Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ
Chapter 111

Our fight The frown painting Aren's face deepened. He kept staring at me as if he was fighting an inner battle about whether to accept my assumptions or not. His expression made me even angrier at him than I was before. Was it so hard to believe that the woman who hurt him so badly before was now collaborating with his enemies?

A minute later, Chris and Jack walked into the hall. I saw they were trying to read the situation; smiles vanished from their faces as they registered Aren standing by the bar with a whiskey glass and me sitting on the sofa with my arms crossed. Jack glanced at me, questionably raising his eyebrows.

"Yes," I answered his inward question. "Aren is pissed because we didn't inform him that his ex visited him in the clinic as soon as he woke up."

Aren rolled his eyes at my sarcastic remark. "It's not about Lanfen, for Christ's sake!" he growled.

I jumped up to my feet. "Well, I'm sorry that I thought that I shouldn't stress you out! I'm sorry that I was worried about you!"

"I don't need you to worry about my health! I told you before that I am fucking fine!" he roared icily, making me flinch.

I felt as if something had crushed my ribcage and forced the air out of my lungs. A bitter smile curved my lips as I looked deep into his angry dark eyes. "I think I will go and get some rest. You boys have a nice talk," I said softly before heading upstairs. "Cora..." I heard Aren's still annoyed tone behind my back. I stopped for a second, but no words followed.

I went to my bedroom, leaving a gap in my door to eavesdrop on Aren's conversation with Chris and Jack, but I heard nothing. I moved quietly to the dressing table, took off the diamond earrings, and unclasped the necklace before slowly putting it back in the box,

"You should treat your wife better." Jack's voice broke the silence. "She was devastated when you were in a coma, and the way she managed to handle everything..." "I know how strong she is," Aren said. "No. That's the whole point; she is not as strong as you think," Chris retorted firmly. "Keep bending her, and she will break."

"She knows that I didn't mean what I said," Aren argued.

"Does she now?" Chris chuckled coldly.

"She knows me."

"That doesn't change the fact that you hurt her." Chris sounded like he was pissed.

Both jack and Chris were ready to lecture Aren for my sake, and I was grateful for that, but listening to them and Aren's responses only made my heart ache more. I stepped softly to the door and closed the gap, not wanting to hear another word.

I was supposed to tell all of them what had happened at the hotel and everything that I had heard, but I couldn't, not in my current state. I had just realized one devastating fact about my

heart: my love was making me weaker instead of stronger, and it was never supposed to be like that. After Callan, I promised myself never to follow the same pattern again, but I had broken that promise. Aren said that he would take responsibility for making me fall in love with him, but if he was going to simply keep me by his side without loving me in return, then he would only grant me torture.

What hurt me even more was that I knew that Aren was capable of loving; I knew that the emotions he had for Lanfen were genuine. That was also why everything with Lanfen's name on it alarmed me, and it infuriated me that Aren didn't seem to see the danger. Was it because he secretly wanted her to return?

I took off my beautiful evening gown and marched into the bathroom. My previous anger was giving way to numbness. I was physically and emotionally tired. Perhaps Aren was a lost cause, and I should never have invested my feelings in him. Too bad that I could no longer withdraw my full advance payment...

I didn't feel like wearing anything to bed. I just threw away my towel and slid under the sheets naked. I thought that I was going to toss and turn for hours, but my brain was clearly looking for a way to shut down for quite a while. I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.

Suddenly, I felt Aren's scent sneaking into my sleep. It felt as pleasant as always, and yet sadness was attached to it. My chest hurt. My hand instinctively moved to replace and rub the aching spot, but someone grabbed my hand and kissed it. Realizing that it wasn't part of my dream, I opened my eyes and saw Aren sitting on my bed, his hand gently stroking my hair. I frowned at him, not conscious enough to shout or curse him.

"Good morning, beautiful." His sorrowful tone startled me.

I briefly glanced at all sides of my bed. I was carefully cocooned in sheets while my hair strands lay messed up all around the pillow. There certainly wasn't anything beautiful about me. Normally, I would respond to his greeting, but I was in the middle of an inward debate

about whether I should or shouldn't give him a few silent days. I looked at him cautiously; he was still holding my hand, brushing it delicately with his thumb. His mouth betrayed a hint of a hesitant smile, but his eyes were filled with an odd pain. "I screwed up, didn't I?" he said, one side of his lips curling up. "Yes, you did," I muttered, turning my head away from him. His hand rushed to cup my chin as he gently turned my head back to face him. "I will probably hurt you again and again because there are too many things inside me that need fixing. I know what I promised you, but there is just too much to deal with, too many enemies lurking around us. I'm not going to lie- it is easier to lock in my emotions while handling problems."

I felt as if something had sucked all the air from the room. Each one of his words left a tiny cut on me, and I knew that he was yet to say the most painful words...

"I know that it isn't fair to you, but I cannot give you what you want right now, and I cannot open up the way you want me to. I know how much I owe you, and the more I feel like the worst bastard that I have to ask you for this..." he paused to brush the hair strands off my face.

I grabbed his hand before he touched me. "Just say it," I squeezed through my throat.

"Grandfather Lan Jing is having his eightieth birthday party in ten days. I've just received an invitation for me and my wife. I need to go there so that he could officially recognize me as his grandson and give me the Lan Wang Corporation shares. I need to show up there with a loving

wife by my side, that was his condition..."

The air I inhaled seemed to be burning inside my lungs. I barely resisted my need to scream and formed a painful smile instead. "So, you are aware that I might have some emotions for you, ones you can't reciprocate... And now you are asking me to play a loving wife in front of your Chinese family..." I breathed out, leaving the last note barely audible.

Aren took a deep breath. "I'm not saying that I will never have any feelings for you because you have changed me; you touched something within me like no one before. But I can't allow myself to explore that part of myself, and I can't force you to wait. That is why I will give you an option to terminate our contract. As long as you come with me to China and I get what I want, we can end our relationship in two months. During those two months, we can live separately and remain married only on paper. Of course, Tian Kong is yours, and I will also pay for your grandmother's medical procedure as I promised." I stared at him, feeling as if I had been ripped open, and my hardly beating heart had been exposed in front of him. "Is that what you want?" I mumbled, "Do you want us to end this...?"

"I'm giving you an option. I'm~". "DO YOU want to end our relationship?" I asked again, louder. His eyes scanned my face carefully before he said, "No. I don't ever want to lose you." I exhaled the breath I never knew I was holding. As I did, my eyes released wide streams of tears. "So why don't you apologize for acting like a total jerk and fucking kiss me?!" He gave a soft laugh and whispered, "I'm sorry for being a jerk and hurting you, sunshine," before sensually claiming my lips..

Sca