u/Rinne_17

Please help me find this novel!

Title: Eighteen Times He Stood Me Up

Chapter 1

I'd just picked up my soup spoon when Raphael Gunning told me we'd have to put off getting our marriage license.

"We'll do it some other day."

Raphael set down his fork, his tone casual, like he was just commenting on the weather.

I took a sip of soup. "Alright."

He glanced at me, then looked down to pick up some food with his fork, only to lift his eyes toward me again.

"You're not upset?"

I took another sip of soup, my voice steady. "No."

We held our wedding six months ago, and this was the seventeenth time we'd put off getting our marriage license.

He was used to this. So was I.

After I finished my meal, I stood up to clear the table.

As I walked past him, he grabbed my wrist. "McKinley, I swear I'll be free next Monday.

"We already had the wedding anyway. A few more days won't make a difference.

"You can trust me. I won't bail on you this time."

I stared at his hand holding mine, then lifted my gaze to meet his eyes and smiled, "Okay."

Over the past six months, he had said "next week" nine times, promised "for sure" thirteen times, and told me to "trust him" sixteen times.

Still, we never got our marriage certificate.

And next week would be no different—because this time, I'd be the one to stand him up.

My phone vibrated. It was a message from the law firm's HR.

"You're resigning? Does Mr. Gunning know?"

I held my phone and stepped outside while Raphael stayed sitting at the dining table.

He stared at me with a strange expression, hesitated for a moment, then spoke tentatively, "Why aren't you asking me why this time?"

I replied to HR's message first before turning my attention to Raphael. "It doesn't matter anymore."

I meant every single word.

The first time we planned to get our marriage certificate, his intern, Valerie Huxley, said she had a stomachache.

I sat on a bench outside the city hall from dawn till dusk and went home alone.

The second time, Valerie said she couldn't figure out how to put together a case spreadsheet.

He'd left me stranded at a busy highway exit and rushed straight back to the firm without a second glance.

Every time after that, whenever we set a date for our marriage license, Valerie would suddenly have some sort of emergency.

Over the past six months, this same scene had played out seventeen times.

Raphael froze at my words. His Adam's apple bobbed.

After a short silence, he held his phone out to me. "A lot of people hire photographers to film them when they get their marriage certificate these days.

"We should do that too. You've always loved that kind of romantic gesture, right?"

So, he did remember I loved simple romantic moments.

I thought for a second and asked, "Are you free tonight? Let's go out for..."

I intended to ask him out for a final meal, but his phone rang before I finished speaking.

The call was from his trainee, Valerie.

I couldn't hear what she said on the other end, but after he hung up, Raphael looked at me. "Honey, Val..."

I cut him off with a soft smile. "Go on. Drive safe."

Raphael froze, clearly surprised by how calm I was being.

But after a moment, he got dressed and headed out. "I'll bring you a gift when I come back tonight."

The door slammed shut with a loud thud. Soon, I heard a car start and drive away right after.

I stood there, staring at the closed door.

Five years together, six months of a wedding— I should've let go of this relationship a long time ago.

Please help me find this

A week before Easter, Adrian gave me seven days off and had a ticket to Stockholm slipped into my bag.

I thought he was finally learning how to care.

Then I heard him talking to our son on the staircase.

“Dad, are you really going to marry Aunt Bianca? What about Mom?”

Noah was holding his model car, trying to sound brave.

Adrian was quiet for a moment. “It’s only a legal marriage. Matteo is gone. Bianca and Sophia are exposed, and I can’t leave them that way. They need the DeLuca name for protection.”

“Does Mom know?”

“She can’t know.” His voice softened. “Keep this from her, Noah. On your birthday, I’ll buy you that Aston Martin model you want.”

So the ticket was never a gift. It was a way to move me out of the picture.

If he could put his family name on another woman, even for show, then I could take back the pride and ambition I had buried in this marriage.

This time, when I left for the north, I would not come back.

Chapter 1

After dinner, I checked the private account Adrian used for family matters on the study computer. A new post was up.

There were no faces in the picture, only a man’s hand fixing a black shawl on a woman’s shoulders.

The watch was the Patek Philippe I had bought for Adrian in Milan. The emerald ring on the woman’s hand belonged to the DeLuca family and had always gone to the woman of the house.

The caption said, “A family name keeps trouble out. If the city is watching, the performance has to look complete.”

My hands went cold.

I pulled open the desk drawer and took out the black leather notebook Adrian never let anyone touch. Inside were registration papers, banquet seating plans, a guest list, and one handwritten note.

“During Evelyn’s seven days in Northern Europe, complete registration and public appearance.”

I stared at it for a few seconds and laughed.

He had timed my absence down to the day.

I picked up my phone and sent my friend in Oslo a message.

“Is the partner seat at Skadi Medical Research still open?”

“And ask your lawyer to draft a divorce agreement for me.”

A few months ago, she had asked me to join the institute’s founding team. She wanted me to handle strategy and fundraising. I said no because I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Noah or the estate I had spent ten years building.

Now I could.

I stood on the landing for a long time before I went upstairs. When I opened the bedroom door, Adrian was there.

“You hate burgundy,” I said, looking at his tie.

His expression barely changed. “I’m meeting lawyers at Saint Gabriel’s tonight. Old-school people. I need to look right.”

“The lawyers are for what?”

“Family business.” He stepped closer and kissed my forehead. “Don’t worry about it. Go to Stockholm and rest. When you get back, I’ll bring you and Noah gifts.”

He said it so smoothly that I knew he had already practiced it in his head.

Burgundy was Bianca’s favorite color. Since she returned to Chicago with her daughter, Adrian had been wearing more of it. That alone would have meant nothing if not for everything else.

Everyone in Chicago said Adrian and I were the perfect pair. He ran the DeLuca family’s public empire, and I kept the whole thing standing. For ten years, I handled the foundation, the guest lists, the charity dinners, the lawyers, the donors, and every public room that mattered. People called me the woman behind the DeLucas. They were not wrong.

Only I knew how much of myself that role had cost.

Back in the room, Noah ran in and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Mom, no matter what happens, you won’t leave me, right?”

My chest tightened. I knelt and pushed his hair back. “If one day your dad and I didn’t live together anymore, who would you want to stay with?”

His eyes filled at once.

I pulled him into my arms. “I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have asked that. Go wash your hands. I’ll make dinner.”

I made tomato pasta, meatballs, mushrooms, and bread. Noah sat at the table staring at his plate.

“Mom, do you already know?”

I stayed quiet.

“Dad said he had to do it,” Noah whispered. “To protect Aunt Bianca and Sophia. He said you’re still the one he loves. Mom, please don’t go.”

Children believe adults can fix anything if they explain it properly. Adults know some choices are already the answer.

Chapter 2

Adrian came home close to midnight.

He smelled of champagne and a woman’s perfume. Two buttons at his collar were open, and there was lipstick near his collarbone.

“You’re still up?” he asked with a smile. “Waiting for me?”

He used to pull me into his arms the moment he got home. This time he only loosened his cuffs and went straight into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, I heard Noah crying.

He was sitting on his bed with his tablet in his lap. Sophia had posted a story. There was a pink baby grand piano, a new tablet, a custom ballet dress, and Adrian’s hand in the corner of the frame.

The caption read, “Thank you to the best daddy in the world for remembering every wish.”

Noah wiped his face. “Mom, I saw the order for that piano in Dad’s study.”

That hurt more than anything Adrian had said to me.

He had always told Noah that boys should not be spoiled. Noah had wanted one model car for months, and Adrian kept putting him off. Yet he remembered every wish another child made.

I held Noah close. “From now on, if you want something, your mother will get it for you.”

After Noah fell asleep, I waited in the living room.

“Weren’t you going to bring Noah a gift?” I asked when Adrian came out.

He rubbed his wet hair with a towel. “I forgot. He’s a kid. We can get him something anytime.”

“You didn’t forget Sophia’s gifts.”

He stopped.

“Evelyn,” he said, his voice heavier now, “why are you comparing them? Sophia doesn’t have a father. Is it wrong for me to take care of her?”

“A piano, a tablet, dresses, and a birthday cake you made yourself. That’s more than taking care of her.”

The room went quiet.

A moment later he tried to soften his tone. “Noah’s birthday is the day after tomorrow. I’ve already prepared a surprise for him. And you should get ready for Stockholm. Relax for once.”

I turned away and went to the study.

The next evening, the DeLuca family’s spring banquet was held at the Black Rose Club. I should have been the one running it. I always handled that room.

Instead, Bianca stood near the head table in a burgundy dress and smiled at the guests.

“Since Evelyn is taking time away, I can host tonight,” she said. “I’m family too.”

The room fell silent.

That seat was never just a chair. It was a statement.

I looked at Adrian.

He paused, then said, “Do as Bianca suggested. Evelyn is resting. Bianca will handle the social side tonight.”

Even the family lawyer frowned.

I lifted my wineglass and said, “Fine.”

Chapter 3

No one expected me to agree that easily.

After the banquet, Adrian caught up with me in the corridor and grabbed my wrist.

“Listen to me.”

“About what?” I asked. “About why you handed my place to another woman? Or about why you thought I would keep understanding you forever?”

He held on tighter. “Before Matteo died, he asked me to look after Bianca and Sophia. The people circling his will are still there. I had to protect them. I didn’t do this because I love her.”

“So you hid it from me.”

“I knew you wouldn’t agree.”

I looked at him and almost smiled.

“You weren’t afraid I’d refuse. You knew it was wrong, so you made sure I never got a choice.”

His face hardened. “When this is over, everything goes back to normal. You’ll still be the woman of this house.”

“But tonight everyone saw who stood at your right hand.”

I turned to leave, but Bianca came toward us.

“Don’t be so sensitive, Evelyn,” she said. “Every family needs both. One woman to carry the burden. Another to stand beside the man who matters.”

That was the cruelest part. I had carried the weight for ten years, and she thought she could walk in and claim the visible half.

I didn’t look at her again. “Then stand there properly.”

Something in her eyes sharpened.

She stepped closer, lowering her voice so only we could hear. “It won’t be a performance for long. Chicago already knows who belongs at his side. Once a man starts replacing one woman in public, the rest is only paperwork.”

I met her gaze.

“You are wearing borrowed jewels, standing in borrowed light, and speaking in a place built by my hands. If I were you, Bianca, I would be less eager to celebrate.”

Her smile faltered. Then she gave a soft gasp. Her heel twisted, and she stumbled hard against the wall.

“Bianca!” Adrian moved at once.

She clutched his arm and looked at me with wide, wet eyes. “I only came to make peace. I didn’t mean to upset her.”

I did not move. “I never touched you.”

“Enough, Evelyn.”

Adrian stepped between us and put an arm around Bianca’s waist. “She’s been under pressure for days. She lost her husband, her life is under attack, and you choose now to make a scene?”

I laughed once, quietly. “I’m making a scene?”

Bianca leaned weakly against him. “Please don’t fight because of me.”

That was when I understood there was no point in saying another word.

I did not look at Bianca again.

“Then hold her properly,” I said. “You’ve already taken everything else far enough.”

I walked past them and did not turn back.

Back at the estate, I started packing. Our passports, medicine, coats, cash, and a few pieces of jewelry. Noah sat on the carpet and watched me.

“Mom, are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow is your birthday,” I said, kneeling in front of him. “I promised I’d spend it with you.”

“Will Dad come back? I don’t want Aunt Bianca in your place. I don’t want Sophia calling him Dad.”

My throat tightened. “I don’t know if he’ll come back. But I do know this. No one gets to use your pain to make someone else look important.”

Adrian did not come home that night.

Noah and I sat by the window until dawn. Just before sunrise, he said, “Dad will come back. He won’t forget my birthday.”

I said nothing.

Adrian never showed up on Noah’s birthday.

At noon, I called him.

There was laughter in the background and the sound of glasses touching.

“Today is Noah’s birthday,” I said. “Where is the surprise you promised him?”

He went quiet, then answered quickly. “I can’t leave right now. Check the drawer by my bed. There’s a ticket to Stockholm and a black card. Take Noah away for a few days. I’ll come get you when I’m done.”

“You can’t leave because you’re sitting at the head table with Bianca, aren’t you?”

He lowered his voice. “Evelyn, don’t do this now. When it’s over, I’ll make it up to you and the boy.”

Then he hung up.

I opened the drawer by his bed. The tickets were there, along with the black card and a diamond bracelet.

At the same time, the family account posted again.

The picture showed the head table. Adrian sat at the center, Bianca at his right hand in the DeLuca emerald necklace, and Sophia tucked close beside them.

The caption read:

“Some family dinners do not need explanation. The right people reveal themselves by who remains at the table.”

For a moment, I could not feel my hands.

Then Noah tugged at my sleeve and handed me his tablet.

Sophia had posted a story of her own.

The first clip showed Adrian carrying out her birthday cake while everyone sang. The second showed him kneeling to straighten the ribbon at her waist. In the third, she kissed his cheek and laughed into the camera.

The caption read:

“Some girls are lucky enough to get the best dad in the world. Thank you for loving me, spoiling me, and making me feel like your real little girl.”

Noah burst into tears. “So he wasn’t busy. He just went to celebrate with her.”

I looked at my son and stopped waiting.

“Yes,” I said. “So we’re leaving.”

Half an hour later, I walked out of the estate with Noah beside me.

I left a signed divorce agreement on the dining table. I took only what belonged to me, our passports, some cash, my jewelry, and what little dignity I still had.

Instead of using Adrian’s ticket to Stockholm, I booked a flight to Oslo.

LF: Tavern Singer in the Luna's Bed

LF: Eighteen Times He Stood Me Up

LF: Mute Luna, Loudest Revenge

The Prince Is A Girl: The Beast King’s Captive Mate