Hope rose in Ken’s chest as he heard Ariel’s reply.
What was she trying to imply?
That she loved him instead?
Ariel saw the look on Ken’s face and could almost understand what he was thinking.
“Um, what I meant is, what if by the time he falls in love with me, I still haven’t fallen in love with him?” She blinked slowly.
Who was she kidding? Aiden would never love her.
Ken slowly nodded, it had nothing to do with him.
“Well, then, you have the right to your feelings, Ariel, just because someone confessed their feelings to you doesn’t mean you must reciprocate it. I know I might be shooting myself in the leg by saying this, but that’s just the reality of life; we have to accept that things must not always work out the way we want them,” Ken spoke in a gentle voice.
Ariel quietly stares at Ken’s face: handsome, intelligent, thoughtful, kind, and loving.
Why couldn’t Aiden be like Ken? She sighed and nodded at Ken.
Maybe she should reciprocate Ken’s feelings; he was a nice guy through and through, and she was already feeling guilty for not reciprocating his feelings. And she knew he wasn’t that bad she believed he would be a perfect boyfriend and husband, so why would she reject him?
“Ken-”
“Come on…”
They both paused as they interrupted each other from speaking.
Ken was first to speak again, “Yes, Ariel, did you want to say something to me?” Ken asked hopefully.
Ariel sighed; maybe the time wasn’t now. She looked behind Ken and saw Moon and Aiden approaching them, she felt her heart twist strangely.
Slowly looking back at Ken, she pointed behind him, “I just wanted to tell you that your friends are here,” She paused her lips.
Ken looked behind him and found Moon wrapping her hands around Aiden’s arm, chatting about whatever it was.
“Don’t worry about them, let’s go have our fun,” He held Ariel and led her away from their spot.
Aiden’s anger increased as he saw Ken leading Ariel away before they could get to them. He wondered what he’d been telling her, and he wondered if Ariel was going to fall for Ken.
‘What if she did?’ He thought quietly.
‘Why was the thought alone making me edgy?’ He sighed as those depressing thoughts filled his head.
“Aww, look!” Moon suddenly tugged his arm, making him force his eyes away from Ken and Ariel.
“What is it, Moon?” He asked, bored, but he tried not to show it in voice or attitude.
“Over there! I want a teddy bear too, please Aiden, could you win it for me?” Moon asked cutely, pointing toward the Claw machine Ariel and Ken were heading to.
“No, Moon, I don’t play those, they’re not masculine enough,” He shook his head and led her away.
Moon was pouting, she had wanted to go show Ariel that Aiden might be her husband in papers, but she was the one he loved for real.
“You’re staring at that machine as if you want to carry it home,” Ken said to Ariel as they passed the Claw machine.
Ariel quickly looked away, blushing, “No, I was just looking,” she replied.
“Come on,” Ken led her towards the Claw machine, smiling when he saw the sparkle in her eyes.
“I’ll get you the biggest one, wish me luck,” Ken smiled as he put his coin in.
Ariel stood beside him, putting her hands together on her chest and shifting her weight from one leg to another, anxiously hoping he clawed the biggest bear.
“Ugh!” Ken laughed as he almost clawed the bear out, but it fell out in the end.
Ariel was smiling, finding the whole atmosphere fun.
“Don’t worry, I don’t mind even the smallest one,” Ariel encouraged, patting his shoulder.
Aiden was at a lemonade stand when he saw Ariel gently patting Ken’s shoulder; this time, he couldn’t stay back; he wanted to go over there and find out what they were up to.
And he did.
He immediately turned away from Moon, who was ordering their lemonade, and stormed over to Airiel and Ken.
He reached at the same moment Ken was handing a medium-sized white bear to a happy-looking Ariel.
“Thank you, Ken, I love bears,” Ariel hugged the soft and fluffy bear to her chest, smiling.
Aiden scoffed and went straight to the claw machine, not saying anything to anyone.
Ariel was surprised to see Aiden looking so focused as he grabbed the joystick and moved it straight to the biggest bear with ease, he simply pressed the Claw button, and the Claw slowly lowered and clawed the bear’s arm.
As he moved the joystick and controlled the bear, Ariel thought the bear would fall back down, just like it happened with Ken, but to her surprise, Aiden simply pressed the drop button and in the next second he picked up the huge pink bear and turned to Ariel with a proud smirk on his face.
“I can do better,” He whispered to Ariel before he gently snatched the medium-sized white bear from her hands and pushed the huge pink bear into her hand.
“This one suits you better, little wife,” He whispered into her ears.
Ariel’s face was flushed, she was embarrassed, happy, and confused.
She slowly stepped away from Aiden and looked over at Ken who had an unreadable expression on his face. She felt bad for him, and she didn’t want him to feel that his effort was a waste.
“Mr. Chaz, I don’t mind keeping the other bear, please give it back,” Ariel stretched out her hand to Aiden, holding the bigger bear to herself.
Aiden stared at her and found her cute at the moment. The way she was holding the bear to her chest, and the way she was looking at him with her hand stretched out to him. She looked like a fragile doll under the rays of the sun.
“Don’t worry, he’s my best friend, he wouldn’t mind, right, Ken?” Aiden turned to look at Ken with a smirk.
Ken was quiet for a while before nodding, “Sure, Aiden, I don’t mind; you can keep the bear and hug it when you sleep so you’ll think more about me,” Ken smiled at him and gave him a wink.
Aiden chuckled dryly, he then turned to Ariel and was about to say something to her when Moon came over and circled her arm around his.
“Aiden, that’s not fair, you left me alone and did the same thing you refused to do with me,” She said, sending a secret glare to Ariel.
Ariel sighed, it was time she left this place and found something else to do.
Ken wasted no time in walking over and placing a hand on Ariel’s shoulder.
“Here, Ken got this for you,” Aiden shoved the white beat into Moon’s arms, smiling at Ken.
“Aww, really, Ken?” Moon looked over at Ken with a sweet smile.
Ken frowned, “That’s not-”
“That was really thoughtful of you, you still remember how much I love bears,” Moon smiled, but once she saw the big bear in Ariel’s hand, her smile fell.
She knew who gave it to her, he saw Aiden Claw the bear from the machine, and she had been boiling in anger and hatred as she watched him give the bear to Ariel.
She was still trying to figure out what to do with her; she didn’t know and didn’t care where she was from; all she knew was that she wouldn’t let her stay beside Aiden for long; no one was supposed to stay beside him except her.
“And who gave you that, huh?” She asked casually, pointing at Ariel’s bear.
Ariel immediately looked over at Aiden who’s face was unreadable. She didn’t want to be the reason the two lovers fought. If she told Moon that Aiden was the one who gave her the bear, she would definitely become jealous and angry at Aiden, and she didn’t want that kind of drama. She sighed, she was going to tell her that Ken gave it to her.
“I did, Moon, now come on, let’s go meet grandma,” Aiden held Moon and left.
“Oh, Moon?” Ken called when they were a little distance from them.
Moon paused and turned to him, “Yes, Ken?” She answered with a curious look.
Aiden turned too; he felt off by the sudden way Ken called Moon. He knew they didn’t like each other, so Ken calling her must be for something that could cause him problems.
Ken led Ariel to them, standing beside them.
Ariel felt the atmosphere tense between Aiden and Ken as if Aiden already knew something about what Ken was about to say to Moon and didn’t want him to say it.
“You know, you don’t have to feel bad or jealous about Aiden’s marriage,” Everyone snapped their heads at him.
Aiden and Ariel were looking at him with alarm and surprise, but Moon was looking at him with hope and interest.
“What do you mean?” She questioned, smirking at Ariel.
Ariel sighed, well, whatever, she would have still found out sooner or later.
“It’s just a contractual marriage, you know, Aiden; he’ll never love anyone except you, so you can resume your pursuit of him. You might be lucky this time,” Ken smiled at Moon and Aiden.
Moon was shocked just for a second but suddenly turned to Aiden.
“Is this true?! So you were just pulling my legs! I knew you could never love anyone else!” Moon threw herself at Aiden and hugged him tightly.
Aiden stood still, glaring coldly at Ken. What was his purpose for doing what he just did?
He looked at Ariel, and she quickly removed her eyes from him; looking at the floor, he felt a sharp pain in his chest from the broken expression he saw on Ariel’s face; it was all because of Ken.
Why was he trying to create problems for him?
Aiden sighed and held Moon’s shoulder, slowly pushing her off him.
“Moon, we have to talk, it’s not exactly as he said,” Aiden tried to explain.
“It’s exactly so. Don’t worry, it’s just for the rest of the year and I’ll be out of his house,” Ariel confirmed Ken’s words.
Moon smiled happily, “Really?! Now I like you, I’m sorry for my attitude earlier,” Moon suddenly hugged Ariel, surprising everyone.
“I see familiar faces. And some not-so-familiar ones.” A voice spoke behind them.
Everyone turned to see a handsome blonde guy who looked like Barbie’s prince.
Ariel was lost in looking at the new man, he had charm, an inviting charm, and he was handsome, movie star handsome.
“Viktor?” Moon called in shock.