Chasing His Rejected Wife
Chapter 24 -

Even though I said the words, even though I tried to pretend I didn't care if Aiden chose to talk to Elisa on the phone while he was with me, I truly did care. A lot more than I wanted to.

I hated that I felt relieved when instead of answering her call, through the reflection in the window, I watched as he put his phone on mute and placed it on the seat between us, face down. I hated that it still mattered to me whether he gave her priority when he had just promised to try to work on our relationship.

"Let's get you home, you must be tired." He said instead. "You'll need to give Martin the address."

I nodded and turned to give Martin the directions so he could enter it into the navigation system. Done with that, I decided to feign sleep once more, hunger forgotten as my stomach was now twisted in knots.

Millennial Heights was exactly as the name suggested. A neighborhood that was popular amongst the millennial crowd thanks to its proximity to the main city's business hub, entertainment venues and a vibrant social scene. My apartment was in one sleek, modern looking high rise building that dotted the area. In all honesty, I'd have preferred something not so...modernish, but it had been one of the few vacant and affordable places I could replace at short notice and at the time, it hadn't mattered much because I hadn't been planning on staying too long anyway and the one bedroom space had been sufficient.

When the car rolled to a stop in front of my building, I opened my eyes, relieved that the journey was finally over. Resisting the urge to just bolt away and avoid the next few awkward minutes, I forced myself to turn to Aiden.

"Thank you for the ride and for the bed." I murmured softly, though Martin had already exited the car and was busy offloading my purchases from the trunk.

"No need for thanks." Aiden said, shaking his head. "It's something I should do anyway. Come on, Martin and I will carry your packages upstairs." "You don't have to bother, I can carry them myself and Martin can help with the rest."

Aiden gave me one of his looks. "The doctor advised against strenuous activity. I've got it." He was out the door before I could say another word.

I heaved a tired sign and got out too, still very much unused to this version of Aiden. Of course, I had to remind myself that he was simply doing all this because of the baby. It wouldn't do to get caught up in the delusion that he cared about

me.

I reminded myself of this once again when Aiden gave my apartment - bare save for a few small boxes of stuff I had ordered before now and my suitcases that Claire had brought over - a once over.

"There's barely any furniture." Disapproval dripped from every word as his gaze swept over the open plan living area and lingered over the kitchen area. He crossed to the fridge, opened it and his expression grew darker as he took in the empty fridge.

I pasted a look of disinterest on my face and knelt to rifle through a box of bed sheets. "Yeah, I haven't gotten around to grocery shopping either. I'll do that tomorrow morning."

He made a humph sound and shut the fridge, then wandered to a window overlooking the busy street below. "What's the security like in this place?"

"It's okay, I guess." My reply earned me another dark look so I sighed and added, "The windows and doors are secured with an alarm that goes off and notifies security if there's a break-in, there's cameras in the public areas too." Another 'hmmph' then he said. "A team will be over in the morning to check things out and make any necessary improvements to the security."

"There's no need to -"

"Humor me." His gaze bored into me. "Ms. Yates can do the grocery shopping, make a list if there's anything in particular you need." Ms. Yates was our housekeeper- well, Aiden's.

"Claire and Anna will be here tomorrow to help with that." I replied, tamping down the urge to roll my eyes.

"Mrs. Brown," Martin appeared in my open front door. "The delivery truck with the bedding has just arrived. They're waiting downstairs for further instructions."

"Oh good." I was relieved that I wouldn't be sleeping on the floor tonight. I tried getting to my feet but my legs had fallen asleep and I stumbled.

Aiden's hands grasped my waist to steady me and I felt a warm flush all over as my body reacted to his touch.

"You should get some rest," his voice was against my ear and I couldn't help the shiver that ran through me. "It's been a long day. Let me handle the bed installation."

"Mmmm," was all I could respond with, too flustered to form coherent words. I let Aiden steer me towards the only piece of furniture in the room, a beat up armchair. I longed for a cup or two of coffee and my hunger had returned in full force, my stomach emitting a loud growl in protest.

If you're loving the book, nel5s.com is where the adventure continues. Join us for the complete experience all for free. The next chapter is eagerly waiting for you! "What do you want to eat for dinner?"

"I was going to order something later." My face was red hot with embarrassment.

His mouth turned downward. He fished out his phone and made a call. "Ms. Yates, can you have something prepared and ready for pick up within the hour?" His eyes flickered to me. "What would you like to eat?"

"Anything, I don't mind."

He nodded and finished passing instructions to the housekeeper just as Martin appeared again, with two men lugging heavy packages behind him. "Where would you like to set up the bed, Mrs Brown?" He asked.

"The bedroom's just through there." I pointed in the right direction and the men moved off.

"When you're done with that, Martin, go to the house and pick up something from Ms. Yates." Aiden said, trailing after them. "I'll handle things here." "Yes Sir,"

By the time the bed was installed and the men had left, Martin was back with the food and two bags containing groceries that Aiden must have instructed her to pack from the house. By this time, it was already well into the evening, around 9:30 pm and I was flagging.

I had to be thankful for Aiden's efficiency at this point. My bed was set up and ready with brand new sheets and pillows, most of the boxes had been unpacked, including my suitcases.

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Now, as I watched him unpack the food on the makeshift table formed from some of the boxes pushed together and covered with a blanket, I couldn't help but marvel at the difference between his treatment of me then and now. Rather than reassure me, it simply highlighted how much Aiden must have despised me.

"Something wrong?"

"Hmm?" I saw him give me a questioning look. Something in my expression must have given away my depressing thoughts. "No, nothing's wrong, I'm just tired."

He looked skeptical but let the matter drop. "Once you're done eating, you can get some sleep. I'll clean up and leave when I'm done."

I wanted to tell him not to bother, but I knew he'd just override me anyway so I saved my breath and started eating. Ms. Yates had packed more food than I could finish in one meal, so I invited Aiden to join me.

He accepted and sat on the floor, his long discarded jacket spread out underneath. We ate in silence, the only sounds were the clink of cutlery and the ambient noises.

I caught myself getting distracted more than once at the sight of Aiden eating -something about the way his jaw moved as he chewed, the light playing on his features in a way that was extremely distracting. Added to that was the fact that I'd always found him extremely sexy whenever he was in the state of undress as now - jacket and tie discarded, top buttons of his shirt loose, sleeves rolled up to expose forearms, hair slightly ruffled from him constantly running his fingers through it which was something he did when he was stressed or tensed up.

Even now, despite being utterly wiped out, heat stirred in my belly, awareness running through me like a slow burning river of lava.

Shaken by this reaction, I set down my fork and pushed to my feet, needing to distance myself from Aiden.

"Jessica?" Aiden got up too, a puzzled look on his face. "Are you alright?"

"I'm done eating, going to bed now."

I hurried away, cursing myself and my damn body for being so damned weak. Aiden may change as much as he wanted, but I could not bring myself to let go of the past. Not when he'd hurt me - not physically but emotionally and mentally, not when he cheated on me and flaunted his mistress in my face. I may have promised Aiden I would think about staying together for the baby's sake, but deep down, I wasn't so sure I could do that.

I wasn't sure I could forgive him yet.