The Arrangement: A Novel Novels & Stories

She stood on her toes and kissed her cheek before he turned to look her in the eye, connecting their lips together before he pulled away to look me in the eye. “You were always the second, you and I both know that you wouldn’t have stood a chance in front of her.” He said, getting down on his knee in front of me. “Now, you can rest in peace alongside your dragon. To say the least, she won’t be going out of this alone.” “Why?” I asked as I watched him rise to his feet before he wrapped his arm around Myla. Blake looked at me over his shoulder before shrugging. “You should have known that you, an arranged marriage manipulator, would have never claimed my heart when it came to her.” He said, tu

Kissing him goodbye , I switched off the lights and walked out of the room. I went to my new room , which I had arranged for while he was at his office. I had shifted some of my work clothes and nightwear to the wardrobe in the room , keeping the rest in Nick's bedroom to avoid any kind of problem in case our parents show up uninvited. I changed into my comfy pajamas and slipped under the cover. I was exhausted and had just closed my eyes when the door to the room opened and lights were switched on. "What are you doing here?" Nick stood with his arms crossed against his check .

D at the door. "Oh, don't worry. We had to do it the first time too." Charlotte says. They show the guards their I.Ds and they come in when they're confirmed. "Sothisis Camara on the left, she's nineteen." Charlotte introduces. I look around, analyzing everyone as Charlotte introduces them. Camara has brown hair and brown eyes. She gives off this subtle vibe, and she seems cool to be around. She looks like she's obnoxiously kind, but she seems like the quiet type. She seems nice.

Soft, oriental rugs muffled the sound of my footsteps as I walked around the room, examining the shelves. I hoped the key or card or whatever I was looking for had not been kept in the books. I had no idea how Rachel thinked, but I had an inking of how Ryan and Sebastian's minds worked now. They would choose something that was out of the ordinary, and without any significance. I checked the sections for books that were out of the ordinary in each section. A fantasy in a romance section, a horror in a mystery section. But no, none of the books were that way.

There was another single red rose sitting in the vase in the middle. I tried to stop, assuming this was the surprise that Cal had been pulling me toward, but instead he kept pulling me forward until we were facing the wall that the sun was setting through. Another gasp left my mouth as I watched the colors dance off of the gorgeous flowers and the glass in front of us. Cal slipped behind me to give me a better view and wrapped his arms around my torso as we both stood there, admiring nature's beauty. "It's beautiful," I said, feeling a serene calm that I hadn't felt since this whole arranged marriage fiasco had come about.

Arranged before I could think of escaping him. We walked to an elevator. The one that looked like the latest version of it if there was. Maybe he ordered his things directly from the highest tech company. The way everything glistened. The elevator grade was extraordinary. Speed is top-notch. My eyes fell on the floor selection panel. 10th floor? I knew my heart would explode. This was like living far from the living. Not only was the mansion on the outskirts of the city, but my room would be away from easy access.

The lunch dishes had been washed, visitors rested in the lounge overlooking the lake, and a gentle breeze drifted through the open windows carrying the scent of summer flowers from the memorial garden. Adrian found Ava arranging fresh books on a display table in the library. “You reorganized everything.” “I did.” “Again.” She smiled without looking up. “I like people discovering books they were not searching for.” He picked up one of the novels from the display. “You have a system.” “I always have a system.” “I have never understood it.” “You are not supposed to.” She slid another book into place before stepping back to admire the arrangement. “I organize them according to conversations.” He

Nicole's fingers danced across the spines of the books, gently adjusting their positions. She wanted to create an alluring display, one that would capture the attention of passersby. The vibrant covers were like a painter’s palette, and Nicole was the artist, carefully crafting her masterpiece. She stepped back, eyes narrowing as she scrutinized her handiwork. A slight tilt here, a nudge there—she was determined to find the perfect arrangement. The bookstore was her sanctuary, a place where she could lose herself in worlds spun by strangers. But today, she wanted the store itself to feel like one of those worlds: warm, magnetic, impossible to walk past without stepping inside. With a final s

His books were on the shelf. Not arranged — placed, the way things were placed when someone was moving into a space rather than staging it. His books beside hers on the shelf above the desk. His jacket over the chair by the window. The specific ordinary evidence of two lives occupying the same space by choice rather than circumstance. She noticed it on Monday morning. She had known it was coming — they had discussed the configuration, the logistics, the straightforward practical question of how two people who had been living in adjacent quarters made the transition to one set of quarters. The discussion had been brief and practical and had concluded without drama.

My books rest on a table that used to hold nothing. Evidence of integration. Not an invitation. I should feel angry. Instead, I feel… unsettled. Because the change makes sense faster than it should. Adrian stands near the window removing his cufflinks, movements economical, practiced. He doesn’t look at me immediately, yet awareness radiates from him anyway. He always knows where I am in a room without checking. “You’re still awake,” he says. It isn’t a question. “So are you.” “I work late.” “You reorganized my entire living arrangement today,” I reply. “Sleep seems ambitious.”