Glimmer of hope

|Ace Kings’ POV|

“Don’t you think you might bore holes into her body if you keep on staring at the picture? “ Harper asked, strolling leisurely into my office like he owned it.

“Jokes on you. I am just going over the deal that I am supposed to sign in a few weeks.” I countered, dropping my phone like a teenager who had been caught watching p**n by his strict parent.

“Oh really? You know, you don’t have to lie to me. I am your friend.” Harper sighed.

Harper was that one friend who never knocks. He had never. I can’t count how many times he had walked in on me in a compromising position before I had gotten married.

“Yeah. I am not telling lies also.” I shrugged.

He waltzed in my direction as I quickly shoved my phone into my suit pocket, However, the smug look on his ugly face made me realize he had something up his sleeves.

“You shouldn’t have updated your Apple devices if you planned on telling lies to me.” he shook his head before shoving the stupid Macbook which was mirroring my iPhone.

I finally looked at him as I accessed his three-piece tuxedo. His copper hair glistened as the rays reflected on his face making his weird and creepy blue eyes stand out like a sore thumb.

It’s been exactly three months since she left, and I can’t seem to get my mind off her. The sound of my notification snapped me out of my trance and my eyes narrowed immediately I saw another debit alert.

“Let me guess? Your wonderful and jaw-dropping girlfriend?”  Harper winked as I clenched my fist in anger.

Cocking his head to the side, he said “Don’t give me that look. I wasn’t the one who gave my wife a divorce letter because her hot sister was back in town.”

“I swear, I miss her. I know I made a terrible mistake and I don’t even know if Aria would ever forgive me because I do not deserve her forgiveness.” I mumbled as I rubbed my temple, the tightness in my chest rushed in with full force.

“Oh well. Flash news, you had asked for the divorce and she signed it according to your genie wish.” He retorted, plopping on the couch, and making himself comfortable.

Harper was also that one friend you should not confide in if you make a stupid mistake; his sarcasm and bluntness would make you regret telling him.

“I wasn’t expecting her to sign it that quickly,” I admitted because I had hoped she would at least fight for us.

Our marriage indeed had a lot of beautiful and intimate moments. Aria had been the most devoted wife a man could ever ask for because she had always tended to my needs outside or inside the bedroom. If it weren’t for the recording and Gabriella's return to the country, I wouldn’t mind spending the rest of my life with her.

But Aria’s quick acceptance of the divorce had caught me off guard because I knew I was the only one she had, her father doesn’t really give a shit about her and I still acted like a fool.

I would have loved to blame it on the fact that my biological parents had not loved each other and they made me hate the concept of marriage because of how fucked up it was.

By the time I was adopted, the memory had been etched in me and I had viewed marriage in a different light because Aria was exactly like my mother and I was an asshole like my father because I had treated my wife like shit and fed her to the wolves the moment her sister had appeared.

Harper whipped his head in my direction while looking at me like I was insane “Oh, what do you expect her to do? Frame it and keep on looking at it like it was a million-dollar award?”

“You messed up man. You threw three and a half years away just because of what? Did you see how peaceful you were in those three years?” He scoffed in disbelief.

“Whose side are you on? I am your friend and you should stop acting like Aria’s secret brother.” I mumbled.

“On the winning side. I dropped by to intensify your misery and I think the mission is accomplished.” He grinned while smoothening the invisible crease on his suit.

“Do you think she will ever forgive me?” I questioned with hope lacing my voice as I watched him take long strides to the door.

“I hope she does not.” Harper shrugged before slamming the door shut.

Aria’s face flashed before my eyes as I sunk into a colourful abyss of her beautiful smiles, I didn’t know how long I thought about her till I heard a sharp bang on the door.

Narrowing my eyes, I glared at the unseen stranger before Gabriella popped her head into the room, and I heaved out a sigh, my muscles relaxing a bit.

“Hey babe.” Gabriella sashayed into my office looking sexy draped in the blue jumpsuit.

A sense of familiarity mixed with desire engulfed me as she flashed an alluring smile that made me almost forget the amount she had spent a few minutes ago.

“Hi Love,” I responded while she bent down to envelope me in an embrace.

“You look deep in thoughts. Are you still thinking about Aria?” Her voice trembled lightly, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip.

I pulled her bottom lips and all I could think was how pink Aria would have become from being so close to me. As I pressed my lips against hers, I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around the situation when I noticed the absence of the wild passion that ignited within me when I kissed Aria.

Something is wrong, and I don’t know what it is yet. But my body recoiled and somehow it felt like I was hugging my enemy instead of the love of my life. 

She noticed and pulled away, her eyes shrunk as her lips pursed. “I know I was wrong for leaving you. I am sorry, I had let my ambitions win over my love for you.”

“I don’t hate you for pursuing your dream, sweetheart.” I felt a bitter taste in my mouth as I used the nickname I had always used for Aria, deep down in my heart, I felt like I was betraying Aria all over again as her face appeared in front of my eyes.

“Okay. I just wanted to stop by. My mom and I are going to the Spa.” She informed, pressing her lips against mine and walking out. I felt bile rise in my throat but I blamed it on the food I had eaten earlier.

A puff of breath escaped my lips. “Well, that would have been a disaster if she had met Harper here.”

I was going through the files and checking the documents that needed my signature when my hands pursed as I stumbled on the divorce decree,

'Maybe I need to see her signature and digest the reality that she is gone.' I reasoned before opening the paper and checking for her signature.

I have never stared at a document—long and hard—the way I stared at the one before me, my lips curling upwards.

What I saw left me speechless— I might just still have a chance with her, and maybe fate was never against our relationship.