Back in the car, Arwen turned to look at Aiden, her brows furrowing slightly in confusion as though she couldn’t quite understand what was wrong.
"What happened to you?" she asked, not able to take his sullen expression anymore. "You have barely spoken a word since we left the party. Did sothing upset you?"
However, he didn’t respond. His hand simply rested on the steering wheel, manoeuvring it with practised precision.
She gave him the ti, waiting for him to speak, but even after several seconds, he didn’t make the slightest effort to answer her. She pursed her lips.
"Husband, you —"
Just then, the car ca to an abrupt halt, making her gasp. She turned toward the road, but finding it lazily empty, she didn’t understand the reason for stopping.
Glancing back at Aiden, she opened her mouth to ask, but before she could, he turned to face her. His eyes held a deep, simring resentnt —one that almost felt too familiar.
"Why did you do that?" he asked, his voice low yet sharp enough to cut through the stillness.
Her brows knitted tighter. "What are you talking about? What did I do?" She wasn’t pretending —she truly had no idea.
Aiden stared at her for a mont, as though searching her face for sothing. Then, with rudeness that made her flinch, he looked away and slamd his fist against the steering wheel.
"Aiden!"
Arwen’s hands shot forward on instinct, grabbing his to stop him from hurting himself again. "Are you crazy? What are you doing?"
She examined his knuckles with concern. He had hit it hard —so hard that she feared it might bruise —but he didn’t even flinch, his jaws clenching instead.
"You —" She wanted to rebuke him, but when she saw how angry he looked —not at her, but at himself —she couldn’t bring herself to scold him. "Don’t ever hurt yourself like this. It’s not a solution, you know."
Aiden didn’t hum or respond. He simply turned his face toward the window, his shoulders tense, still holding back whatever storm raged inside him.
Arwen couldn’t stand the distance he was forcing between them. She reached up, cupping his face firmly, turning it toward her.
When he resisted, she spoke with quiet authority. "Aiden, look at . Now."
This ti, he gave in.
When their eyes t, she saw it —the sa resentnt, the sa anguish — as if he was brutally blaming himself for sothing.
Her brows furrowed, and she asked, "Will you please tell what this is all about?" With one look, she could tell that he didn’t want to, so she pressed. "Although I really want the power to read your mind, I truly can’t. So, tell , husband, what’s bothering you? Please."
He looked at her, his Adam’s apple bobbing, before he finally said, "You ... didn’t have to sign those papers."
Realization dawned upon her, and she froze.
"That was unfair to you," he continued, his voice rough. "And you don’t have to endure anyone’s unfair treatnt. You don’t deserve it."
Her chest ward and ached all at once. He wasn’t angry because he was treated wrong —but because she was pushed into a corner. He was upset on her behalf, feeling the pain that was yet to creep up her soul.
A slow smile faintly curled the corner of her lips as she bit her lower lip gently, just to withhold the tear that was at the edge of her eyes, ready to roll down. "You think I was unfairly treated?" she asked, and just when he was about to say yes, she shook her head, denying it straight away. "No, I wasn’t. Because you were there," she said firmly.
"Rember what you told when I asked you how you would treat if I had no family, no backer, nothing at all." Her smile deepened, and she reminded him, "Your response was what made everyone see that no matter what I lose, I would never be subject to unfair treatnt as long as you are there with . So, trust , I wasn’t all cornered there."
He didn’t speak; his eyes simply stared at her as if confirming her words.
Arwen let him. She slowly explained, "Those few papers didn’t matter to at all," she said, her voice low but serious. "I might have officially signed them today, but in my heart, I have long severed my ties with my family ... with the woman who gave birth to . So, signing my na on those papers didn’t break my heart. Instead, it freed completely —from sothing I no longer wanted to stay tied to."
"So," she paused only to caress his face with love. "Don’t bla yourself for anything that happened today. If anything, praise yourself. Because if not for you on my side, I wouldn’t have been this confident. With you, I know I would never be alone. So, no one else matters."
Although she put it that way, he felt bad for her. "You will always have ," he said, and she nodded to him with more certainty than what he held.
"I know. I will always have you."
They stared at each other for a long mont. No words spoken between them, yet it felt like they were sharing a lot in that small mont of silence.
That mont of serenity only broke when Arwen heard her phone ringing. She blinked and turned to look for her phone.
Aiden also moved to start the car again. As the car started, Arwen saw Alice’s na flashing on the screen.
She debated the idea of taking the call. But just when the call was about to die down, she moved the icon to answer it.
"Queen Sister," ca Alice’s excited voice.
Arwen didn’t need to ask to know that the job she had given her a few days ago was a success. And just as she expected, she heard the girl add next.
"I did it."
"Great!" Arwen said, adding, "I will co tomorrow for it then."
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