Chapter 154
Aria POV
I sat on the bed for a while, lost in thought, before finally sighing and grabbing my pajamas, ready to wash up and sleep.
A proper wife should wait up for her husband to return from his business engagements. But tonight, I didn’t feel like being a proper wife. It wasn’t a real marriage anyway-just a convenient arrangement, each of us getting what we needed.
Who cared? He didn’t like me!
By exactly nine o’clock, I had already showered and buried myself in the soft bedding. My mood hadn’t improved much, but after two consecutive nights of insomnia, overwhelming drowsiness finally took over. Within ten minutes of turning off the lights, I was fast asleep.
I woke up extremely early the next day—after all, I’d gone to bed so early the night before. A little past six, I got up, carefully applied my makeup, put on a cute dress and flats, and went straight downstairs to hail a cab to Lillian’s apartment.
Hmph! I was deliberately avoiding Aiden. Since he was so guarded and drew such clear boundaries, I wasn’t the type to shamelessly cling to him anyway. From now on, no unnecessary contact—just maintain the facade of a perfect couple!
The sky wasn’t fully light yet when I arrived at Lillian’s building, just before seven. I bought breakfast for two and went upstairs, ringing the doorbell several times before a drowsy Lillian finally answered.
“Am I dreaming?” she mumbled, squinting. “What time is it p>
“Seven. Is that early?” I said, deftly slipping past her into the apartment.
Lillian struggled to focus on the wall clock and muttered a curse under her breath. It was only 6:45.
“Aria, have you lost your mind p>
Lillian had only gone to bed at two in the morning, planning to catch up on sleep during the weekend, only to be woken up at this ungodly hour.
She ran a hand through her bird’s-nest hair and watched as I efficiently laid out breakfast on her dining table.
“Go brush your teeth,” I instructed cheerfully.
She gave me a pitiful look, but I nudged her into the bathroom, even squeezing toothpaste onto her brush for her. “Time is precious! Let’s eat quickly and head out early p>
“Aria,” she protested through a mouthful of toothpaste foam, “I’m pretty sure we agreed on meeting at noon p>
“Did we? Well, I’m already here—you can’t expect me to go back now and come again at noon, can you p>
Lillian let out an exaggerated sigh. It seemed all her patience for the month had been used up in this single morning.
She was still yawning repeatedly when she emerged from the bathroom. What could she do? I was already seated at the table, happily eating my breakfast.
She sat down opposite me, took a sip of warm water to wake herself up, and then eyed me suspiciously. “You’re acting strange, Aria p>
My hand trembled, nearly spilling the soy milk.
“Nonsense. You’re still half-asleep and hallucinating,” I insisted, feigning calm as I kept eating.
Lillian snorted. “Don’t play dumb. Did you have trouble sleeping last night p>
She studied my face closely. “Wait, no dark circles. Then why are you up so early? More importantly, why are you torturing me? Spill it p>
I glanced at her. “So you’re just mad I came too early p>
“Don’t change the subject. Is it because of Aiden? Did you two have a fight p>
Knowing I couldn’t hide anything from my seasoned best friend, I decided to lay it all out. “Does Aiden Carter seem like the type to argue with me p>
“Then why not sleep in? Avoiding him p>
I took an aggressive bite of my steamed bun, as if it were Aiden’s head. “He’s so guarded and distant? Fine, I get the message! From now on, no unnecessary contact. We’ll just play the loving couple in public p>
“You know,” Lillian said thoughtfully, “right now, you really seem like a little girl throwing a tantrum with her boyfriend.” She paused, then added, “Bet if Aiden called you right now, you’d drop me and run back to him p>
Such a classic scenario. Complaining about the boyfriend to your best friend, only to ditch her the moment he calls.
Lillian’s eyes were full of skepticism.
“Don’t worry,” I vowed confidently. “I’m not the type to prioritize romance over friendship p>
Mainly because Aiden would never call to coax me back. Even if he did, it definitely wouldn’t be to apologize.
He probably didn’t think he’d done anything wrong at all.
Ugh, men.
Lillian let out a clearly disbelieving snort.
By the time we finished breakfast, it was only 7:10. Lillian looked at me pitifully. “Can
I go back to sleep for another two hours p>
Seeing the dark circles under her eyes like a panda’s, my conscience finally kicked in. “Granted p>
She immediately thanked me profusely and dashed back to her bedroom. Within three seconds, faint snores could be heard.
I’d meant to ask her where her charger was, but seeing she was already dead to the world, I had to search for it myself. Might as well-I had nothing else to do.
After plugging in my nearly dead phone, I curled up on the living room sofa and started browsing online.
Nearly a week had passed since the rumors about Aiden and me divorcing, and the online chatter had died down significantly.
When it was all the
hype, I’d been
too embarrassed to read the
comments closely. Now that fewer people were paying attention, it was
safe toscroll through. Even if accidentally liked something it wouldn’t immediately get screenshotted and turned into gossip.
vel
I was so absorbed in the comments that I didn’t even notice when Lillian got up to use the bathroom. She leaned over just as I was unconsciously, with a hint of resentment, poking at my phone screen on closer look, was poking a promotional photo of Arden that a netizen had posted.
Lillian burst out laughing. “So angry? Why not go poke the real person p>
Tch, attacking a photo-how impressive is that?
**Author’s POV p>
The previous night, at exactly nine o’clock, the Maybach glided smoothly into the villa’s courtyard Aiden, dressed in a crisp black suit, stepped out and instinctively looked up toward the second-floor bedroom. The entire floor was dark.
He frowned almost imperceptibly and entered the house. The first-floor living room, which should have been warmly lit, was also pitch dark. He silently changed his shoes and went straight upstairs.
The music room was, as expected, empty. The door to her bedroom was firmly shut.
He knew she kept a regular schedule, but going to bed by nine was unusually early.
Had she gone out?
Aiden took out his phone to check. Aside from a few work updates from his assistant, Miller, there was no message from her. This was unusual.
He stood silently outside her closed door for a moment, then turned to retrieve the spare key from his room and pushed the door open with utmost care.
In the faint moonlight filtering through the window, he could clearly make out the slight mound under the covers—she was already asleep.
The ghost of a smile touched his lips. Aria was so sweet, even her sleeping posture was utterly charming.
Aiden watched her quietly by the bedside for a long time before finally pressing a kiss to her forehead and gently closing the door behind him.
If he weren’t worried about disturbing her sleep, he would have made love to her
right then, passionately and without restraint.
But right now, there was something even more urgent than physical intimacy.
He needed Aria to see her own heart clearly.
More than desiring her body, he yearned to claim her heart.