Chapter 182

Adam reached the hotel in record time, his heart pounding with equal parts worry and irritation. He had expected chaos, but every time he expected Saira to behave decenltly she started creating problems! She’d told the boy he was her frienda and that should have been it! But she had to go now and complicate things! And she might claim that she’d done it for him, he knew and she definitely knew that things were not that simple. Saira did things only which were in her favour… beneficial to her.
But whatever he kept expecting, as he stepped into the hotel lobby and saw the scene in front of him, for the first time in his life, he actually felt his blood pressure spike through and a deep anger enveloped him.
Because instead of trying to coax the child out of hiding or even trying to calm the child down, Saira was here, at the front desk, making an unholy commotion, her voice sharp and grating as she jabbed her finger toward the elevator.
“You don’t understand! He’s locked himself in! He’s been in there for some time now!” she barked at the flustered receptionist, who looked two seconds away from tears herself.
“I understand, ma’am, but we don’t have a master key for the bathroom door. It’s a privacy lock. We’ll have to call a locksmith. If only you would give me a few moments to make the call…” the woman behind the desk explained for what had to be the tenth time, her voice strained with forced politeness.
Adam took one look at the spectacle and his jaw tightened as he made his way over.
“Saira,” he said sharply.
She spun toward him, face flushed, clearly agitated.
“You’re finally here,” she said, as she moved to hold onto his arm believing his arrival would magically solve everything. “You need to tell them to open that door…”
“Who is with him?” Adam cut in, voice cold and firm.
She blinked, clearly caught off guard by the question.. “What?”
Adam gave a huff of annoyance and questioned “Is anyone with him? In the room? Anyone watching the door and waiting for him while you’re down here creating a damn scene?”
Saira looked mildly offended, like the very suggestion was ridiculous. “No. Of course not. He locked himself in the bathroom and wouldn’t stop crying. It was unbearable-he was screaming, Adam. Wailing. It was awful. So, I locked the room door and came down to get help!”
Adam stared at her, stunned. “So you left him there? Alone? In a strange hotel room? After making a life changing revelation to him? You left him crying because the noise was unbearable? So your solution was to abandon him and demand a receptionist break down a bathroom door?”
“He’s not a baby,” she snapped. “He’s just being dramatic!”
Adam’s nostrils flared. For a long second, he said nothing, though his eyes spoke volumes. His fists clenched at his sides, every inch of his body tense.
“Saira,” Adam said, his voice low and dangerous, “if you had even the slightest idea what that little boy is going through, you would have sat outside that damn door until your legs gave out. But you didn’t, because you don’t care about anyone but yourself.”
Her eyes narrowed. “That’s not true. I told him who you were because I thought it would help. He deserves to know. I was trying to do the right thing.”
Adam gave a sharp laugh. “No, you were trying to control the narrative—again. You told him without warning me, without preparing him. You dropped a bomb on a child and then walked out when it got loud.”
“You’re overreacting.”
“Overreacting?” Adam’s voice rose, and coupled with her clothing, he drew a lot of glances glances from nearby guests. “You blew up his entire world in one breath and then left him to deal with it alone! And now you’re down here yelling at a poor receptionist instead of being the adult you claim to be.”
“I am being the adult!” she snapped. “You think you’re the only one who cares? You haven’t even been around! Don’t act like some saint!”
Adam took a step closer, towering over her now. “Don’t you dare throw that in my face. You had years to tell me the truth, and now that it suits you, you’re suddenly honest? No. You don’t get to rewrite history to play the martyr.”
“I made a mistake in the past. But I’m trying to fix it. And you—you just want to punish me. You want to take him and erase me.”
Adam let out a growl then and leaned towards her, almost shouting, “If it keeps him safe, then yes. That’s exactly what I’ll do. Erase you!”
With that, he walked towards the elevator, wanting to go to Adir to help the child. As he passed the receptionist, he told her curtly to call the locksmith and completely ignored Saira.
But she was not yet ready to let go. Quickly, she stepped into his path and caught his hand,” You’re not going up there without…”
Adam reacted instinctively. He wrenched his arm free and shoved her aside, with just enough force to make her step out of the way, but somehow, she stumbled backward and lost her footing, crashing against the check-in desk with a loud thud.
But Adam could not care less that she had purposely made the fall. Instead, he pointed a finger at her and warned,” Don’t you dare come near the child! Because if you hurt him, I’ll make sure you’ll wish you’d never laid eyes on me.”
With that Adam marched into the elevator, uncaring of the scene that had taken place in the lobby or the fact that many people had recorded the entire scene, while Saira watched triumphantly. Her plan was finally going to be successful!
But in the next moment, she hid the smile from her face and walked slowly towards the waiting area shivering as she went and mumbling incoherently about how all she wanted to do was protect the child from Adam’s temper.
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