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Chapter Eighteen
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2024-10-29 19:42:56He awoke with the smell of freshly brewed coffee and bacon lingering in his nostrils. He barely had enough sleep thinking about the woman. He was not sure if he wanted to be married to her, but he was damn sure he wanted her. She was both complicated and unpredictable a rare mix from the aggressive, confident, often predictable women he was used to dating. As far as he can recall, he was attracted to women who loves to be his arm candy, does not ask too many questions, clingy, dependent on his ability to woe them with materialistic things, and are well experienced in bed. None of the qualities Jared observed on Aurora Cunard. She was defensive, cold, sometimes aloof, sometimes open. She was driving him crazy. But then he found himself in bed for hours, last night thinking how he could at least bring her to heel, and break that icy facade she erected for herself.
She heard his bedroom door open indicating that he was awake. She was slicing some apples when he appeared topless
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Somebody to Love Chapter Nineteen
They arrived in New York just before lunchtime. Upon arriving in the airport via Jared’s private jet, they were fetched by a private limousine and took them directly to the Ritz-Carlton. Aurora learned that Jared also has shares on the luxurious hotel chain where they decided to check in. To her surprise, they both found out that Renata reserved a one-bedroom suite instead of a 2-bedroom suite. “Can we request for another room?” she whispered softly making sure no one overhears her. He gave her a scowl. “What for?”, Jared asked. “What do you mean what for?” she countered firmly but still keeping her voice down. She noticed that the front office clerk was smiling at them, waiting patiently for their confirmation. Jared shook his head at her and turned her attention to the hotel attendant. “My fiancée would like a separate room. If you have an available 2-bedroom suite, we’ll take it.” “I understand, Mr. Rickford. Please give me a moment t
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Aurora nodded and sipped her wine and fixed her attention to Louise. “I met Jared during one of Eleanor’s cover photo shoots with us. We were on location in Paris where she was also shooting her then movie Night Glass wherein we all know she won an Academy for Best Actress last February.” “Was Jared with her during the ceremony?” Aurora dared to ask not sure if she was going to like the answer. Louise nodded disgustingly and added, “They were inseparable. They have been together for nearly two years now. It’s the longest relationship we’ve seen of Jared so far, then the Marseilles pictures released by Us Magazine which catapulted the engagement issue.” “Do you think he loves her?” “I can’t answer that because he’s charming to all his women even before Eleanor. How he acts with his women in public? Based on images produced by the paparazzi, he’s very much into PDA, and extremely physical. From what I heard and see, he’s the same with a
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What’s gotten in him lately, Jared was not entirely sure. But he felt foolish almost childish how impatient he was getting. He never knew himself to be impatient when it comes to women. He took his sweet time pursuing them and he enjoyed it. Not this time, he realized. When it came with his betrothed, a woman he barely knew – his patience was wearing thin by the minute and he wanted to strangle himself for being too possessive and careless. Is it because he knew she was figuratively born for him? The thought of it was shocking but the reality was Aurora was betrothed to him the moment she was born. Knowing that fact somehow made a significant difference, though never in his right mind did he think that he would feel so impatient, possessive and arrogantly careless to assume that Aurora would simply give in to his charms? For one, he realized while he was fixing his bow-tie in front of the mirror, his past ladies were easy to please. Jared was not entirely sure if Aurora would fit th
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The Metropolitan Museum was the venue for tonight’s gala charity dinner hosted by Vogue magazine and the moment their vehicle parked in front of the red carpet, cameras began flashing simultaneously, it was blinding. “Heavens,” Aurora muttered silently to herself. She needed to calm her nerves and she was thankful Jared exited the limo first and took his time claiming her. The moment Jared stepped foot out of the vehicle, Aurora heard simultaneous screaming and yelling, calling Jared’s name in all sides. “Mr Rickford, look this way please. Mr Rickford, to your right. Jared, who’s your date tonight?” To Aurora’s delighted shock, she heard him say loudly to the panicking paparazzis, “My fiancée,” he remarked proudly. Then he bent down and assisted her as she exited the vehicle. She gave him a grateful look as she placed her hand in his secure ones and gently lifted herself from the vehicle to stand gracefully beside him as the media people with their cameras an
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He returned to the hotel around eight the following morning, hoping to talk to Aurora about last night. He felt guilty misleading her to thinking that he was actually ready to marry her when in fact, he was not sure if he was eager to let go of his convenient relationship with Eleanor. In just a few days, he was aware that he made Aurora feel he was interested in her, kissing her, and making sexual advances towards her, even cared for her. And he did. But he was now sure he is not willing to commit to her. Last night, after a blissful night with Eleanor, he stayed up and pondered what may be the best solution to their situation. She needed to know the truth, and what he can only give her. He was passing through the front desk on his way to the elevators when one of the front desk personnel called out to him. “Good morning Mr Rickford,” the front desk officer named Joanne greeted. “Good morning,” Jared replied. “I have a message for you here from Ms Cu
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They were legally married five days later and had an intimate societal wedding two months after they both amicably agreed upon their internal arrangement, in a chapel in Boston. She wore a ready to wear wedding dress by Elie Saab – a gift by the designer himself. They were surrounded by family and friends who were there to witness a business merger rather than a uniting of hearts. Louise took upon herself the necessity of acquiring a competent yet very expensive wedding organizer who could accomplish everything in a month’s time. She also managed to convince both bride and groom of giving her magazine exclusive rights to the publicity of the wedding. It was necessary for the what kind of attention their union was to come. It was madness, but it was possible. By the end of the week, the invites were sent and a formal announcement was made to both London Times and New York Times. By rights, Rosalie Cunard ensured that she would have the wedding she was dreaming of for her
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Aurora stayed with her mother until the funeral that Saturday. Her father’s death was all over the news and it was impossible to stay low key when major television networks were wanting to cover almost everything from the marriage, to the merger, to the transfer of stocks, to the cause of death to the funeral. The funeral was attended by other notable business leaders from all over the world, even the President of the United States, and representatives from the British, Canadian, and Austrian government attended the funeral which made it all the more high-profile to Aurora’s dismay. But she knew it was inevitable and her mother knew how to handle such attendees. Jared made sure that everything was prepared and seamless, and she knew it will be efficient as it was. Now that the wedding, merger, and funeral are all over, it was time to get on with their present circumstance. She went back to Jared’s home a couple of days after the interment. She was no longer surprised that her mother
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The reading of the will took place the next afternoon in the one of the bigger dining rooms at the Cunards’ estate. She and Jared went ahead to ensure their legal counsels are present and that have been coordinating in terms of the communication about Jared’s new role as Cunard’s figure head. Paul Cunard’s lawyers namely Harold Specter and Anthony Spencer were having a closed door meeting with her mother when they arrived, after a few moments they came out of the chamber looking pleasant. Aurora kissed her mother on the cheek, and shook hands with their lawyers whom she was already familiar with. “You feeling alright, mother?” Aurora whispered as she hugged her mother. She was wearing a Chanel tweed blouse and skirt, with her white blonde hair arranged perfectly like an English rose. “I am well, darling. Where is your husband?” she inquired, her eyes looking for her son-in-law, at the same time Jared turned around and began walking towards her. He gave her a chaste k
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Latest chapter
Somebody to Love Chapter Thirty Eight
Aurora woke up earlier than usual the following morning. She was not able to sleep soundly, as her mind was constantly thinking about her husband, and their scam marriage. Really, she could not allow her mental health to be so affected by his sudden decision to not have a real marriage with her. She realized that it was her ego that was mostly injured and decided she would not let it affect her deeply. She can definitely control her reactions and her emotions, and it was up to her to make herself comfortable with the arrangement she is with now. Rising from her bed, she brushed her long hair and tied it in a clean pony tail, dressed in a green pullovers and white shorts. After brushing her teeth she went to the kitchen to prepare coffee and breakfast. She was checking the cupboards for the ingredients she was needing, when Penworth greeted her a good morning. “Good morning, my lady,” Penworth quipped. He was wearing his butler uniform and looked like he did not even sleep with how cle
Somebody to Love Chapter Thirty Seven
She was getting ready for the gala when she got a call from Louise that she can’t make it due to stomach flu. Aurora knew that her stomach flu was a severe case and is medically diagnosed as GERD which makes her friend uncomfortable for hours in a day. It was not like Louise to cancel the last minute without real reason so Aurora definitely understood that there was real cause for it. She told Louise it was definitely alright and that she can go by herself at the gala. It was not something she was expecting being alone in a gala wherein she was to make her very first speech on behalf of Cunard. But there really was no choice. She had to muster her courage and pray that she would be able to pull it off tonight. She looked at her self in the mirror, her make-up smooth and classic with her dark red lips highlighting her fair skin and gold hair. She knew how to do her own make-up and hair and was satisfied with her job seeing herself in the mirror. Now she needed to dress. Her gown was
Somebody to Love Chapter Thirty Six
The sudden turn of events had her reeling, she had to hug herself in utter confusion. One moment he was being agreeable, affectionate even, flirting with her, asking her for a kiss then after a few minutes, he turned a 180 degree. She felt terrible. What was running on his mind, she did not know. Frankly, he was quite clear what made him change his mind. Being affectionate, teasing, flirting was not part of their arrangement. He realized that asking her to have sex with him was a breach of their marriage of convenience. He was here for a merger, not a marriage. And he was right, it will only complicate things between them. She knew he was not capable of giving her the love she wanted. He was also clear about that. Now that it was fully clear to her that he did not plan or intend to take things further with her, that he really did plan to divorce her after everything was settled in both companies, she needed to do her part as a wife while maintaining a healthy distance. That was what
Somebody to Love Chapter Thirty Five
Preparing for bed, she donned a black cotton tank top and cotton pajamas. She wasn’t wearing any bra so she wrapped herself with her bed robe before she opened her door and went in search for Jared and found him flipping through channels while seated in one of the comfortable couches in the living room, his face brooding as if deep in thoughts with worry and a mix of emotions which she cannot fully identify. As she sat beside him informally, sliding her left leg underneath her as she sat, Jared spoke with just a glance at her direction. “Am I allowed to take a shower?” looking at his bandaged hands. “Yes but you need to wrap your bandaged hands with plastic bag, and patches on the rest of the stitches in your shoulder blades and chest. They can’t get wet in the next 48 hours.” “Fucking unbelievable,” he complained. “I can’t even hold a glass to drink properly.” “It’s just for now,” she appeased. “At least the next 48 to 72 hours while the bandage supp
Somebody to Love Chapter Thirty Four
He arrived in New York earlier than she expected. She was in the kitchen when she heard the apartment door open and his six foot four frame walked in looking crisp and polished. The only deviation are the markings of tattoos in his upper arms that are now visible due to the folded sleeves of his white button down. He looked delicious and when she shifted her gaze to his dark grey eyes, she could not help but swallow a huge lump in her throat. He looked at her with so much intensity, she almost caught her breath. Those eyes were full of desire and she noticed that the man was walking purposefully towards her. She could not take her eyes off of him. She was brought back to her reality when she heard the pasta sauce boil and had to remove her gaze from her husband and focus on the task in front of her. “Flight okay?” she managed to croak. But before she could receive an answer, she felt his arm circle her waist and was pulled against him for a warm embrace. She decided to accep
Somebody to Love Chapter Thirty Three
She woke up with the continuous vibration of her iPhone which she left on the bedside table. They went home later than planned as Jared got waylaid by acquaintances. By the time they were on their way home, Aurora was feeling the signs of migraine and went directly to bed. She was now sitting up in the bed when she heard a knock on her door. “It’s open,” she called out while ensuring that she was covered by the blanket. She only wore her satin night gown and her breasts were evident in them. Jared came in looking fresh out of the shower, wearing a navy button down cleanly tucked under dark pants, and his casual Tod’s loafers. He looked good enough to eat, she realized. How can one man look so ruggedly good-looking, yet polished at the same time? Where is the justice in that? “Good morning,” she said in greeting thankful her voice was steady and firm despite feeling the opposite. He gave her a warm smile “Good morning. Rested well?” he said walking towards the settee located on the l
Somebody to Love Chapter Thirty Two
He had the rest of the afternoon for himself and was grateful for Renata that she did not add more meetings to his day for the first time. He let Sacha drive Aurora to her meetings, and informed Renata to just hire an external chauffeur for him for the day. After his visit to the site and further meetings with Herman and their construction team, he called it a day and decided to do some shopping. Earlier that day, he realized to his utter horror that he has never given Aurora a formal engagement ring, nor a wedding gift. He was not usually negligent with these matters but he had to admit their wedding, then the funeral, then the corporate transitions took a lot of his attention the past few months. It was not an excuse, he admitted and would simply just remedy it as soon as he can. Renata already made an appointment for him at Harry Winston and is a frequent client whenever he wanted to buy blings for his former girlfriends.Aurora was not a girlfriend and an engagement ring
Somebody to Love Chapter Thirty One
Jared turned on the defensive. He folded his arm across his chest and leaned against the wall putting significant distance between them. “You already rejected me, based on our last conversation. I don’t force myself to someone who obviously does not have any interest in me.” “I did not reject you, I rejected your offer,” Aurora stressed. “Right, because you were asking for certainty that I cannot for the life of me even determine if I was capable of giving. Do you even know how relationships work, Aurora?” “Of course,” she replied strongly. Feeling insulted in his insinuation. “It should be built on a foundation of trust and friendship,” “Which we don’t have,” he pointed out. “What we do have is a genuine mutual attraction which I believe you still hate to admit. I may be wrong on that assumption but this marriage is unconventional in many ways that the wedding vows came first before forming anything of significance between us. There’s an even bigger
Somebody to Love Chapter Thirty
Aurora was not sure if she was doing the right thing. The past three weeks she has received numerous emails from the list of charities and organizations that Cunard Shipping Ltd was supporting and it was overwhelming. Their company, now hers and Jared’s has begun communicating to her the schedules of meetings, agenda, gala events and fund raisers stretching six months out into the calendar. Truth be told, she was having a birth pains to what she calls now her full time job. Her profession as a surgeon needed to be placed in the back seat as her focus has now shifted to continuing her late father’s legacy. It was a gift to her soul that Dr. Finnegan has decided and convinced the Board of Directors at Massachusetts General Hospital to keep her maybe not on full-time but as a visiting surgeon.For that she was grateful. Now she finds herself in New York having scheduled a series of luncheons, meetings, and dinners to formally welcome her as patron. She was grateful,
