"Sorry, I didn't mean to" He apologized.
"J-just get on with it already! What do you want?" Aria rolled her eyes as she said, clearly furious.
"So," Kain's voice drawled from the archway, a knowing smile on his face as he said. "Am I supposed to call you 'wife' now or would you prefer 'warden'?" he saw an opportunity to tease her and decided to take it.
However, he was met with a heavy silence and a death stare.
Aria's expression dulled, her brows twitched and her jaw clenched. If she could throw something at him right now, she would. And only her image as a responsible human was holding her back at the moment.
Aria clearly did not like any of what he was trying to do.
Seeing this, Kain quickly raised his hands in surrender,"Okay, I was just joking. No need to get so uptight about it, Jeeze. Can't you take a joke?" he mused, finding Aria's reaction quite hilarious.
" Not funny!" Aria glared at him as she expressed through gritted teeth. She was this close to lashing out at him.
" I figured you might need to talk after that..." he nodded towards the stairs, specifically at Aria's conversation with Mira. He knew just how hard that must have been.
"Well, you're not helping. Just leave!" Aria barked, irritated to the brim.
Kain fell silent, a shift in his expression.
" And I will..." He nodded several times, as if taking in the harsh remark from Aria just now. " Right after I know if I can make a meal in here or anything? Or do I have to find you everytime I need to eat like the slave I am?" He asked, his tone serious now.
Aria's frown softened, realizing she was getting too worked up for no reason. She heaved a sigh, before correcting Kain. " A guest, that's what you are in this house. We have chefs who come in to make breakfast and dinner. The rest of the day is on you. I'm sure you've been eating quite well all these while just fine without me." Aria retorted coldly, turning away from Kain.
Kain chuckled out loud, and moved to lean against the opposite counter, arms folded. " This is definitely not how I imagined my married life would start."
Aria turned the kettle off, grabbed it along with the coffee canister and moved to the espresso machine on the left counter top with her mug in hand. "I'm not interested in your imagination." She sighed.
"Pity," he said with a mock sigh. "It's quite vivid."
Hearing this, Aria shot a look at him, she could clearly tell now what he was trying to do.
" Look, we already agreed on this. Don't think you could try to play your fantasies with me. There's nothing to this marriage," she said. "No honeymoon, no room sharing. This is not a marriage. It's nothing but a facade."
Aria believes she'd been quite respectful despite the fact that he deserved none from her.
It's clear that he'd wanted this marriage to be nothing but a facade as well, Aria could tell he hated it.
And that left her even more confused why he would act as though he never wanted to be in this situation, and the next minute he acts like this. Trying to be close to her.
He said he'd leave, but he'd done nothing but try to get closer to her. Not that Aria was worried, it's just that Aria didn't understand him at all.
She watched him smile lazily, before saying, " Not that we have to be enemies about it." He sighed, craning his neck to stare at the ceiling.
Aria paused, for some reason, she couldn't argue that at all. She stared at the steaming coffee that streamed from the coffee machine into the mug.
"But why did the lawyer make me sign prenups like I was some gold-digging sidepiece?" Kain asked shortly after, breaking the silence.
Aria looked up to meet his dark, questioning gaze that spoke of his amused curiosity. Aria could tell he was being sarcastic, and didn't mind letting the ice between them break. " Maybe that's because you are?" Aria paused from mentioning his father. She didn't want to come off as rude still.
He tilted his head. "Feisty. I like it" He laughed, turning sharply to face Aria with a wife grin.
Having made her espresso with as much cream as she liked, Aria grabbed her mug and started toward the staircase. There had to be a boundary still, " The guest room is at the end of the hall. Try not to snoop, and stay away from Mira." She told him all that's needed to be known, before he would come knocking on her door with the excuse of wanting to ask for something again.
Kain's brow rose slightly as he followed after Aria into the main hall. "Why? Afraid she'll fall for my poor boy charm?"
Aria paused halfway up the stairs and gave him a look so cold, it could've frozen the creamy espresso.
"No. I'm afraid she'll find out the kind of boy you actually are." She stressed the word boy.
He smirked again, but it didn't reach his eyes this time. He didn't respond either, he just watched Aria leave.
...
Later, Aria lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Mira had gone back to campus for the night. She'd texted a string of hearts and mentioned something about an early seminar the next day while thanking Aria again for "saving everything."
But Aria still didn't feel like a savior. She felt like a traitor!
A tired, overburdened fool who'd protected her sister, only to betray her trust.
And… Kain?
Aria didn't even know what to think of him. His presence was like a thorn in the side, just prickling enough to frustrate everything.
It left a question in her heart... ' Now what?'
Aria sighed and rolled over her huge, lenient bed and grabbed her phone, scrolling through it.
Daniel had texted.
Daniel: Got confirmation. No files or leaks were spread. Everything's been scrubbed. You're in the clear.
Daniel: I don't like this guy, Ari. You sure you want to go through with the marriage?
Daniel: You know I'd help. If you just say the word.
He'd sent them in response to her sharing the fact that she'd signed the marriage contract with him.
Aria stared at the screen a long moment, thumbs hovering over the keys to text.
But she didn't reply. She didn't know what to reply.
Daniel had always meant well. And once, a long time ago, she thought maybe there could have been something between them. But time and responsibilities had taken care of that.
And now, Daniel's concern only fanned her guilt. She wished he would rebuke her, that kind of love... Stubborn enough to keep her from running away from everything.
Aria let the phone drop on the bed and closed her eyes, exhaustion finally washing over her.
...
The Next Morning.
Sunlight poured through the tall windows of the glamorous dining room that was filled with an egregious aroma.
Aria sat at the head of the long table, skimming through her inbox on her tablet as the housekeeper laid out breakfast.
Kain strolled in barefoot, yawning. "Smells fancy." He looked even younger in the morning light.
"Help yourself," Aria said without looking up.
Kain didn't dawdle. He plopped into the seat across from her and poured himself a glass of orange juice. Then he paused, looking Aria up and down. He seemed to look to the side, thinking about something. " So, more questions. We don't know each other when we're outside do we?"
Aria looked up, wondering why he would even ask. But then seeing how he looked at her formal dress, she realized what he meant. " Of course, this is only between us." she replied curtly. " You don't want to embarrass yourself being seen around me." Aria joked.
As long as Kain didn't give her troubles, she didn't see a reason to be uptight around him. ' We're both adults, after all."
" That's a good one." Kain chuckled and continued with his meal in silence.
It wasn't after a long while that he suddenly corked his head up as if remembering something. " Uh... Last night, your sister met me in the main hall. I swear I wasn't trying to come close to her." Kain said.
Aria raised her gaze from the tablet, hearing Kain. She wondered why he mentioned this and couldn't help but pause to observe him.
" I mean, I kind of expected a bit of an outroar from her considering what I'd done. But, she just zoomed past without batting an eye. I feel bad, is there a way I can apologize, you know, about the blackmail?"
Aria squirmed in her seat, her breath suddenly caught in staccato. She blinked several times, her thoughts racing.
" She had somewhere to be last night. Your apology would have meant nothing to her. You think she's just going to accept whatever you say to her?" Aria questioned in series,
"I'm sure she did," Kain said under his breath, shooting a creased suspicious gaze at Aria. " Wait, you didn't tell her?" He said as a matter of fact.
Aria narrowed her eyes but said nothing. Despite her heart racing, she maintained her cool. She took a calm sip of her morning coffee, her gaze not leaving the tablet the whole time.
However, the silence was enough an answer for Kain. He couldn't help but look at Aria differently, a tiny bit of confusion in the reflection of this bossy lady in his eyes.