Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ

Theory | was looking at Aren’s phone screen with my picture displayed in the caller ID’s place and signed “My Wife” right below the photo. What was his phone doing here? Did someone lure him outside the hotel and then abduct him, making him drop his phone? | knew that Aren knew how to fight, but he wasn’t invincible... What if those who attacked Aren were Max and his men?! What if they beat him up and locked him somewhere?! They could have done it before meeting with Haskett! My restless mind quickly becfilled with conspiracy theories and the darkest possible scenarios. | placed my hand on my chest and rubbed it, trying to soothe my frantically pounding heart. As | slightly regained composure, | looked around and then up, and noticed that | was standing right under the terrace. Could the phone fall by accident and not crash because it fell on the carpet? It was possible, but what would Aren do on that terrace in the first place? And where the hell was he?! All those questions had only increased my anxiety. | felt absolutely helpless. | put Aren’s phone into my purse and called Neil..

“Neil... | can’t find Aren... | went to look for a toilet, but instead, | overheard my kidnapper’s voice and listened to his conversation with the man who caused Aren’s accident. | ran back to the ballroom, and I couldn't find Aren anywhere, and now I've just found his phone...” | whimpered. “Calm down, Mrs. Lan,” he said, slightly yawning.

“He has an emergency tracker inside his watch. | can tell you where he is in a moment.” 10 “OK,” | mumbled, trembling. “I'm sorry... | am disturbing your free time...” Neil sighed. “It's fine. | basically don’t have a private life anyway.” Then | heard Neil typing something on the computer. “He must be someone in the ballroom. Maybe you just missed him? | bet there are a lot of guys in black tuxedos inside...” | heard that he was trying to comfort me, but my mind had already painted a vision of Aren losing his watch as well.

“Could you be a little more specific? Could you tellthe direction? How should | find him?” | mumbled frantically.

“No, but I will send him your coordinates. Stay where you are, and wait. And don’t worry,” Neil said, sounding like my panic was a highly unnecessary reaction.

“I... I'll wait,” | muttered reluctantly.

| hated waiting. The dark visions kept poisoning my mind, and | was on the verge of bursting into tears. It was a warm night, but | trembled as if | was freezing. | knew that | could only get back to my senses after | saw Aren alive and unharmed.

“Hey, Cinderella. Do you want to escape from the ball?” Aren’s voice disarmed the tension within me.

| turned around and threw my arms around his neck, pulling him close. He was surprised by my reaction but quickly wrapped his hands around my waist.

“You're shivering...” His embrace tightened up as he realized what kind of mental state | was in. “I was looking for you. | cby the ladies’ room and waited, but you weren't there.” “I couldn't find it... | must have taken a wrong turn in the corridor...” | mumbled, finding comfort in his touch.

He chuckled softly, stroking my hair. “I didn’t mean to scare you. | lost my phone, and—" “I found your phone lying on the ground... here.” | pointed at the spot where | picked it up.

He sighed. “I followed someone and went out to the terrace. Then sdrunken woman bumped intoas | was trying to make a call. She knocked the phone out of my hand. | was going to look for the phone, but | wanted to find you first. When | waited for you, | got the emergency message from Neil.” | leaned back to see his face. His expression was calm, a faint, warm smile curving his lips as he looked at me. “I was so worried when | couldn't find you...” | muttered, struggling not to burst into tears. “When | was walking through the corridor, I heard the voice of the guy who kidnappedand planned your assassination at the warehouse. Then | heard someone coming, and when | hid, | saw that guy from the Red Hook Terminal, Max...” Aren narrowed his eyes at me. “You saw Max?! Where?! Is he inside the ballroom?!” | shook my head. “I don’t think he was planning to show his face there. He knew that you could have recognized him right away.” “Then what about that other guy? Did you see his face?” he asked, nervously grabbing my shoulders.

“No, | only heard his name. | know he owns a company, and Mr. C. is his investor. Max called that guy Haskett,” | said.

“Haskett? | don’t know anyone with that name,” Aren wondered aloud. “They were planning something big, something to harm you and Lan Diamond Corporation. We have to find out who they are. The things they were saying, and...” | paused as | realized something. “Aren, | don’t think that this situation with you losing your phone was an accident.

Aren raised his eyebrows at me. “What are you saying? Do you think it was staged?” He chuckled.

“You said that you were following someone... Who were you following?” | asked, already assuming what kind of answer | would hear.

Aren gavea wry smile. “Lanfen. | thought | saw Lanfen, and | went after her to the terrace. Then | heard...

something, and | knew | had to call Chris. | pulled out my phone and -" “What did you hear?” | pushed him to find something to prove my theory.

“I don’t know, Cora,” he retorted angrily. “What is your point?” | took a deep breath. “Those guys mentioned something about keywords and manipulation...” “Do you think that | was brainwashed?!” he snapped, adding strength to his grip on my shoulders. “Do you know how ridiculous it sounds?!” “I know!” | frowned and pushed him away from me. “But... there's something I didn’t tell you before... Or rather, we didn’t tell you. It's about Lanfen...” “Who are we?” Aren’s eyes ondarkened.

“Jack, Chris, and I,” | mumbled as | lowered my head.

| could see Aren’s jaw tense as he tried to contain his anger. “Call them, and tell them to get their asses to the penthouse, now.” I nodded and quickly made the calls, but truthfully, | was angry and hurt. | was worried like crazy about him, and he called my theory ridiculous. Jack had also called my assumptions paranoic, but everything insidewas tellingthat | was right. Was | getting carried away every twhen it was about Aren? Perhaps | was, but | knew what | heard, and even without saying the name, | knew that Haskett’'s and Max's plan was about Aren.

Once | gave Aren his phone back, he called Marcus to take us back to the penthouse. It looked like Cinderella's ball was over way before midnight. Aren seemed to be mad at me, even more than at Jack and Chris. The first thing he did as he walked inside the penthouse was take out a bottle of scotch, pour himself a glass, and drink it in one go. He didn’t even sparea glance; he only scoffed as if | had done something worthy of his disdain.

from you... or because it’s about Lanfen?” | “Are you mad because | have hidden som hissed, tired of his righteous attitude.

He glared atand poured himself another glass. “Cora, don’t think that you know better just because | was in a damn coma for three weeks.” | crossed my arms over my chest. “Truthfully, there was so much going on in your company that | thought that the information about your ex doing a secret agent stunt just to see you in the clinic could wait.” Aren put down his glass and locked his eyes on me. “What did she do?” “She most likely cwith a group of professionals. They killed three guards standing by your door, two nurses, and a doctor. | know that she didn’t do it herself, but someone made a lot of effort to let her get inside your room.” | smirked and leaned closer to him.

“Now, tell me. Do you still think that my theory is ridiculous?”