Chapter 16 The Hefty Agreement
Immersed in the agony of betrayal and William’s confession, Arabella’s mind stopped functioning.
She failed to think with his words echoing in her mind like a loop of destruction.
‘What should I do now? What is right, what is wrong? I don’t know anything anymore,’
Deluged in depression, she could feel her head throbbing by each passing second in anticipation.
“Why did you do this to me, Luke? How can my love fail this badly…?”
Whispering to herself, she was staring at the moon with fresh tears.
Her life had reached its worst point and between her sorrow, a question rose.
‘Is this my punishment? Or the result of my past madness?’
She thought it was over. It was not.
The next morning, carrying extreme awkwardness, she had to go to work, praying William wouldn't come there.
His words were on top of her turmoil. She was not prepared to see him.
But to her misfortune, the door of her cabin opened only to reveal the one who had intoxicated her mind.
Keeping his gaze lowered, losing the twinkle in them, he asked, clearing his throat, he was unsettled as well.
“Where is Warren?”
“He left for a family emergency,” She whispered softly, noticing he wasn’t even glancing at her.
“I see.”
He was about to close the door and leave but she called, “William, wait,”
Not reacting, he kept his gaze lowered with an unreadable but transparent dismal.
So disheartened, so… grievous, as if his feelings were lost.
“What is it?”
“I..”
“If it’s not important, you can text me,”
“No, it is important,”
Having no strength to connect his eyes with hers and find no place in the city of her heart. He couldn’t do it anymore.
Standing before him, she scanned him compassionately, holding her arm awkwardly, she also averted her gaze tentatively.
“I have thought a lot about what you said…”
“Really? Do you think about me or my words too?” He faked a chuckle.
“Think?” She paused. Look away as if she wanted to speak something but decided to change her statement.
“Oh, forget about it. How foolish of me,”
Waving his hand to eradicate this matter so it won’t double their already irrecoverable distances and induce further awkwardness.
“I-I didn’t mean to make things awkward between us. I am sorry. I- I should go-”
“I am ready,”
“Hm, hmm, whatever,”
Humming hurriedly, he turned to leave nonetheless, “Bye-”
She stopped him by holding the door with astonishment and asked innocently.
“Where are you going?”
“My ears are ringing, I am hearing wrong things.”
She sighed, “You are not hearing wrong.”
“Come again?”
His eyes widened in disbelief, heart skipping beats with a spellbinding sensation that forced him to believe it was another fantasy of his.
“I said I am ready to marry you,”
“Again,” She frowned. He added politely, “Please,”
“I said I am ready to give you a chance.”
“Again-”
She hissed, “No,”
He put his hands up defensively, “Okay, okay, continue… Though I still think I am in the middle of some imagination,”
“You are not,” She reassured him softly before clearing her throat and continuing sternly.
“I am doing this to respect your feelings, I don’t even know if this is right or not,”
“So you are saying you will marry me and give me a chance?”
She took a deep breath and nodded, “Yes,”
“... I see…”
Blinking, he stood still, entering her cabin slowly while closing the door behind anxiously as she continued hesitantly.
“However I have some conditions,”
And when he registered the depth of her words and it wasn’t a sinful dream sinking in, he broke into a breathless, husky chuckle, face glowing with a limitless felicity.
“I accept them all!”
“At least listen,”
“Oh, I am blindly accepting all your conditions, you have no idea what gratification you have granted me,”
Holding his waist, he laughed.
Barely able to hold his glee but noticing she was creating a decision out of haste and asked again for confirmation.
“Are- Are you sure you are thinking straight? You sure, Bella?”
She nodded sternly, “As you said, I will marry anyone but the man who cares the most for me, but…”
“But?”
“I.. don’t want a physical relationship. I-I don’t think I am ready for any intimacy.”
He let out a suppressed, low, seductive chuckle at her demand, stopping right before her that dried her throat.
“That’s too much,”
“What?”
Holding the hem of her dress, her eyes were on the ground distressfully, almost believing he would decline but to her surprise, he whispered in her ears.
“To breathe in the same air as yours as a privilege for me, touching is a distant matter,”
“Where did you learn these talks?” Her mouth gaped at the unforeseen enunciation.
“The answer is right before me,”
Emitting compassion for the path he aimed to choose by placing his years of devotion at stake. She knew it was risky.
“But, you will become a villain for them. They might even hate you for marrying me. Do you still want to do it?” She whispered sadly.
“I accept, wholeheartedly,”
Flabbergasted, she failed to comprehend when his level of attraction reached such an in-depth level, pushing her towards a daze.
Placing his hand over his heart, he growled, “I want you only, just you, and so badly that is aches here,”
Gulping at the ceaseless dedication to reveal his emotion, she could feel her body giving up, tilting her head to the side, worried about him at this point.
“Wh- what if we won't work out? What will you do then?”
He shook his head that before starting, she was already discussing departure and he returned the undeniable but harsh fact.
“Then I assure you, I will let you go myself, I will free you. But for once, for the sake of my madness, notice me too,”
“...Okay,” She agreed.
“Thank you, thank you so much,”
She added strictly, "But I will stay at my place until Luke returns.”
“Okay, I can understand, I will see you tomorrow with the papers then,”
“Okay,”