All Chapters of MARRIED UNTIL MONDAY: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

KANE'S POVThere was silence afterwards, the kind that stuck to skin, that stayed within you refusing to let go.. the kind that stays in her absence.I don't know how long I sat there for, an hour? Maybe two. But I did that's all that matters."Mr Callahan.." I heard the doctor call out to me, meeting his gaze."Following the horrific crash, I must say it's indeed a miracle.." he said, then paused."Is it?" I asked, he nodded."She's stable.." relief flooded my entire being, "but she has sustained significant injuries like a broken rib, concussion and several wounds"I took a deep breath, my head falling backwards as I felt a headache brewing beneath my skin. She hadn't even been with me a week and yet here she is.Maybe this contract was wrong, I shouldn't have–we shouldn't have."Can I go see her?" It came out before I could even register. The doctor paused before nodding then walked away.The walk to her room was a slow one, I wasn't even tired of any sort, just numb. I've grown nu

ARIA'S POVAfter what felt like forever, the doctor left, leaving me alone with Kane again.I didn’t know which felt heavier...the silence in the room, or the dull throbbing in my chest. My head still pulsed like there was a war inside it, but it wasn’t just the injury. Something deeper was bruised, and no scan could show it.Kane didn’t look at me. He remained standing by the window, hands in his pockets, as if the glass held all the answers I couldn’t ask out loud."The doctor said I could be discharged in an hour.." I said, quietly. "When… when my brain settles or whatever."He gave a small nod but didn’t turn.I hated this silence. I hated how familiar it was... i hated that I had so many questions, so many things to say but no idea how to start."How long was I passed out?" I asked finally.He turned then, only slightly. "Twenty-four hours."A full day...gone. poof! Just like that.My throat tightened. "How many days are left on the contract?"He hesitated. "Three."Three.Only t

KANE'S POVShe looked smaller since the accident. Not physically, though the bruises and the pallor had done their work but something in her posture had sunk, like she was folding inward to keep something from leaking out. And I couldn’t name it, I mean I didn’t want to name it.Emotions, when named, become liabilities.She barely spoke on the ride back from the hospital, not that I’m much of a talker either, but even the silence has texture. Hers was hollow and mine was tight and controlled. I drove with my eyes fixed on the road and my hands on the wheel, I was thinking about everything and absolutely nothing at the same time. About Zane, about the stupid kiss, about the contract clock that was winding down with each second...about her.When we got back to the penthouse, she disappeared upstairs. Of course she did. That’s what Aria does...retreats and builds walls made of distance and silence. I should’ve let her stay there, should’ve buried myself in strategy and forgotten she ever

KANE'S POVThe door flew open before I could even unlock it fully."Goddammit.." I muttered under my breath.She pushed past me before I could say a word, her heels clacking against marble like war drums. Silk scarf tight around her neck, her oversized sunglasses still on despite the low light, she walked in with that arisian perfection. A whirlwind of perfume, old money, and cold fury."You got married and didn’t think to tell me?" Her voice was acid-smooth. That was worse than yelling.I shut the door behind her, my jaw tightening. "It wasn’t exactly—""Oh, please.." she cut in, tossing her fur coat onto the couch like it disgusted her. "You show up all over social media with her, and I have to find out from the tabloids? Do you take me for a joke, Kane?"I said nothing.She turned to me sharply. "Answer me.""No.." I said evenly. "But you weren’t in the country. And it wasn’t a real—""Don’t insult my intelligence" she snapped. "She was married to Zane, for Christ’s sake. That girl

ARIA'S POVKane didn’t say a word, he just gave me that look. That nod. The kind of nod you give someone when you want them to evaporate from existence without leaving behind evidence of their DNA. Not a word, not even a whisper...just a flick of the chin.Message received.So I did what any emotionally repressed woman teetering on the brink of a breakdown would do. I moved around his grandmother's convulsing body and his kneeling, stoic self like I was floating through the scene of a crime—because at this point, I might as well be the murder weapon.Upstairs...my room and slammed the door shut, then silence.I exhaled hard, pressing my palm against my forehead. God... What cosmic sin had I committed in my past life? Did I drown orphans for fun? Why does life keep slapping me with chaos?I opened my eyes and blinked. There, like an omen or offering from the heavens, was a tray of food sitting on my bed.Wait, what? I scanned the room like someone was about to leap out from behind the