Too Late Mr. White! I'm Married To Your Rival Now novel Chapter 331

Aria's POV

I got home right at five o'clock. Lucy immediately asked what I wanted for dinner, but my mind was elsewhere, weighed down by thoughts of Linda's confession.

"Whatever you think is best, Lucy," I mumbled, grabbing a glass of water before dragging myself upstairs.

Seeing an old friend should have lifted my spirits, but Linda's revelations about those two miserable years of her marriage had left me with a heaviness I couldn't shake. Her pain felt so familiar, so close to what could have been my own story if I'd gone through with marrying Liam.

I must have fallen asleep thinking about it all because the next thing I knew, there was a gentle pressure on my cheek - warm lips against my skin.

"Aria?" Aiden's voice filtered through my half-conscious state.

I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or awake. Dreams and reality blurred together in my exhausted mind.

"Aria," he called again, closer this time.

My eyes fluttered open to find Aiden's face inches from mine. I blinked several times, trying to orient myself, his features coming into focus.

"Aiden," I murmured, my voice thick with sleep and slightly raspy.

Without thinking, I reached up and hooked my arms around his neck, pulling myself into his embrace. I needed the warmth, the solidity of another person. Of him, specifically.

"Bad dream?" he asked, arms wrapping around me naturally.

I shook my head against his chest. "No, not exactly."

It wasn't a nightmare - just fragments of Linda's story weaving through my subconscious, making me question everything I thought I knew about love and commitment.

"Was seeing your friend not what you expected?" Aiden's question was gentle, his hand moving to stroke my hair.

I looked up at him, not quite sure how to answer. Yes and no. I shook my head, then nodded.

"It's not that kind of unhappy," I explained, voice muffled against his shirt. I could smell his cologne - that expensive, subtle scent that had become so familiar to me now.

His fingers continued their soothing motion through my hair. "Tell me what happened?"

I adjusted my position in his arms, getting comfortable before speaking. "It's nothing dramatic, really. Linda told me about her arranged marriage - those two years she spent with the Williams family. She didn't go into details, but I could read between the lines. It was hell for her."

"And now?" His question was simple, direct.

"She's divorced."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Aiden tilted his head to meet my eyes.

I sighed, looking into those dark eyes that seemed to see right through me. "It's fine. But she told me she's never growing her hair long again. " My voice caught." She used to say she'd let it grow until her first love came to marry her."

I swallowed hard, suddenly overcome with emotion. "Aiden, do childhood sweethearts ever really work out? Or are they all just doomed from the start?"

"Not all of them," he answered with surprising certainty, as if he had firsthand knowledge.

His confidence caught me off guard. I pulled back slightly to study his face. "You've seen it happen?"

"I have."

Now my curiosity was piqued. "Do I know them?"

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