“Oh… I see. Congratulations,” Ken said, looking dispirited.
“Thank you, Ken,” Aiden said, smirking at his friend.
“Ariel, dear, is this true? When were you planning to tell me?” Grandma Nari asked a speechless Ariel.
Ariel, blinked multiple times, trying to look for what to say because she was just as surprised with the news as everyone else was.
“I’m sorry, Grandma, I wanted it to be a surprise,” Ariel chuckled nervously, looking up at Aiden briefly.
He was smiling down at her as if everything was alright.
The nerves he had!
“He just couldn’t keep his mouth shut,” Ariel said, smiling back at Aiden, but within her, she was angry, outraged.
“That’s alright, that’s alright,” Grandma Nari laughed happily.
“Men, they are always the most excited about the baby,” Grandma Nari said, smiling brightly at Ariel.
Ariel nodded. Not knowing what to do, she nervously started eating to avoid replying to any other question from Grandma Nari.
“Easy, Moma, you got a stain,” Aiden said to Ariel.
But, before she could look at him to understand what he was saying, she felt his thumb wipe the side of her lip, causing her to pause her jaw that was chewing food.
She turned her head to him and watched as he slowly took his thumb to his mouth and licked the food off his thumb.
Gulp!
Ariel swallowed the unchewed food in her mouth, her face instantly turning red.
She was embarrassed and fascinated at the same time.
And, he called her ‘Moma.’
Aiden wasn’t helping matters, he was giving Ariel a very sexy smirk, making her body feel all warm and funny. Her heart was racing as she kept looking at his handsome face.
What was this?
She was supposed to be disgusted or even annoyed by this, why was she… liking it?
She knew Aiden was a con Master, but what he just did, coupled with the kind of look he was giving her, was enough to make any girl drop their panties, and she was no different.
She found him to be fucking attractive at that moment.
“Um, thanks,” Ariel said, facing away from him.
She caught a glimpse of Grandma Nari smiling and studying her closely; she feared she might see through her act, so she ate more, not wanting to leave any opportunity to be spoken to.
Aiden was looking at Ken, smirking proudly at him. He wanted him to know that Ariel was already taken; he didn’t need to waste his time chasing his wife; it was a futile mission.
“Nice seeing you again, Grandma,” Ken got up and went to give Grandma Nari another hug.
“Visit me some time, my boy,” Grandma Nari patted Ken’s hair.
“I sure will,” He said, smiling.
“Bye, for now, my friend,” he went over to Aiden and patted his shoulder, knowing it would piss him off.
And as he expected, Aiden sent him a death glare, subtly moving his shoulder away from him.
Ken chuckled, shaking his head. “See you soon, Ariel,” He said politely before walking out of the restaurant.
Ken was gone, but Auden remained angry. He couldn’t wait to be alone with Ariel…
***
Ariel had trekked some distance before reaching the Chaz Tech company. Yes, trekked.
After they had finished eating at the restaurant, Grandma Nari had asked them to continue without her, tagging along with an old friend who was also heading to her destination. When Aiden was sure they were out of his grandma’s sight, he asked Ariel to get out of the car, and he left her quite a distance from the company.
She was cursing Aiden in her head as she neared the company. What an evil and wicked man. Would he die to just drive her to the company? Oh, how could she forget, they were never to be seen together outside.
He must have felt very uncomfortable pretending all that while with her in the restaurant. He didn’t have to worry; the people at the restaurant minded their business, and no one there seemed to have time for gossip.
She stopped in front of the garage to check the notification on her phone. As she unlocked the phone, she scoffed, staring at the ‘Revised Contract’ that was looking at her.
“Unbelievable,” She shook her head in disbelief.
He was really serious about amending the contract, huh?
She slowed her steps and read through it. Most of the terms were still the same; just a few were added.
“Pretend to love me in front of my grandma. Produce an heir, for Grandma. Always refuse invitations.” As Ariel got to the last one, she frowned a bit.
Always refuse invitations? What does he mean by that?
She was upset with the whole contract, it showed how little Aiden thought of her.
He saw her as an object available for him to use and discard at his disposal. A plaything; treat her kindly in front of his Grandma and turn cold as ice to her the next second, regarding her with filth and disdain.
She wished there was another way out for her, but there wasn’t. Aiden Chaz was the only one who could help her achieve her dreams, her dreams of chasing her idiot of a father with his wife and daughter out of her mother’s property.
Thinking about it, giving the Chaz family an heir would be her surest and fastest means of recovering the property, just a year and the heir would be born, but if she was waiting to make the whole money from her salary, it would take longer, and she wouldn’t want to stay longer beside him after the one year contract was over.
“Oh my god!” Ariel suddenly felt a behind her shoulder and instinctively jumped on her feet, placing her hand over her chest to calm her heart down.
“I’m sorry, it’s me, I’m sorry,” Jewel quickly came to stand in front of Ariel, looking apologetic.
“Oh, Jewel… damn, you scared me,” Ariel sighed.
“I’m sorry. Just, I’ve been calling your name, and you didn’t seem to hear me, so I decided to tap you… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have,” Jewel said, looking like a kid who was being reprimanded for being silly.
“No, no, that’s okay, Jewel, I was just a little lost; come on, let’s get going,” Ariel smiled at the young man, assuring him that she wasn’t angry at him.
Ariel and Jewel walked into the company and rode the elevator together, and as they walked out onto their floor, they saw how busy everyone was. People were trying to settle into their offices, and some were trying to print documents or deliver documents to each other.
Overall, the place was busy.
Ariel noticed again how the men threw brief but disturbing glances at her.
“Don’t worry, Ariel, they’re just surprised because we don’t normally have a female colleague up in the Software development department; they’ll get used to you soon,” Jewel said as he noticed how everyone was staring at them… at Ariel.
“That’s alright, Jewel, I’m used to it,” Ariel said.
“Want to come in?” Jewel asked as he stopped in front of one of the glass-walled offices.
“No, not today, next time,” Ariel replied politely.
“See you at lunch break,” Jewel said as Ariel was about to leave.
“Right, yes, see you,” Ariel replied, but she didn’t have any intention of stepping out of her office the whole day.
“I heard we’ll be holding a party tonight,” Ariel heard someone say from one of the offices, she slowed down her steps to listen in curiously. What party?
“Me too. The recruitment is over, and as usual, the company will be hosting a party for the new employees. You know, I hear there’s a new hottie in the design department,” Another voice replied.
Ariel scoffed. Men will be men. She pitied the ‘new hottie’ who would be so naive to fall for these wolves. She never understood why men always saw women as a new adventurous challenge to conquer, and when they succeeded, they immediately moved on to the next one.
This was the reason why she would never believe in love. Her father, whom she had trusted, did the same thing to her mother; who else would she ever trust? No one.
And Aiden Chaz had just proven that point to her. Love was a trick by nature to just get us to reproduce.
So, in a sense, her method was good. Reproduction without intercourse, no feelings attached.
She sighed and quickly walked to her office. But before she could unlock her door, she heard Aidens door opening beside hers.
“Come here, Ariel,” His voice boomed lowly behind her.
Ariel clenched her hand around her door handle before taking a deep breath and turning to walk into his office.
“Good morning, Mr. Chaz,” She greeted politely as she walked into his office.
He was leaning against his desk, his veined hands placed beside him on the table.
Aiden watched her silently. As he saw her face; he couldn’t get the image of her in Ken’s arms away from his head.
He gritted his teeth in annoyance; that kind of thing wasn’t supposed to bother him. But… it did. And he didn’t like it when he didn’t have absolute control over hus feelings.
“Come closer, Ariel,” He ordered in his deep voice.
Ariel felt a weird aura coming from him. He looked angry, with another emotion she couldn’t decipher. But she knew his mood wasn’t one to joke around with.
As she slowly went toward him, she said, “If it’s about the contract, I’ll sign it right away, I just wanted to settle down before – Ahh!” Ariel exclaimed in shock as Aiden suddenly drew her into his arms, and before she even found her balance, she felt his lips hotly moving against hers.