Arrange Marriage to a Heartless CEO のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 91 - チャプター 100

CHARLOTTE’S POVThe next evening felt strangely heavier than usual. The sky had dimmed into a washed gray-blue, and the sky was darker than usual, as if it was going to rain. Everywhere was extremely calm, and for the first time in a long while, I didn’t have the energy to care about dinner or anyone knocking at my door.Petra, Elsie, and Lila had taken turns knocking on my door. I only went downstairs for lunch, and since then I have been in my room.I sat cross-legged on my bed, the faint hum of the air conditioner filling the silence. My laptop was open, but I hadn’t typed a single word in hours. I couldn’t focus, not after last night’s call with Aiden.He’d said he wanted to tell me the truth. And he did. But his version of the truth didn’t sit neatly inside me. It twisted there like something sharp.He’d said he took over Parker Industries, my family’s company. That Barry had been stealing from it for years, hiding debts, misusing funds. He said he started the takeover out of rev

CHARLOTTE’S POVThe silence in the car felt heavier than the car itself. Marcus didn’t speak a word, and I didn’t want him to. My head was pressed against the window, my eyes red and swollen from the storm of tears I’d held back all night. The city blurred as we drove past tall buildings, flashing lights, and faces that didn’t care that my whole world had just fallen apart.By the time we reached home, the ache in my chest had settled deep, like it had decided to live there. Marcus slowed into the compound, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.“Ma’am… are you sure you’re okay?” he asked softly.I didn’t answer. I opened the door, stepped out, and walked straight into the house like the world owed me silence.The house was quiet when I walked into it, just what I wanted. My chest was tightening as if my heart had turned into glass ready to crack. I didn’t wait for anyone to help me. I didn’t care. My head felt like it was filled with smoke, thick and choking.Elsie rushed out t

AIDEN’S POVThe sun was up, but it felt like the world hadn’t woken.Maybe because I hadn’t slept.Charlotte’s scent still clung to my shirt, soft, sweet, calm, but everything in my life wasn’t.She’d fallen asleep in my arms last night, and I’d held her like she’d disappear if I let go.I didn't want her to be alone all through the night. I wanted her close to me. So I could hold her and console her.Maybe because I needed my wife close or maybe it's for her.She told me everything.Her mother, Barry, lies, and their betrayal.And I could still hear her voice breaking when she said, “I don’t even know who I am anymore.”I’d promised her I’d fix it.Now I was about to keep that promise, in my own little way.I got up and got ready for work. I checked the time. It was already past 6 am. I got dressed and I walked to where Charlotte was still sleeping. I kissed her forehead and she woke up.“Aiden…” I so much love the way my name sounded so sweet from her lips.“Shhhhhh. Just go bark to

CHARLOTTE’S POVThe house felt quieter than usual this morning. My heartbeat sounded louder than the ticking of the clock on the hallway wall, and that was saying something, because my heart hadn’t stopped racing since Aiden told me he’d be leaving for Chicago.Two days had passed since that terrifying phone call from Theodore Rondolf, the man who said he’d take everything from Aiden. I still remember the look on Aiden’s face after he hung up that night, not fear exactly, but something close. It wasn’t often that I saw my husband look humanly shaken.Since then, he’d doubled security around the mansion. Guards patrolled every exit, cameras were upgraded, and he barely let me move from one room to another without letting someone know. At first, it annoyed me, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t control. It was fear, fear of losing me, and now he was leaving.I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes, the sheets cool beside me. He’d already showered; I could smell his cologne strong and expensive

AIDEN’S POVThe drive back to the hotel felt endless.Chicago’s skyline shimmered through the windshield, a blur of white and gold, but I wasn’t really seeing it.My knuckles were white on the steering wheel because of how tightly I was holding it. Every few seconds, I caught myself gripping the wheel tighter.She’s alive.Those two words hit like a drumbeat in my head.Each time I blinked, I saw her face. Alana. The ghost I’d buried, the woman I mourned, the woman whose death I was blamed for. I had held a funeral for her.I had thrown a rose onto her coffin.I had listened to her mother scream at me that I destroyed her daughter.I had believed her.And now… she was walking around Chicago like death was an inconvenience. Like death was a jacket you wear, and once you are tired you drop it off.The traffic light turned red. I stopped, but my pulse didn’t. It took the sound of a horn from a car behind me to make me move. I pressed the accelerator hard, almost like I could outrun my