Aiden paused and stared at her. His eyes were looking at the details. There was sothing she was trying to find, sothing that she was seeking to confirm.
The thought of her looking into their past scared him.
Just one thing played on repeat —her mories cannot be triggered.
Putting her life at risk was not at all an option. He could agree to be misunderstood, but he couldn’t agree to put her life on stake. Losing her was simply not happening.
Not when he had finally gotten her.
Arwen waited for him to agree. But she hadn’t closed her eyes on him; she could see several emotions unfurling in his gaze. There was hesitation and a kind of fear in his eyes. Unmistakable.
He had never seen him scared before. The only ti she rembered was also vague in her mories from the night of the accident when he ca to her rescue.
What could have him so scared?
"I asked if you would support or not, husband," she spoke, pulling her lips in s soft smile, one that didn’t carry much but the credence she was willing to give him, regardless of anything. "You don’t have to force yourself to agree. You can even choose to refuse. You’ve got the choice."
After all that she had pieced together, she was sure there were things between them that he was hiding from her. She wasn’t doubting him, nor was she blaming him.
She was instead sure that if he was hiding it from her, he might have all the reason for it.
She slowly moved her hand to place over his as she said, "I won’t force you to tell sothing that you aren’t comfortable telling ." She smiled and then added, "But there are a few things that I ... wouldn’t let you hide from as well. Because there are so answers that I need to hold on to the faith that have co to put on you."
"What do you want to ask?" he finally asked. His heart thrumd inside his chest, scared she would ask sothing he might not be able to answer.
Arwen stared at him. When he asked her that, she wanted to say that there’s a lot she wants to ask. But she held back, not sure if it was right to ask him.
So, she just asked what felt like the most important at the mont. "You never hid the woman you always held in your heart. You told about her the day I entered your life."
A smile curled up her lips. "And even knowing that, I never thought of competing with her. It would be a lie if I were to say the thought never crossed her." She nodded, admitting, "It did. Many tis. But every ti it did, you offered double sincerity, which made feel it’s irrelevant to compete with soone when I am already satisfied with what I have."
As Aiden heard her, he wanted to tell her —she didn’t need to compete because competing with oneself would be tiring —only she would win in the end.
"So, I won’t compete. I just want to know —" she said, pausing to make sure the question didn’t die beneath her own voice. "Do you still love her? Even after living with for so many months, do you still hold the sa feelings you once had for her?"
He had promised her fidelity, but one’s fidelity doesn’t guarantee their heart.
She was okay with just having his fidelity at the beginning, but after falling for him, she had beco greedy.
Fidelity no longer seed enough. She wanted more. She wanted his heart ... only for her. Just for her.
Aiden stared at her, and for a mont, Arwen felt like he could see her greediness in her eyes.
She thought of looking away just to avoid him seeing through her. Just then, he held her, firm and spellbound.
His hands reached to cup her cheek, framing it gently. Looking into her eyes, he professed, "I only love my wife. Except you, I have feelings for no one else."
Wait, what?
Arwen was taken aback. "You love ?" she asked, only to see him nod back without any hesitation. Her heart thumped at his confirmation. But she felt it was hard to believe.
"But didn’t you say you have loved her always. And it’s just been her?"
Aiden shook his head, dismissing it. "It doesn’t matter. The only thing that ever mattered was ... you."
She paused at that —once again feeling the hint of sothing deeper underlying his words.
She didn’t question him regarding it, rather simply asked, "Then if she cos tomorrow to get back with you —"
"I have married you already —and divorce is not a clause in our agreent."
Arwen’s lips turned up at the corners as she stared at him. "You sure?" she asked back. "You won’t regret it, right?"
He shook his head. "I wouldn’t."
She watched him for a mont longer as if trying to look for a clue of confirmation. And then she said, "If I weren’t sure that we never shared a past together, I might have doubted that it has always been in your life —one whom you have secretly cherished in your heart."
And that’s when she saw sothing shift in his gaze. It was subtle, but unmistakable.
"But too bad, I am sure that we never had any history together. And since we never had one, there is no chance of my being her, isn’t it?" She chuckled, continuing while dismissing the possibility.
Aiden’s gaze turned deep. However, she simply smiled away, like what she said was nothing but a chance possibility that she jokingly imagined and dismissed on her own.
"It’s getting late," she said, shifting on the bed a little to adjust. "Let’s sleep early." She gestured for him to get on his side of the bed. "In the morning, we need to see off Ms Martin as well."
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