our moment, Adrienne.â
âWhy?â She asked in almost a whisper, her knees
getting weaker by the second.
âBecauseâŠheâs already here.â Justin replied in a soft
voice, his face full of affection as he said those words.
âJustinâŠâ Tears welled up in Adrienneâs eyes. âHowâŠâ
He smiled at her ruefully. âThe guy you metâŠisnât
your real fiancĂ©, Adrienne,â he said. âI am.â
âYou? Your mother isâŠâ
âChristine Adams,â Justin supplied for her.
âYouâre my motherâs best friendâs son? But how? I met
a guy, his name is Justin, too. And heâs the most despicable
creature to ever walk the face of the Earth.â
Justin smiled at her. âYes. Because I paid him to act
that way.â
âWhat?â
âI didnât want to go through with this engagement.
There was no way in hell I would marry the girl my parents
chose for me. I already knew who I wanted to spend the rest
of my life with.
âMy father asked me to meet this girl and make her
fall in love with me. I didnât want to. So I asked somebody
else to pose as me and⊠make sure she would hate him so
she would back out of this engagement herself. Once I was
sure she hated the idea of marrying me, I could meet her as
myself and give her an even worse time than what the other
Justin did.â
âYou paid somebody to pose as you? Didnât you realize
that somebody might realize that heâs an impostor?â
Adrienne couldnât believe what Justin did.
âI counted on that, too,â he replied. âI hoped her
parents found out what I did and think the worst things
about me, and never trust the fate of their priceless
daughter in my hands. After all⊠what kind of a lunatic
treats a girl that way?â
âJustin! That guy was a whack job!â
âHeâs not. He just happens to be a very good actor,â
he said.
âMeeting that guy was like eating my own vomit! It
felt absolutely disgusting! And you did that to me?â
Adrienne asked, almost in a daze.
âIâm sorry, honey. I had no idea it was you! I hadnât
met my fiancĂ©e. I didnât have a picture of her. I wasnât
interested. All I knew was her motherâs name and which
family she belonged to. How was I supposed to know you
have this wh0le family mystery that may make you end up
as my designated fiancĂ©e?â
âWhat if heâŠtook advantage of me? What if he
harassed me?â
Justin shook his head. âHis real name is Jordan. Heâs
my cousin. We grew up together and he almost lived with
me. He may be a menace most of the time, but I know heâs
not capable of doing that.â
Adrienne stared back at Justin. His eyes were now
dancing and she didnât think sheâs seen him so happy
before.
âYouâre going to pay for that!â she said to him crossly.
He grinned at her. âNow that I know who my parents
wanted me to marry, I am willing to pay the price no matter
how high.â
Adrienne narrowed her eyes at him. Then without
warning, she slapped him. He was taken back a bit. But
when he turned to her again, he was still grinning. His eyes were dancing and he looked like nothing she would say or
do would dampen his spirit or wipe out his happiness.
âI wanna kill you!â she said to him and a part of her
really wanted to do that for putting her through the worst
afternoon and evening of her life. Then she stared up at him
and said, âBut maybe later,â she said and she pulled him to
her and k-ssed his l-ips.
His arms wrapped around her wa-ist and he pulled her
to him as he deepened their k-ss. When that k-ss ended he
took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of her. âGod, I
missed you.â
Adrienne sighed contentedly. âI missed you, too. Just a
while agoâŠI was praying you would be happy. I was praying
that God gives you a miracle.â
He chuckled. âYour prayers are powerful. God must
like you the most.â
She couldnât believe what just happened. A few
minutes back, she thought that he lost his battle. She was
heartbroken when she found out that her mother had
betrothed her to somebody against her will. She wonderedâŠ
if she hadnât gotten lost all throughout these years, would
her mother still insist she marries her best friendâs son? If
she hadnât met Justin before she found out her real identity,
they would be forced to like each other enough to spend the
rest of their lives togetherâŠeven if there was no love
between them.
Justin pushed back a lock of stray hair away from her
face. âYou look beautiful, honey,â he said. âI know nowâŠthat
youâre really Andrea Blanc. But you will always be Adrienne
to meâŠmy Adrienne.â
Adrienne smiled bitterly. âMy mother said that my real
birth papers say that Iâm Andrea Blanc. My passports say
Adrienne Miller. But thatâs not my real name. It was the fake
name my father picked out for me to prevent my mother
from finding me. Now, I donât know what name I should
really use.â
Justin stared at her thoughtfully, feeling her confusion,
and her pain for the way her life had been. Itâs never easy to
know you have two different identities and you donât know
which one really fits.
He smiled at her and said, âLetâs do something about
that, shall we?â
Adrienne didnât get what he meant by that. But then
he pulled away from her. He stared at her seriously, took a
deep breath and then slowly, he went down on one knee.
Adrienne s-cked in a deep breath. Her heart pounded
loudly in,side her ribcage, she could almost hear it. She had
to hold on to the rails beside her, as she no longer trusted
her knees to support her weight.
Justin took something from his pocket. It was a small
black box. He opened it in front of her and she saw a
gleaming five carat diamond ring.
Justin took a deep breath again. âThere are a million
things I wanted to tell you. A hundred lines I thought I would
say whenever I imagined the moment that I would finally
propose to youâŠfor real. But right now, all I can say is that I
love you, AdrienneâŠI love youâŠvery, very much. I said this
to you before, and Iâm going to say it again nowâŠyouâre the
one I want to spend the rest of my life with. I never want to
let you go. No matter how many times you set me free. I
had planned to propose to you after I convinced my folks
that there was no way they could force me to take another
bride. But nowâŠby some miracle, I donât need to do that
anymore.
âBut I am saying these things to you not because our
families arranged for this. But because this is what I wantâŠ
for the rest of my life. I love you so much, Iâm willing to give
up everything for youâŠI live for youâŠIâm willing to die for
you. You are my lifeâŠnow, forever, always.â There were
tears in his eyes when he said those words. Then with a
wistful look in his eyes, he added, âYou donât have to choose
which of your names you should use. Will you let me change it to the name that rightfully belongs to youâŠthe one that
suits you the best? Will you be Adrienne Adams? Will you
marry me?â
Tears rolled down Adrienneâs eyes. She wanted to find
her voice right away but she couldnât stop crying. Justinâs
eyes were filled with tears, too, as he held his breath for her
answer.
âYes.â she said when she finally found her voice. âYou
know I will!â And she knelt in front of him, throwing herself
in his arms.
He caught her and wound his arms around her. He
hugged her tightly, burying his face against her hair, as she
buried hers against his chest.
They savored that moment. Theyâre engaged. Not by
some sort of arranged marriage. Not in the hypothetical
pretend world. But for real. In this bizarre turn of events,
their alternate universe, where they are betrothed to each
other and planned to spend the rest of their lives together
without obstaclesâŠjust came true.
Adrienne pulled away from Justin and looked into his
eyes. He smiled tearfully, as he took her hand and slipped
the ring on her finger. It fit her perfectly.
Justin leaned forward and slowly, k-ssed her l-ipsâŠ
thoroughlyâŠpassionately. And Adrienne wished that k-ss
would never end. When it did, he stood up on his feet and
pulled her up with him. Then he picked her up and spun her
around. She was crying and giggling at the same.
When Justin put her down on her feet, she wiped the
tears on her cheeks and admired the gleaming rock on her
finger.
âItâs beautiful,â she said to him.
âSo are you,â Justin whispered to her. âThat was my
motherâs engagement ring. She gave it to me before I came
up here. She was really hoping that you and Justin J. had hit
it off.â He chuckled.
âYes. I came so close to hitting himâŠwith a titanium
alloy bat!â Adrienne said.
Justin laughed. âAnd I believe that. Jordan actually told
me you were quite feisty. Knowing now that it was youâŠyou
made me so proud.â
âOn his business card, it said Justin J.â Adrienne said.
âWhat does the J. stand for?â
âMy middle name, Jeffrey,â Justin answered. âMy twin
died a few days after he was born. My mother thought to
give me his name so he would always live in our
memoriesâŠthrough me.â
âWhy didnât you put your surname on the business
card then?â Adrienne asked.
âAre you kidding me? If that card leaked out with my
full name on it, Iâve just committed social suicide!â Justin
said.
Adrienne laughed. âThat card was a sure way to turn a
girl off.â
âThat was Ianâs idea.â Justin said.
âYour cousins actually helped you out in giving me the
worst hours of my life?â
âWe were trying to mess up with Andrea Blanc. And it
worked, right?â
Adrienne nodded. âYou got me at âmachitoâ,â she said,
now giggling at the memory of her afternoon meeting with
Jordan, alias N-1-9-8-9.
Justin raised a brow at her, clearly not getting what
she meant by that.
âWhen Jordan ordered coffee at the shop, he asked for
a âmachitoâ, instead of a âmacchiatoâ. I thought he was such
a moron.â
Justin laughed. âHe is good. There is absolutely no
way he could mistake a âmacchiatoâ. Their family owns a
huge coffee shop chain in the States.â
Adrienne shook her head. âI cannot believe you guys!â
she said. âYour cousins are going to be the death of me.
Justin laughed. âIan and Gian liked youâAdrienne. So
they went out of their way to make Andrea Blanc pay.â
âIf you sent Gian, our problem would have been
solved earlier.â
âIf you answered my calls or actually returned my
messages and told me the wh0le thing about your real
identity, we would have ended this before you even met
Jordan.â
âI was a mess during those times. The wh0le thing
about my family was just overwhelming. Why didnât you call
me after that then?â
âBecause it was part of my agreement with my Dad. I
couldnât contact you. I was supposed to be focusing all my
attentions in making my fiancĂ©e fall in love with me. I didnât
want to break that promise because I didnât want him to find
out just exactly what I was doing. Until I accomplished my
mission, of course.â
âCongratulations! Mission accomplished!â Adrienne
smiled. âWhat did you plan to do at this party now that
youâre showing up as yourself and without the aid of
Mischief Jordan?â
âSomething that would make Andrea Blanc wish she
was engaged to the fake Justin instead. At least he was a
little bit funny.â
Adrienne narrowed her eyes at him. âReally? Youâd
leave the gentleman cloak behind just to make her hate
you?â
âDesperate times call for desperate measures, honey.â
Justin grinned at her. âIâd rather live in shame than in misery
for the rest of my life.â
âJill told me when she saw you at Blush, you were
lookingâŠrather chirpy. You didnât look miserable at all.â
âOf course. Jordan fed me with news of how my
designated fiancée never wanted to see me again. The plan
was working. And I couldnât wait for the wh0le thing to be
over so I could be with you.â
âIf you asked him to take a picture of me, we would
have been out of this misery earlier.â
âI didnât need a picture. I didnât need to know what
she looked like. I wasnât interested.â
Adrienne sighed. âI canât believe our parents did this
to us.â
Justin touched her cheek with his fingers. âIt was hell
for me, Adrienne. I could count the number of days I actually
stayed soberâwith one hand.â
Adrienne bit her lip and her heart went out to Justin.
She touched his cheek with her hand and he turned
sideways to k-ss the in,side of her palm.
âI think Iâd drink every night, too, if I didnât find out
about my new family. It was painful to know the truth about
myself. But I was at least thankful that it provided me a little
distraction. And of course⊠now I understand why my sister
and my mom never really liked me.â
âAdrienneâŠâ
âHmmmâŠâ Adrienne stared up at Justin.
âWeâre never going to arrange our kidsâ marriages,â
he said. âWe will let them find their own happiness. Let
them be free to choose the person who would make them
happy.â
Adrienne smiled. âI totally agree,â she said. âMy
mother arranged my own marriage when I was two. Now
that she found me againâŠshe thought I should try to fall in
love with my fiancĂ© first. If I hadnât gone M.I.A., I wonder if
she would have enforced thisâŠthe way your parents did.â
âJudging by the way my mother was so adamant
about thisâŠmaybe.â
âYour parents are going to be so happy about this,
arenât they?â Adrienne asked.
Justin stared at her for a while. Then he nodded. âThey
will be ecstatic. Our mothers would think that it was right to
meddle with our lives. My father would be gloating in front of me and they would probably arrange the wedding of the
century by tomorrow.â
Adrienneâs eyes wÂĄdened. âDo you think they would?â
âI know my parents, Adrienne. And I think I may even
know your mother more than you do. Iâve known her longer
than you have,â Justin observed. âAnd yesâŠthey would be
so damn proud of this! And they wouldnât even feel sorry for
the hell they put us through.â
âYouâre right. It was only because of a miracle that we
fell in love ahead of the time they set to introduce us to
each other⊠but in any other ordinary circ-mstance, both of
us would have been devastated, wouldnât we?â
Justin nodded. âYes,â he whispered. Then he took a
deep breath and pulled her to him. He planted a long k-ss on
her l-ips and then he asked, âDo you trust me, Adrienne?â
She smiled against his l-ips. âWith all my heart, Justin.â
He pulled away from her and smiled. âGood.â Then he
took her hand in his and pulled her towards the exits.
âWhere are we going?â she asked him.
He turned back to her and smiled, âRemember my last
text message to you?â he asked.
She nodded. âOf course.â
âWe still have two weeks,â he said.
âYesâŠyes we do.â
Justin stepped closer to her. With a mischievous grin
on his face, he said, âWell, I donât think I can wait two more
weeks⊠Mrs. Adams.â And he gave her a k-ss that blew her
mind and took her breath away.