Chapter 68 Her ‘The One’
Arden.
He looked exactly the same– the same messy dark hair scattered around, the same piercing grey eyes, the same effortless charisma that had once made everyone fall for him.
He was an apparition I had spent three years trying to bury, and now he was standing ten feet away, courtesy of his mother’s kindness.
When my eyes fell on him, for a moment, everything around me seemed to fall into a blur, time slowed down and beyond his beautiful smile– in that particular heartbeat– nothing else existed.
‘What are you doing, Alyssa? You are married, snap out of it!’ My mind screamed, dragging me out from my miserable thoughts
My body flinched as I quickly looked at Vince who got up and pulled his ‘best friend’ in a tight hug.
I felt myself go rigid. I didn't even realize that I had stopped breathing. The hand that had been resting so confidently on him was now trembling, my fingers digging into the tablecloth.
Arden’s gaze swept over his parents and kept Vince in a tight hug, the handsome smirk plastered on his face, teasing him.
"Vince, you bastard. You didn't tell me you’d finally settled down. Who is your bride–"
And then his eyes finally landed on me, hitching my breaths as everything I believe I killed years ago began to appear before me.
My teenage, the hopeless, the begging, the desire, and especially the shame– All attacked me at once, immobilizing me.
Apparently, the same happened to him as well, he was unsettled by my presence at the dinner, especially watching me as Vince’s bride.
“Alyssa…?”
He froze mid-step, his hand dropping from his coat. The color drained from his tanned skin as he stared, his mouth parting in a silent gasp of recognition.
"You married Vince?!" he whisper-yelled, glancing at Vince and back to me, repeating it like a loop.
I stood up slowly, my chair scraping harshly against the marble floor and awkwardly extended my hand out for him to shake.
I tried to look at him as my husband’s friend, nothing more or less but it was hard.
What was wrong with me?!
I was married. I shouldn’t look at another man in… mesmerization, especially when that man had left me. Snapping from my trance, I shook my head.
"Arden," I pressed on my word, my voice was low as we shook hands like strangers, "You’re back."
Pulling back, I stood next to Vince, holding his arm firmly, encasing him next to me. Though I could feel Vince had noticed my hesitation.
“As you can see, Alyssa is our daughter-in-law. What did you think of our surprise?” Mrs. Lysander beamed, grinning at us, hoping Vince liked her surprise.
“I…” Arden regained his senses and chuckled, “I honestly didn’t expect it. Congratulations, you two.”
“Why are you still standing? Here, take a seat.” Vince gestured to the seat next to us.
“Yeah, give me a moment, I will freshen up.” He hummed and sat down after freshening up.
His eyes were on the food and I forced myself to lock my eyes on Vince’s hand, his smile, and his comfort.
“What? Where are you so lost?” Vince asked, poking him with his elbow a little.
“Huh? Nothing.” He blinked, twirling the food around his fork with a strange expression, shaking his head.
“I found your marriage with Alyssa too… sudden. I thought you guys don’t like each other.”
“It’s nothing like this, Arden, we were simply strangers. But after what Ken did to her, I couldn’t stay silent.” Vince replied with no hesitation in his voice.
“Isn’t our Vince a hero?” Mr. Lysander said proudly. The pride everyone, including me, had in him was absolute.
Undeniably, he was a hero, my hero, the one who saved me from a miserable fate.
“A hero…. Right. You are a hero, Vince.” Arden kept his eyes on the food and let out a feeble chuckle that was ‘very’ similar to… envy. But, why would he be?
“Someone had to save her, Arden, no?” Vince smirked, his hand extending to rest on my shoulder. My gaze lifted instantly, colliding with his unwavering one.
“And for that you left Astrid and saved her?”
“Yes.” He enunciated, kissing my knuckles with a mesmerization that turned me oblivious of this world, “And it is the best decision I had ever made.”
“Vince…”
The intensity of our stare was felt by the entire room, their eyes were on us, two people who swore to never chase love were utterly drowned in each other with unspoken feelings.
My smile grew, seeing nothing else beyond Vince and realizing there was nothing else left for me. Not the man behind my husband, not my family, not even myself.
“What about you? How is your life going?” Mr. Lysander asked delightfully.
“Fine. I had recently settled my empire in Germany and now I am here to settle some family disputes.” He replied nonchalantly, taking a bite.
“And work in my father’s company to see how much damage those assholes had done in my absence.”
“As busy as ever. The problems of your life never cease. Do they?” Vince smirked.
“Hmmm. What about you, Alyssa?”
I blinked, my heart racing when my name was mentioned on his lips, I almost panicked, “Huh? What? What about me?”
“How is your marriage going with Vince?” He asked casually, still not looking at us. I wonder why.
“Beautiful. Like a dream I never want to wake up from.” Regaining my senses, I grinned at Vince and gave him an honest reply.
“In fact, now I think about it– Vince is my ‘the one’.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“And what about you love birds?” Arden cleared this throat, dragging us out from our moment, placing his attention to Draven.
“We are absolutely exhilarated. Especially when we are going to be the coolest parents soon.” Draven slid the new smoothly in between, staggering everyone in the room.
All heads shot in their direction, “What?”
“Yes. That is why this dinner is hosted. Me and Cynthia are going to be parents.” He winked, standing up with Cynthia, making a toast that brought instant cheers in the dining hall.
“Congratulations!”
“Ah, this day couldn’t get any better! Bless my family!”
The rest of the dinner was filled with the sound of chatter, laughter and inexplicable happiness as my mind was elsewhere.
Wondering how I was going to avoid this undesirable situation where my first and last love were going to sit together as best friends.