Ariel didn’t realize that she’d been frozen in place watching Aiden and his Moon until she noticed Gregory staring at her, looking all tensed with the situation.
She couldn’t explain the sudden twinge in her chest, and the twinge got worse as she saw how Aiden’s hand was gently holding Moon’s waist.
She quickly blinked and looked away from the hugging couple and slowly turned to Grandma Nari, but the pain intensified when she saw Grandma Nari smiling fondly at Moon; she was sure she’d never smiled at her that way. The whole situation made Ariel feel left out like she wasn’t needed anymore.
She saw Aiden whisper something into Moon’s ear and pointed behind her. Moon sharply turned and her eyes momentarily landed on Ariel before she quickly looked over at Grandma Nari.
“Grandma!” She screamed again, laughing and giggling like a noisy kid. She finally released Aiden, went over to the sofa, and lowered herself between Grandma Nari and Ariel, causing Ariel to subtly move away from them.
“I missed you, Grandma,” She hugged the old woman, laying her head on her shoulder.
Grandma Nari gently patted her beside the arm. “We all missed you, Moon, especially Aiden,” she chuckled.
“Aww, I’m so sorry, I’m back now, and I promise I’m not going anywhere, Grandma, I’m back to stay,” Moon promised.
Grandma Nari smiled at the promise, nodding her head. “That would be lovely,” she said.
Ariel noticed that everyone was occupied with this Moon, so she decided to leave, no one would notice if she left after all.
She wasn’t needed anymore.
“Where are you going?” Aiden was quick to hold her back by the arm when he saw her trying to leave.
Ariel was surprised. How did he notice? She was sure his eyes had been glued to Moon from the moment she walked into the house.
Why was he stopping her anyway? She didn’t want to stay and become a third wheel, she knew when to leave.
Aiden slowly drew her into his side and possessively wrapped his arm around her waist. “Moon,” He called gently.
Ariel had never heard him use such a gentle voice on anyone before, not even his grandmother.
“Yes, Aiden,” She saw Moon instantly turn her head at Aiden’s voice, but the subtle way her face fell when she saw Aiden’s hand around Ariel’s waist couldn’t be missed by Ariel.
“Meet my beautiful wife, Ariel. Baby, meet my friend, Moon,” Aiden introduced.
Awkward… awkward… awkward…
This was the most awkward moment of Ariel’s life; she didn’t know how to greet the other party, others might not know, but she could sense the dislike from Moon from miles away.
“Ah, wife?” Moon stared at Ariel, her face a mask, hiding the green jealousy Ariel had seen long ago.
“Hello, Moon. Welcome to our home,” Ariel didn’t mean to, but she just had to throw in the ‘our home’ to make Moon understand the situation better and to mark her territory.
She knew she didn’t have to, but she’d done it anyway, and Moon’s subtle change in facial expression confirmed that her message was successfully delivered.
Moon quickly removed her face from Ariel and turned to Grandma Nari, “Grandma, you never told me Aiden was married,” she said as if she was disappointed to have missed the wedding.
“Oh, if you left your line open, you would have been informed, Moon,” Grandma Nari said, frowning.
Moon pouted and slowly lay her head on the old woman’s shoulder.
“I know, Grandma, I know, I’m very sorry for being unreachable for all these years, but, it was because I thought-”
“Excuse me, everyone, I need to use the restroom,” Ariel said and immediately ran upstairs like she was about to pee her pants.
That was the only excuse she could think of. There was no need to stay back there; she could see that everyone was drawn to Moon, and she had seen that Moon had openly ignored her; she didn’t even regard her greetings, and neither Aiden nor his Grandma commented on that.
Ariel entered Aiden’s room and ran straight into the toilet, in case he came to check if she was really using the restroom.
She went in and closed the door, making sure she locked it perfectly, then rested her back against the door.
‘Why did he even bother to introduce me as his wife?’ Ariel thought mockingly to herself.
Ariel stared at herself in the mirror and smiled sadly.
She finally escaped from home, free from chores and beatings. However, the emotional punishment she faced every day was almost equivalent to the physical abuse she received before.
Her life was sad. Married to the richest man, but living like the poor, with many debts waiting for her in every corner.
She stared down at the phone in her hands and scoffed, “I even have to pay for this damn phone,” She sighed.
‘It’s good his Moon came back to him; at least, he’ll forget about me and the baby-making; after the year’s over I’ll get out of his hair,’ She thought, a little frown marking her face.
She wondered what history was between Aiden and Moon. She was the first person who Aiden had ever smiled and hugged genuinely. They must be in love.
Whatever, she didn’t care; it was none of her business; she would make sure to give them enough space to be together, she could even move out of his room for her. Anything to just keep Aiden away from her, she would do it.
Maybe it was time she found a hobby or an extra job that could keep her away from the house at night; she wouldn’t want to stay and witness them getting romantic with each other, it would disgust her.
It’s good Moon came around; she was like a Dispeller who broke the spell that was holding her and Aiden in captivity, at least now, he would divert his attention to someone else.
“What?” Ariel’s eyes widened in the mirror as she heard the bathroom door unlocking from the outside.
She was sure she had locked it, so why was he unlocking it to come in? What if she were really naked?
He was just too much. The fact that she lived in his house didn’t mean he had the right to invade her privacy. It was a no-no for her.
She stared at the door as it slowly opened, and Aiden walked in, casually locking the door again, causing her to look at him unbelievably.
What did he think he was doing? And why was he even here and not downstairs with Moon?
Aiden turned to face her and saw her confused face. “The door?” He asked with a raised brow, “It’s so we don’t get interrupted by anyone like the last time,” He winked at her and started to walk toward her.
Ariel frowned at him, shaking her head.
“You’re invading, Mr. Chaz,” She said with a straight face, moving away from the mirror, and stepping away from him.
His bathroom was large, with a bath and extra space, so she thought she had enough space to escape, but she never expected him to do what he did next.
Aiden reached out his hand and caught Ariel’s hand, gently dragging her back to stand in front of the mirror, and wrapped his arms around her as he stood behind her, looking at her confused face through the mirror.
“What are you doing?” Ariel asked, defeated.
She couldn’t do this anymore with him, the emotional stress was draining her. She just wanted him to leave her alone, and go be with Moon.
“Why are you hiding away in here?” He asked, looking into her eyes through the mirror.
Ariel knew he had discovered she was lying when she said she needed to use the bathroom, but she didn’t care, she didn’t owe him any apology.
“I’m not hiding away, I’m ju-”
“You don’t like Moon,” He whispered and then started to slowly caress Ariel’s wrist with his fingers.
Ariel was alarmed, why was he doing this? And being trapped in a locked place like this, how could she escape him?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ariel replied, trying to get her mind away from his fingers that were circling her wrist.
“Liar. Moon is a nice person; you would love her,” Aiden convinced.
“Only you will love her. I don’t have to love your friends, Mr. Chaz, and I don’t want to get myself associated with them either, when I’m leaving after our contract, I’ll have no memories with anyone. It’s better that way, nothing to draw me back,” She replied firmly, but deep down, she was sad.
She wondered when and where she could ever find genuine friends, she’d never had those.
Aiden frowned when he heard her. He quietly stared at her face in the mirror, realizing that truly, after that year, Ariel would be gone, no longer beside him, and he wouldn’t know anything about her anymore, wouldn’t see this beautiful face anymore.
Would she find someone else? A boyfriend? Married to another man?
Why was the whole idea starting to make him feel unsettled? Wasn’t it all that he wanted?
“You shouldn’t have come in here; what if I was naked?” Ariel frowned at him seeing he’d gone quiet.
Aiden slowly removed his eyes from the mirror and stared at the side of her face, “It wouldn’t be the first time then, little wife. You teased me so much in the morning, now, I’m here to taste it. I couldn’t stop thinking about your body, ” Aiden whispered, his voice deep and sexy.
Ariel gulped as she remembered what he was talking about; it was those damned transparent nightwear; he must have seen her when she ran into the bathroom.
But… what does he mean by tasting it?
“You’re blushing,” He whispered and suddenly kissed the shell of her ear, then took her lobe between his teeth, biting it sensually.
A soft sigh escaped Ariel’s lips, she looked at Aiden’s profile in the mirror and saw her cheek blush more, he was damn sexy, and her lobe between his lips was the most exotic image she’s ever seen. She felt tingled and ticklish as he used the tip of his tongue to tease her lobe.
“W-we shouldn’t be doing this, the contract-”
“That’s why I’m here, baby…” he kissed the back of her ear, then kissed down the side of her neck. “To adjust the damned contract,” He breathed out and brought his hand up to Ariel’s chest, covering one of her breasts.
Ariel drew in a sharp breath and immediately held onto the edge of the sink for balance, her knees were going weak from what Aiden was doing to her. She looked up at him, panting softly and it was as if electric sparks were flying through their eyes as they stared at each other, making the whole place charged up with tension and unexplored desire.
He slowly pulled Ariel’s blue dress up, locking his eyes on her as he did; then he proceeded to play his fingers along her waistline, smirking sexily as he saw Ariel biting her lips and rubbing her thighs together.
This time, she wasn’t going to stop him.
“W-what adjustment are you talking about?” Ariel was curious, did it have anything to do with what he was doing to her now?
Aiden smirked and lowered his hand, and cupped her pussy through her lacy panties. “How about I give you a sneak preview of what the adjusted contract is?” He squeezed her breast and slowly moved her panties to the side.
He locked his hot gaze on her and whispered huskily, “I’m going touch you, little wife.”
And in the next second, Ariel gasped softly as his finger pressed against her moistened slit, sliding the wetness up to her clit.
“Do you want me to?” He asked, still playing with her breast, and using his middle finger to slowly rub her swelling clit.
Ariel was a mess, how could she say no at that point? “Yes…” her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Good girl,” Aiden said.
Without warning, he slid his middle finger into her smooth, warm pussy.
“Ahh…” Ariel moaned, closing her eyes as she felt her pussy clenching snuggly around his finger.