Aiden and Aria sat there in silence. Aria is applying ice to her cheek. Aiden is looking at her quietly.
"I am sorry" Aiden confessed suddenly.
Aria looked at him with surprise.
She thought he is apologizing for Natasha. But it's not he who hurt her. So it's not his mistake.
"You didn't hurt me. You don't have to apologize to her" Aria said truthfully.
Aiden looked at her strangely. He is not apologizing for only that. But he should have elaborated a little. She wouldn't understand what he is thinking in his mind.
"No, not just for this, for everything" he elaborated.
Aria still didn't understand.
"For everything?" She looked puzzled.
Aiden truly looked ashamed of himself.
"We started on a wrong footing. After you came here searching for Martin, and when I found out you are his daughter, I thought you would be like him. Greedy, mooch, and a scum. But you proved me wrong. You are nothing like him. You are hard-wo
Martin William, a scum bag and a drug addict. But no one knows how he became one. He had a very loving wife and an angel as a daughter, a steady job, and a couple of trustworthy friends.But everything changed with one little mistake. One day he went out to party with his friends and had a little too much to drink.He shouldn't have driven his car on his own when he is drunk. He should have accepted his friend's offer and let him drive Martin home. But he did neither.He thought he is fine and is capable to drive. But a drunk person cannot tell when he is drunk.But then, he was overconfident in his driving abilities. So like an idiot, he drove his car on the highway, at a speed, which he should not be driving.That's when he did one thing that he should not have done. He crashed into a man, who was standing on the side of the road, waiting for someone to help him with his car, which is broken.The impact of the collision gave his body
"He is cool, he is handsome, he is sweet and he is perfect" Lily was talking about our boss, who would be visiting the restaurant today.Aria rolled her eyes at the dreamy look on Lily's face.Lily is singing praises to our boss for the last half an hour."If the boss lets her, she would marry him and have kids in her dreams" Bethy muttered from beside me.Lily looked at Bethy and stick her tongue out."You are just jealous," Lily said still in a dream-like state."Ya, I am jealous of your daydreaming abilities. No one can dream as you can" Bethy even clapped her hands to praise Lily."Hey," Lily said with narrowed eyes."I am watching you" Lily warned Bethy in mock outrage."Oh my God, please don't. I am so scared" Bethy played along with Lily.They look ridiculous doing that, but they are fun to be around with. Who is there to judge them?I smile despite of their ridiculousness. They bickered back and fo
"What?" Aria asked in shock.'Did he just ask me to kiss him? Isn't it considered as workplace harassment? Can I complain about it to the HR department? But will they take my complaint? I am just a nobody who came to this town a couple of days ago. He is the owner of this huge restaurant chain. No one said a bad thing about him. So if I tell them about this, will they believe me? What if I quit this job? Will I get another job soon? Or will this man make sure that I was not hired anywhere?" Aria thought in horror."Kiss me Sweetheart" he repeated himself, knowing fully well that she wouldn't agree.He remembered their conversation last night. He understood she is not as unaffected by him as he thought she is.She just needs a push and he is sure he can wear her resistance off soon.Aria is shocked and confused.What exactly is happening here? She thought.Aiden knows she would most definitely slap her new boss and quit her job rather t
After work, Aria went home with mixed feelings in her heart. Whenever Aiden touched her, her mind stops working completely, as if its plugs have been pulled out.Her body takes over, giving in to the temptation of the pleasure, which only he can give.But their relationship will be a disaster, without any future to it. His mother and her father are married, Which makes them step-siblings.It's strictly not possible at all.'I don't know what's going on in Aiden's head. Why is he so adamant to sleep with me again?' She thought with frustration.'What will she tell her father, if he finds out? What will her friends think? What will Adam think about me then?' She thought.When she reached home, he saw his car already parked in front of one of the garage doors.She walked into the house slowly, not making any noise. She doesn't want to alert Aiden. She cannot have another one of his toe-curling and panty-melting kisses.'I need
Aiden looked at Aria, who has a conflicted look in her eyes."This is not permanent Aria. I am not asking you to marry me. This is just an affair, which can last as long as you want. If you want it to end in a week, then let's end it in a week. I don't have any problem with giving controls to you. After this is over, you can find a nice guy and move on. I know you are not ready to settle down yet and neither am I. So it's a win-win for both of us. Think about it" Aiden is trying to make her understand that it's not permanent.He knows settling down with anyone for her right now is scary. Hell, he is 25 and he is scared of settling down himself.And she is just 19, and he knows she might have some plans for her life. So she too is not ready for something serious at this point. So his proposal is the best one for both of them.Aria considered his proposal."We can keep this a secret. No one needs to know anything. On the outside, we don't know each o
As promised, Ryan took all three girls to the nearby island, which is small and has some tourist attractions like water parks and snorkeling.It's just half an hour away from the mainland, and the boat which Ryan mentioned is not small. It's a huge boat which carries tourists too and fro from the surrounding islands to the mainland.Some of the islands, which are a little bigger than this one, have resorts to stay in as well.They decided to go on early, so Aria woke up at 6 in the morning, did her morning routine got dressed in a bikini, and on top of that, she wore a t-shirt and some shorts.Aria decided to meet the three near the dock area. That's where they are supposed to board the tourist boat.Ryan talked with his friend, who is going to join them on the trip."Steve" Ryan called his friend over, who looks like he is searching for Ryan."Dude" Steve called and made his towards them.By the time Aria came to the dock, Ryan,
"Come to my office, we can talk there," Aiden told Alex."Ok," Alex agreed and disconnected the call.Alex is the private detective hired by Aiden.Initially, when he was hired, he thought of the case as a normal accident, but the family is thinking about it as suspicious because they loved the dead person.But after Alex saw the pictures Aiden showed him, he too became suspicious. He checked the police statement given by the police to the family.They just recorded it as an unfortunate accident and nothing else.But the pictures Aiden showed him are not of the person who died of a normal accident.His face and forearms have injuries from falling hard on the road. Alex understood its not a normal accident.Someone is trying not to bring it forward. It must be the person who killed Aiden's father or it should be someone else.Alex is determined to find the killer, whoever it is.So he started by asking the people around the
'The reason for the death is suffocation. The police ruled it out as the airbag opening and suffocating him. But the air never opened'What Alex is saying has a point. Even Aiden didn't notice the airbag being opened up.'The reason for his death is suffocation' Alex pointed out."Suffocation? Can it be possible that someone wanted him dead? Are they the ones behind his death?" Aiden asked.His heart pounding loudly in his ears.Alex took a deep breath."Yes, either they stopped his air supply by closing his mouth and nose or they must have squeezed his neck," Alex said.Aiden is in shock. He thought something is not right in the way his father's death was portrayed. But he never thought he must be killed.Alexander Knight is a very good man. He never harmed anyone intentionally. If he can, he would prefer to help them instead.A man like that was killed by someone. A father and a husband were taken away from them.
The next morning, Aiden's mom Sarah was cooking breakfast in the kitchen when Aria came down.Aiden is still sleeping, but Aria couldn't sleep at all after what happened last night. She is on edge and itching to go out of the room for some air.When she came down, she saw Sarah, Aiden's mother cooking breakfast. With everything that happened after she came the previous day, Aria couldn't talk to her properly. She seems to be like a nice woman."Do you want some help?" Aria offered tentatively.Sarah looked behind her and smiled at Aria."Oh hello dear. Good morning. No dear, I am just about done. I couldn't sleep at all with everything that happened last night. So I decided to prepare some pancakes. Martin too likes pancakes. I stress cook a lot" Sarah agreed sheepishly.Aria smiled at that comment."Ya, I couldn't sleep too. Everything is too much to digest" Aria too agreed.Sarah switched off the flames and turned to face Aria.
On that very same night, at 2 am in the early morning hours, 10 masked men entered Aiden's beach house, through the back door.Everyone in the house was sleeping, unaware of the danger they are in.Those masked men started to climb the upper floors as if following a plan. They entered Aiden's room and found Aria and Aiden sleeping beside each other.One of them removed his mask, and Noah's face appeared."Not for too long," he said through clenched teeth.He indicated his men to go and get the girl, but when they were about to touch Aria, Aiden opened his eyes and looked at those men with shock."Who are you?" he asked loudly, alerting Aria beside him."What's happening?" Aria asked with confusion and fear looking around the bed at the dark-clothed masked men.That's when Aiden heard Noah's chuckle.He snapped his head towards his old friend and enemy."Oh, it's you? I should have guessed" Aiden said lazily, getti
Martin and Aria sat outside on the porch, talking about everything that happened since the moment he was forced to move out on them."I made a mistake Ari, I shouldn't have drunk so much and driven my car. I did both. I was so drunk, I accidentally crashed into Mr. Alexander. I panicked and left him on the road to die. I found out later that he was not dead then but was killed by Noah. He began to blackmail me with that video of me crashing into Mr. Alexander. I was forced to do everything he wanted me to. First, he wanted me to leave you and your mother. And then, he made me marry Sarah, that was the point I began to feel hopeless and helpless. Then, everything began to go out of control. Then your mother died and you contacted me for help. I know Aiden is a good man who wouldn't let you suffer alone. So I made you come here to protect you in the only way I could" Martin confessed, making Aria's eyes tear up."We missed you so much after you left us, dad. Mostly mom,
Aria and Aiden lay on the bed beside each other naked, and they have a very content smile on their faces."I never thought this day would come so soon. I thought I had to wait for another year for you to forgive me, or even more" Aiden confessed.Aria smiled at his statement."I guess I loved you since a long time. It's easy to forgive you" Aria said.Aiden smiled at her statement.That's when Aria remembered something Natasha said that day."Is is Noah behind everything that happened at that time?" Aria asked.Aiden stiffened."Yes, he instigated everything and I got carried away. It's my mistake as well. I cannot throw the entire blame on him and tell you that I am innocent. I am not" Aiden confessed."What happened?" Aria asked softly.Aiden sighed and began to explain everything since the moment her father crashed in to his father and then Noah killing his father and blackmailing Martin. And then Noah send that vi
Aiden instructed a bell boy to bring him the paper which Aria intended to give him after she left.He unfolded the paper and found her words.'I love you too' it read.He smiled softly and looked in the direction which she left.He pocketed the paper and left to attend his meeting.Aria on the other hand is disappointed. She tried to tell him how she feels for him, but luck doesn't seem that be on her side.'Now he is going for a meeting and who knows how long it will be until he comes back' she thought with a sad face.The day passed by slowly, but without a sign of Aiden.Aria is feeling restless. She regretted not telling him what she feels when she had the chance. Now she fears that he might misunderstand that she doesn't feel the same about him."What are you going to do?" Claire asked her."I have to do something and let him know how I feel about him. That too today itself" Aria told Claire."Hmm, then you
After Aria composed herself, she rushed downstairs to share this news with her friend Claire and Adam.She was receiving weird glances from the employees around her. That is making her feel uncomfortable.She rushed towards the reception area and found Claire talking to her colleague."Claire" Aria called to attract her friends attention.Claire looked over and found Aria. She looked excited and happy.She exused herself and went to Aria."Hey you, what is making you so happy? I thought you wouldn't come out of that office for the rest of the day. What are doing here anyway?" Claire wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.Aria blushed furiously."Claire" she said looking here and there."Come" Aria pulled Claire away from ear shots and towards the garden outside."Hey, where are you taking me?" Claire complained."Don't worry, I am not planning to kidnap you" Aria assured.Aria let Clair
'Touched my heart the way Aria did' those words kept repeating in her head.Aria looked at Aiden with a shocked look.'Did he just said what I am assuming he did? Or, am I assuming too much?' She thought with shock.But she couldn't wipe out the hope she is feeling.'This means, does he have feelings for me as well?' She thought.Even Claire has a huge grin on her face.But it was not the case with Natasha. Tears are pooling in her eyes, making her feel sad and hopeless."I thought loving you is enough for you to love me back. But I think it is not" she whispered sadly.Aiden couldn't do much for her, except being pityful."I can guess who is behind all this what you did now. Stay away from him Natasha. He is dangerous" Aiden warned her off of Noah.He can easily guess it's Noah who is behind Natasha. Noah is using her for his end goals. If she takes his warning seriously and stays away from him, then it's well and go
Aiden heard some commotion just outside his office.'What is this noise?' he thought.He decided to go and check it himself. But the moment he stepped outside, he stopped dead in his tracks.Aria is on the verge of crying and Natasha has a smug expression on her face. There is a small group of people around them.Claire is glaring at Natasha and is looking at Aria with concern."What the hell is happening here?" Aiden asked angrily.The moment he saw Natasha, he knows she is here to cause trouble.The hurt expression on Aria's face is proof.When Aria saw Aiden, the tears she was trying so hard to control began to roll down her cheeks.Natasha on the other hand is not so happy to see Aiden there. She thought she would have some time until he would notice that there is something wrong. By that time, she thought she could drive Aria away.But he appeared earlier than she wanted him to appear.'Shit, he would ruin
"Oh, so you are really back? When Aiden told me you came back, I thought he was joking. I came to say hi to you myself" Natasha behaved as if she is close to Aiden.Aria is lost for words.'Aiden told her? But last night he told me that he is not with Natasha. Are they friends? But she proposed her love to him last night. Were they friends before that? But according to Claire, he didn't like her that much. Then what is she trying to prove here' Aria doubted Natasha's motive.But she didn't comment anything. Just looked at Natasha with a doubtful gaze.Because she clearly remembers Aiden saying that, he hates women without self-respect. According to what Claire just told her, Natasha clearly lacks self-respect.If Aiden drove her away time and again, but if she is still coming back, then that means she doesn't have an ounce of self-respect.But the question is, why did she come here today? What did she want?Aria still remembers w