Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ

Askif you dare | didn’t mishear him, right? He was going to take responsibility for makingfall in love with him. But what kind of responsibility would it be? | knew that | was the one who asked for it, but | had never thought about what this responsibility should be like.

Was he going to tum our contractual marriage into a permanent one, even if he didn’t love me? No one can force a heart to love, but what if he'd already had feelings forand kept denying them? My feverish thoughts quickly dissolved in the shower of his kisses, which | returned with equal passion. | wasn't sure what kind of new terms I had just agreed on, but if he was ready to take a risk and walk into the unknown, then so was I.

| couldn’t tell when | found myself lying on the mat with him on top of me. | bit my lip, watching him take his shirt off, and reveal those rigid chest and stomach muscles carved into perfection. Yet a shudder spread across my body as his hand slid down my sweated skin. | grabbed my hand with an audible gasp.

“I.... smell...” | muttered, blushing in embarrassment.

He chuckled and leaned down to bite my earlobe. “So am |, and yet, it is only your body that you find uncomfortable, not mine.” My hands reached to comb his damp, black hair. “Because you are perfect no matter what,” | mumbled, as his searing gaze ran down my body.

He looked atwith a frown and leaned over me, his hand sliding to my back to find a little zipper on my top.

Two seconds later, he grabbed the rim of the top and took it off ofalong with my sports bra. “I'm looking at perfection,” he said before lowering himself to draw circles with his tongue around one nipple while caressing the other one of my breasts with his hand.

“What if someone sees us?” | asked breathlessly, resisting a moan.

He smirked at me. “Only you and | can enter this gym.” My hands went straight to his shoulders, pushing him away to look into his eyes. “What do you mean?” “The door handle recognizes fingerprints. Today | added yours to the system,” he said, grinning mischievously. | frowned. “Where did you get my fingerprints?” He leaned down, laughing, before leaving a trail of little kisses down my neck. “Beautiful, your whole body has been scanned for medical and security reasons at least a few times by now,” he breathed against my skin.

| pushed him away and rolled to my stomach, grabbing my top from the floor. “And the fact that you have access to my most fragile data doesn’t sound creepy at all...” Aren got up to sit on his knees. “Are you mad at me?” “I... I don’t know.” | smiled wryly. “Maybe | should get used to it, but | wish you just toldbeforehand.” H yuu uait Aren leaned closer, as | put my top back on. “It’s not just about your fingerprints, is it?” | locked my eyes on him, trying to find the right words. “It’s just terrifying.” “What is?” he asked, pullingcloser and pressing my back against his chest. | laughed nervously. “You know my DNA sequence, and I still know so little about you...” He kissed my hair. “I don’t keep secrets from you. All you have to do is ask.” | turned my head to face him and narrowed my eyes. “Will you answer no matter what kind of a question | ask?” He snorted. “Yes, but | want to have the right to ask you questions as well.” “Question for question?” | smirked.

“Yes,” he said, as his lips curved in a dangerous smirk “Will you dare?” Something in his tone madelose my confidence. “Fine... but | need a shower first, and a bottle of wine.” He grinned before kissing the tip of my nose. “Consider it done.” ork We both took a quick shower at the company, and we got back to the penthouse. Aren ordered pasta while we were on our way, and the food arrived a few minutes after we walked back home. | had never enjoyed eating carbs more than at that moment, still feeling exhausted after my training session with Aren.

“Easy there!” He laughed at me. “Your plate is not going anywhere.” “It's your fault,” | grunted. “I doubt that | will be even able to get up from bed tomorrow.” He smirked. “Well, then | will just have to carry my wife to work.” | wanted to smack his arm, but as | stretched | felt the sting of my sore muscles. | groaned, which instantly earnedhis chuckle. “This isn’t funny!” | frowned at him and quickly added, “I'm so sore that sex is out of the question for at least a week.” That wiped the smile off his face in an instant... but curled up my lips instead.

A while later, we sat by the roof pool with glasses in our hands. The night was warm, with only a light breeze cooling our bodies. We were staring at the breathtaking view of Manhattan, blinking at us with thousands of colorful, seductive night lights. Unlike the lively city below, still crowded at this late hour and overfilled with energy, it was peaceful on our roof. Nonetheless, my instincts kept tellingthat it was only calm before another storm.

“So, what do you want to know, sunshine?” Aren grinned, and | couldn't miss the fact that he was callingby nicknagain. | locked my eyes on him, examining his expression. “Is there a limit to how intimate the questions might be?” | asked cautiously. “No limits.” His confident smirk only mademore daring. “What was your relationship with Lanfen?” | probably shouldn't dig further into that subject, Podars but | was dying to know. Besides, | wanted to know what to expect when that woman reappeared in Aren’s life again.

Aren took a sip from his glass and looked straight at the night sky, a bitter smile twisting his lips. “I guess it was pure but polluted at the stime. Despite Mei Lien’s teaching, I still wanted to believe in something like love.

Since | was used by my American side of the family, | naturally longed to meet the other side of the family and other Chinese people, hoping that they were like my mother and Mei Lien-trustworthy and kind.” | could see the sadness in his eyes. It made asking those questions harder, but | needed to know as much as | could. “So... how did it all start?” “I met Lanfen when | started to work in a bar right outside my university. It was a part-tjob, and she was a regular, coming there with her friends for a beer,” he started. “She kept smiling at me, and | thought that she was adorable. | could see that she used all kinds of excuses to sit in a bar throughout my shift, studying there despite the noises and the fact that there were a lot of guys trying to make a move on her. | knew that she was preparing herself to talk to me, but I ignored her. | spent my days either working at the bar, studying, or raising money to start my first business, and | thought that my schedule would never include tfor relationships. She proved it tootherwise. One day, | was closing the bar, and she stayed there, waiting for me. I ignored her like always, but when she suddenly disappeared from the bar, | got worried. | went outside to look for her and saw her with three other guys, who tried to take her with them by force. | beat them up and drove her back home.

That was how | met her family, and Sun Lanfen and | started to date.” | forced my lips to stretch into a sort of a smile, but | could do nothing about the fact that | was crazily jealous. | hated the fact that he thought that she was adorable and that he was the one who saved her. He made it sound like their relationship was warm and innocent. Envy pierced my heart painfully as | listened to it. “So... Lanfen was your first girlfriend?” A soft nervous laugh escaped my throat.

“Yes, you can say that.” He smiled warmly as if he was recalling sgood memory. It only mademore annoyed.

| took a big gulp, finishing my glass of wine. Only then was | prepared to hear more. “How long have you been together?” | asked, faking a careless grin.

“Four years,” he said without losing the warm smile that had embellished his face before.

| let out a hysteric chuckle and rushed to the kitchen to grab another bottle of wine. “Four years?” | muttered under my breath, annoyed. It wasn’t just steenage fling-it was a serious relationship. It would have been impossible if they had stayed together for a long tlike that without developing sserious feelings toward each other. It felt like a deep, piercing stab in the heart.

| went back to the roof pool, painting an amused expression to hide my inner pain. There was one more question | needed to ask. | corrected my smiley mask before inquiring, “So... what about your engagement? Was it Lanfen’s parents who insisted on your marriage, or perhaps - “No,” he cutoff, turning his suddenly serious gaze on me. “I was the one who proposed.”