Chapter 236
Aria’s POV
I snatched Aiden’s phone with fumbling hands, nearly dropping it in my rush.
“I wasn’t done! What’s wrong with taking a few more pictures? So stingy p>
I complained, but remembering what he’d said about Aria being tired, I decided not to chase after them.
Opening the gallery, I discovered that jerk had only taken two photos-and completely missed capturing the kiss I tried to plant on Aria’s cheek! Ugh!
Aiden Carter, that absolute dog of a man!
I was genuinely fuming when I spotted Lillian and Nanna nearby. Lillian and I had met a few times before, and she definitely knew about my fangirl obsession with Aria.
“Claire? Why do you look so upset?” Lillian asked, clearly concerned by my expression.
“That jerk Aiden just made me so mad! I asked him to take pictures of me with my precious Aria, but he only took two shots! He completely missed capturing me kissing her and then lied about taking it p>
Lillian couldn’t hold back her laughter. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh p>
“Go ahead and laugh! Aiden is truly a dog of a man! So petty and possessive! I honestly don’t know what my precious Aria sees in him p>
My anger faded as quickly as it had flared up. After venting for a bit, I felt better. I glanced between Lillian and the other woman. “And who’s this p>
“I’m Aria’s assistant,” she introduced herself.
“Oh my god! Then you must have tons of pictures of Aria, right?” I leaned forward eagerly, eyes widening with hope.
Lillian watched me with amusement, probably thinking thank god I was a woman—if I’d been a man acting this way, I’d definitely come across as a stalker.
Meanwhile, Aria was still processing being kissed by a woman for the first time in her life. As Aiden led her away, she hadn’t fully registered what had happened.
Back in our hotel room, I noticed Aiden hadn’t spoken a word the entire way up.
Wait, is he angry? What could possibly have upset him now?
While I was still puzzling this out, he emerged from the bathroom with a warm towel. “What’s wrong?” I asked, confused.
“Let me clean your face p>
Instinctively, I touched my cheek. “Is there something on my face p>
“Mmm.” He spread the warm towel across his palm while his other hand gently cradled the back of my head. “Close your eyes p>
I obediently shut my eyes. Seconds later, I felt the comforting warmth of the towel press against my skin.
His movements were gentle as he wiped my face before pulling away. “Done p>
I glanced at the towel, feeling slightly embarrassed. “What was on my face p>
“Dirt p>
“What kind of dirt p>
I looked up at him curiously.
Aiden met my gaze with a deadpan expression. “Claire kissed it. It’s dirty p>
“It wasn’t that bad,” I mumbled, feeling my face heat up.
He didn’t respond, just put the towel away. “What do you want for dinner?” “Not sure, but I’m starving p>
Aiden handed me a coconut. “Drink this first. I’ll order room service p>
I took the coconut with both hands, nodding as I settled onto the sofa and sipped the refreshing juice.
After placing the order, Aiden turned
to find me quietly focused on
drinking. Something in his
expression softened, as
thought
remembering something from long ago. Probably thinking about how used to sit just like this, drinking
juice on those steps years ago.
Some things never change, even after all these years. I’m still his wife, still the same Aria at heart.
Room service would take at least thirty minutes. Just after Aiden finished ordering, his phone rang-Lucas calling.
“I need to take this,” he said.
I glanced up at him. “Okay p>
Aiden looked at me for a moment before walking to the floor-to-ceiling windows, answering the call.
I set my coconut down and opened T r. Finally, I had time to check what was happening online.
Holy shit-today’s timeline was absolutely wild.
I’d been trending all day. In the top ten trending topics, three were about me:
#AriasAidensFirstLove, #AriasBodyDouble, and #AriaJones.
I missed the morning’s drama, only seeing screenshots Lillian sent me.
The earliest trending topic was #AriasAidensFirstLove-obviously bought and planted by Elena Pierce.
Clicking through, I could still see the most-replied comment: “I’ve always said there’s
no true love in high society-it’s all about business interests p>
That comment was posted around eleven this morning, before my mask incident during the competition. Nobody knew JJ was actually me then.
But someone had caught Aiden attending my competition, and others dug up evidence that he seemed to show up at every event where JJ performed.
So everyone concluded JJ was Aiden’s true first love.
Then at noon, everything flipped when my mask fell off, revealing a face that shocked yet looked familiar to everyone.
The comments section exploded:
“Wrong! There’s no true love in high society EXCEPT for the Carters p>
“LMAO JJ’s true identity is revealed-she’s Mrs. Carter! Wonder what the original commenter thinks now p>
“I’m dying! We’ve heard this ‘no true love’ claim so many times, but the Carterszalways prove it wrong. The so-called ‘body double’ is actually the real person! Internet speculation at its finest!
Reading these comments now filled me with immense satisfaction.
I’m not usually this petty, but
considering Elena Pierce created this ridiculous trending topic, seeing her plan backfire so spectacularly felt incredibly gratifying.