MasukAria's POV
I was awakened by a sharp pain twisting in my gut. Just as I tried to sit up, Aiden stirred beside me.The dim night light cast soft shadows across the bedroom. Aiden immediately flicked on the main light, and I winced as brightness flooded the room. His eyes widened when he saw my face."What's wrong?" Concern etched his features as he scanned my appearance.My stomach churned violently. "Bathroom. Now," I managed to gasp, clutching my abdomen as I hurried off the bed.I barely made it to the toilet in time. My stomach had been slightly upset since the afternoon, but I hadn't thought much of it. Now I was paying the price with interest.After the first wave passed, I staggered to the sink, only for another surge of nausea to hit me. I retched violently, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the counter.Aiden pushed the bathroom door open and was instantly at my side, his warm hand steadying my back. "You're throwing up?"I glanceAria's POVI groaned as the alarm pierced through my sleep.My body felt deliciously sore in all the right places, a reminder of last night's passionate encounter with Aiden. God, that man's stamina was something else. My thighs still trembled at the memory of him moving between them, his strong hands gripping my hips as he—Forcing my eyes open, I fumbled for my phone and silenced the irritating buzz. Seven o'clock already. The digital numbers glared back at me, jolting me fully awake. I needed to get moving or I'd miss my morning flight to New York, which would throw off my entire schedule for the international flight to France later.Summer had already texted that she was waiting for me at the airport. No more time for daydreaming about last night's activities. I dragged myself to the bathroom, my muscles protesting with each step.Aiden offered to drive me to the airport himself since he didn't have any meetings scheduled this Thursday. By the time
Aria's POVFor the next long stretch of time, my life became incredibly hectic.A 10 AM flight to the city, then another flight to the capital that same afternoon. The following days blurred together as I focused entirely on practicing my violin. My routine became mechanical—dinner, then straight to the music room until 9:30 PM, a fifteen-minute break, shower, and bed.This regimented schedule left me little time to dwell on how much I missed Aiden. It was only in those rare moments of stillness that the ache of separation washed over me like a tide.We hadn't made love in what felt like forever.I unconsciously licked my lips as certain images flashed through my mind. Maybe we could try some new positions when we were together again. The thought sent a pleasant shiver down my spine.Without really thinking about it, I pulled out my phone and started browsing through some adult videos. I was so absorbed that I didn't even notice Aiden had finished
Aria's POVI felt incredibly upbeat, so much that I even devoured an extra half portion at lunch. The good mood had me humming as I played my baby grand piano all afternoon, losing myself in the music until after two o'clock when Summer called to confirm next week's work schedule. Only then did I reluctantly leave my piano room.The charity concert in France was happening next Saturday, which meant I needed to fly out by Thursday. As I hung up, I suddenly realized I hadn't mentioned this trip to Aiden yet.My finger hovered over my phone, but seeing it was already past five, I changed my mind. Better to tell him in person anyway.Aiden arrived home earlier than usual today. I had just finished my yoga session when I heard movement in the kitchen. Rising instinctively from my mat, I padded out of the home gym toward the sound.He was leaning casually against the kitchen island, sipping water. When his dark eyes found mine, they lit with that familiar spark th
Aria's POVAfter sending the lawyer off, I couldn't resist texting Lillian immediately: "Babe, the lawyer got me $33,000 in compensation! And he got you over $2,000 too!"Lillian, who was pretending to work at her office, let out an involuntary gasp when she saw my message."Everything okay over there?" her coworker asked, clearly thinking she'd had some brilliant marketing epiphany."Yeah, just stubbed my toe," she texted back. I could practically see her rubbing her nose awkwardly—her classic tell when she's lying.Her coworker's voice came through in her next message: "Damn, I thought you'd cracked our new product campaign already!""As if! Still researching!" she'd replied.Once she'd gotten rid of her nosy colleague, Lillian's excitement exploded across my screen: "HOLY SHIT!!! That's what Aiden's lawyer can do! LMAO I can just picture that arrogant store owner's face when he got the legal notice! I'm blocking his number RIGHT NOW!"
Aria's POVAiden finished reading the comment in such a monotone voice, completely void of emotion, but I felt heat creeping up my neck and ears anyway. I quickly snatched my phone back from his hand before he could read any more comments."I'm tired. Let's sleep," I said hurriedly, wanting to end this conversation.Even though we'd had such an intense night yesterday, I was still feeling off. My stomach was upset and I'd been dealing with some lingering discomfort all day. The truth was, I genuinely felt exhausted—I had been sick after all.Aiden studied my face, his eyes softening. "Fine. But tomorrow we need to get up early to meet with the lawyer."I nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes, of course." Turning away from him, I placed my phone on the nightstand.Jesus Christ! What was with Aiden's habit of reading comments out loud? Where did that even come from?I lay down obediently, closing my eyes in an exaggerated "I'm sleeping now" pose. Aiden mus
Aria's POVI was just checking my phone when Aiden caught sight of the message flashing across my screen."I'll contact Lucas," he said, his face betraying nothing as he turned away.I nodded, quickly typing back to Lillian: *Aiden's already contacting his secretary.*Her response came immediately: *This restaurant owner must be a complete idiot! Publishing our photos like that? They're literally begging to be sued!*The irony wasn't lost on me. Aiden and I had just been discussing how the restaurant had blurred our faces in their post, and now they'd gone and revealed us completely. Honestly, I wasn't particularly concerned about being exposed. In fact, they'd just handed us evidence on a silver platter.I navigated back to their social media account to investigate further and quickly figured out their motivation. Someone had commented that while our outfits looked expensive, we must be ugly underneath to behave so "disgustingly." The restaurant owner,







