Chapter 41 The Truth Comes Out
The press conference was scheduled for ten a.m.
Ariella didn't sleep. Neither did Aiden. They spent the night in his room drafting what they'd say, how they'd say it, whether honesty would save them or not.
"We could lie," Aiden said around three a.m. "Say the contract was forged. That someone's trying to sabotage us."
"They have bank records. Your father's signature. Mine." Ariella was curled against him, his arm around her shoulders. "There's no lie big enough to cover this."
"Then we're fucked."
"Maybe. Or maybe we're finally free."
He looked at her. "How is this freedom?"
"Because we don't have to pretend anymore. No more performance. No more carefully crafted story. Just us. The truth. However messy that is."
"The truth is pretty messy."
"I know. But it's ours."
At dawn, Patricia arrived with Marcus and Jennifer, all of them looking like they'd aged ten years overnight.
"The story breaks in two hours," Patricia said without preamble. "Every outlet has it. Some are sympathetic, 'young love born from tragedy.' Others are brutal 'billionaire buys bride to save company.' We need to get ahead of this now."
"We're ready," Aiden said.
"Are you?" Patricia looked between them. "Because once you admit the contract was real, there's no taking it back. The board will question your judgment. Winters will use it in court. Your enemies will tear you apart."
"We know," Ariella said. "But we're doing it anyway."
"Why?"
"Because I'm tired of living in my father's cage," Aiden said quietly. "He built this elaborate manipulation thinking he was protecting us. But all he did was trap us in his lies. And I'm done. I'm done performing. Done pretending. Done being the perfect heir who never makes mistakes."
He took Ariella's hand. "So yeah, we made a contract marriage. Yeah, we were both desperate. But somewhere in that desperation, we found something real. And I'd rather be honest about that even if it costs me everything than keep lying."
Patricia studied them for a long moment. Then she smiled. "Okay. Let's burn it all down."
The press room at Frost Industries was packed.
Every journalist in Portland, plus national outlets, cameras everywhere, the suffocating weight of attention multiplied by scandal.
Ariella wore the same blue dress from the first announcement. Deliberate symbolism. A callback.
Aiden wore a suit but no tie. Slightly undone. Vulnerable.
They walked in together, hands clasped, and faced the firing squad.
"Thank you for coming," Aiden began, voice steady despite his shaking hands. "I know you're here because of the leaked contract. Because you want to know if our marriage is fake. If I bought my wife. If this was all an elaborate scheme."
He paused. "And the answer is: yes. And no."
The room erupted. Questions shouted over questions. Cameras flashing.
"Let me finish," Aiden said firmly. "Then I'll answer everything."
The room quieted reluctantly.
"Three weeks ago, I met Ariella for the first time. My father was dying. Her family was facing eviction. He saw an opportunity, a clause in the company bylaws that required a married heir. So he made an arrangement. Cleared her family's debts in exchange for a three-month contract marriage."
He looked at Ariella. "And yes, there was a contract. Yes, there was money involved. Yes, it was a transaction."
"But," Ariella continued, taking over, "it didn't stay one. Because Aiden isn't what I expected. He's not the spoiled heir or the untouchable billionaire. He's just…" Her voice softened. "He's someone who's been carrying too much for too long. Someone who sees my grief and doesn't look away. Someone who makes me want to be brave."
"We fell in love," Aiden said simply. "Not because we were supposed to. Not because the contract required it. But because when you spend every night talking someone through nightmares, when you learn to trust someone with your worst moments, when you build something real in the middle of chaos, love happens."
The journalists were scribbling frantically.
"So yes," Ariella said, "our marriage started as an arrangement. But it became a choice. My choice. His choice. To try building something real from something fake."
"And maybe that makes us naive," Aiden added. "Maybe we're idiots for thinking we could make this work. But we'd rather be honest idiots than convincing liars."
A hand shot up. The same reporter from the first conference. "Miss Hayes, some would say you exploited a grieving boy for money. What do you say to that?"
Ariella felt Aiden tense beside her. She squeezed his hand.
"I'd say I was a desperate girl trying to save her family. And he was a desperate boy trying to honor his dying father's last wish. We both made choices from impossible positions." She paused. "But I'd also say I didn't exploit him. I stayed through his grief. Held him through panic attacks. Learned his nightmares and his dreams and chose him anyway. That's not exploitation. That's love."
"Mr. Frost," another journalist called. "Your father orchestrated this marriage to block James Winters' takeover. Now that the arrangement is public, Winters could challenge your control of Frost Industries. Aren't you concerned?"
"Of course I'm concerned," Aiden said. "But I'm more concerned about living honestly. My father spent six years building cages he thought would protect us. And maybe they would have. But I don't want protection that costs me my integrity."
"Even if it means losing the company?"
"Even then."
The room buzzed with shock.
"Are you saying you'd give up Frost Industries?"
"I'm saying I won't sacrifice the person I love to keep it." Aiden looked at Ariella. "My father thought controlling everything would keep us safe. But safety isn't the same as living. And I choose living."
Marcus, watching from the wings, looked like he might have a heart attack. But he didn't stop them.
"One more question," Patricia announced. "Make it good."
"For both of you," a journalist from the back called. "In three months, when the contract expires what happens then?"
Ariella and Aiden looked at each other.
"We haven't figured that out yet," Ariella admitted. "But we'll figure it out together."
"Together," Aiden agreed. "That's kind of our whole thing now."
"Even if the world thinks you're making a mistake?"
"Especially then," they said in unison.
Patricia ended the conference before anyone could ask follow-ups.
Backstage, Marcus looked simultaneously proud and terrified. "That was either the bravest thing I've ever seen or the stupidest. I honestly can't tell which."
"Both," Aiden said. "Definitely both."
His phone was already exploding. Social media, news alerts, text messages from board members and lawyers and people he'd never heard of.
The story was everywhere.
Billionaire Heir Admits Contract Marriage But Swears Love Is Real
Frost & Hayes: The Most Honest Fake Couple in America
Teen Love or Master Manipulation? Portland Divided Over Frost Marriage
The comments were brutal and beautiful in equal measure.
They're idiots but I'm rooting for them.
This is what happens when rich people get bored.
Actually kind of sweet? Like a weird modern fairy tale?
She's using him. Obvious gold digger.
He's using her. Buying love like everything else.
Maybe they really do love each other. Stranger things have happened.