Chapter 82


    Ask me if you dare I didn’t mishear him, right? He was going to take responsibility for making me fall in love with him. But what kind


    of responsibility would it be? I knew that I was the one who asked for it, but I had never thought about what this responsibility


    should be like. Was he going to turn our contractual marriage into a permanent one, even if he didn’t love me? No one can force a


    heart to love, but what if he’d already had feelings for me and kept denying them? My feverish thoughts quickly dissolved in the


    shower of his kisses, which I returned with equal passion. I wasn’t sure what kind of new terms I had just agreed on, but if he was


    ready to take a risk and walk into the unknown, then so was I.


    I couldn’t tell when I found myself lying on the mat with him on top of me. I bit my lip, watching him take


    his shirt off, and reveal those rigid chest and stomach muscles carved into perfection. Yet a shudder


    spread across my body as his hand slid down my sweated skin. I grabbed my hand with an audible gasp.


    “I…. smell…” I muttered, blushing in embarrassment.


    He chuckled and leaned down to bite my earlobe. “So am I, and yet, it is only your body that you find


    ufortable, not mine.”


    My hands reached tob his damp, ck hair. “Because you are perfect no matter what,” I mumbled,


    as his searing gaze ran down my body.


    He looked at me with a frown and leaned over me, his hand sliding to my back to find a little zipper on


    my top. Two secondster, he grabbed the rim of the top and took it off of me along with my sports bra.


    “I’m looking at perfection,” he said before lowering himself to draw circles with his tongue around one


    nipple while caressing the other one of my breasts with his hand.


    “What if someone sees us?” I asked breathlessly, resisting a moan.


    He smirked at me. “Only you and I can enter this gym.” My hands went straight to his shoulders, pushing


    him away to look into his eyes. “What do you mean?”


    “The door handle recognizes fingerprints. Today I added yours to the system,” he said, grinning


    mischievously. I frowned. “Where did you get my fingerprints?” He leaned down,ughing, before leaving


    a trail of little kisses down my neck. “Beautiful, your whole body has been scanned for medical and


    security reasons at least a few times by now,” he breathed against my skin.


    I pushed him away and rolled to my stomach, grabbing my top from the floor. “And the fact that you have


    ess to my most fragile data doesn’t sound creepy at all…”


    Aren got up to sit on his knees. “Are you mad at me?”


    “I… I don’t know.” I smiled wryly. “Maybe I should get used to it, but I wish you just told me beforehand.”


    H


    yuu uait


    Aren leaned closer, as I put my top back on. “It’s not just about your fingerprints, is it?” I locked my eyes


    on him, trying to find the right words. “It’s just terrifying.” “What is?” he asked, pulling me closer and


    pressing my back against his chest. Iughed nervously. “You know my DNA sequence, and I still know


    so little about you…” He kissed my hair. “I don’t keep secrets from you. All you have to do is ask.” I


    turned my head to face him and narrowed my eyes. “Will you answer no matter what kind of a question I


    ask?”


    He snorted. “Yes, but I want to have the right to ask you questions as well.” “Question for question?” I


    smirked.


    “Yes,” he said, as his lips curved in a dangerous smirk “Will you dare?”


    Something in his tone made me lose my confidence. “Fine… but I need a shower first, and a bottle of


    wine.” He grinned before kissing the tip of my nose. “Consider it done.”


    ***


    We both took a quick shower at thepany, and we got back to the penthouse. Aren ordered pasta


    while we were on our way, and the food arrived a few minutes after we walked back home. I had never


    enjoyed eating carbs more than at that moment, still feeling exhausted after my training session with


    Aren.


    “Easy there!” Heughed at me. “Your te is not going anywhere.” “It’s your fault,” I grunted. “I doubt


    that I will be even able to get up from bed tomorrow.” He smirked. “Well, then I will just have to carry my


    wife to work.” I wanted to smack his arm, but as I stretched I felt the sting of my sore muscles. I groaned,


    which instantly earned me his chuckle. “This isn’t funny!” I frowned at him and quickly added, “I’m so


    sore that sex is out of the question for at least a week.” That wiped the smile off his face in an instant…


    but curled up my lips instead.


    A whileter, we sat by the roof pool with sses in our hands. The night was warm, with only a light


    breeze cooling our bodies. We were staring at the breathtaking view of Manhattan, blinking at us with


    thousands of colorful, seductive night lights. Unlike the lively city below, still crowded at thiste hour and


    overfilled with energy, it was peaceful on our roof. Nheless, my instincts kept telling me that it was


    only calm before another storm..


    “So, what do you want to know, sunshine?” Aren grinned, and I couldn’t miss the fact that he was calling


    me by nickname again. I locked my eyes on him, examining his expression. “Is there a limit to how


    intimate the questions might be?” I asked cautiously. “No limits.” His confident smirk only made me more


    daring. “What was your rtionship with Lanfen?” I probably shouldn’t dig further into that subject,


    Podars


    but I was dying to know. Besides, I wanted to know what to expect when that woman reappeared in


    Aren’s life again.


    Aren took a sip from his ss and looked straight at the night sky, a bitter smile twisting his lips. “I guess


    it was pure but polluted at the same time. Despite Mei Lien’s teaching, I still wanted to believe in


    something like love. Since I was used by my American side of the family, I naturally longed to meet the


    other side of the family and other Chinese people, hoping that they were like my mother and Mei Lien-


    trustworthy and kind.”


    I could see the sadness in his eyes. It made asking those questions harder, but I needed to know as


    much as I could. “So… how did it all start?”


    “I met Lanfen when I started to work in a bar right outside my university. It was a part-time job, and she


    was a regr,ing there with her friends for a beer,” he started. “She kept smiling at me, and I


    thought that she was adorable. I could see that she used all kinds of excuses to sit in a bar throughout


    my shift, studying there despite the noises and the fact that there were a lot of guys trying to make a


    move on her. I knew that she was preparing herself to talk to me, but I ignored her. I spent my days


    either working at the bar, studying, or raising money to start my first business, and I thought that my


    schedule would never include time for rtionships. She proved it to me otherwise. One day, I was


    closing the bar, and she stayed there, waiting for me. I ignored her like always, but when she suddenly


    disappeared from the bar, I got worried. I went outside to look for her and saw her with three other guys,


    who tried to take her with them by force. I beat them up and drove her back home. That was how I met


    her family, and Sun Lanfen and I started to date.”


    Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    I forced my lips to stretch into a sort of a smile, but I could do nothing about the fact that I was crazily


    jealous. I hated the fact that he thought that she was adorable and that he was the one who saved her.


    He made it sound like their rtionship was warm and innocent. Envy pierced my heart painfully as I


    listened to it. “So… Lanfen was your first girlfriend?” A soft nervousugh escaped my throat.


    “Yes, you can say that.” He smiled warmly as if he was recalling some good memory. It only made me


    more annoyed.


    I took a big gulp, finishing my ss of wine. Only then was I prepared to hear more. “How long have you


    been together?” I asked, faking a careless grin.


    “Four years,” he said without losing the warm smile that had embellished his face before.


    I let out a hysteric chuckle and rushed to the kitchen to grab another bottle of wine. “Four years?” I


    muttered under my breath, annoyed. It wasn’t just some teenage fling-it was a serious rtionship. It


    would have been impossible if they had stayed together for a long time like that without developing some


    serious feelings toward each other. It felt like a deep, piercing stab in the heart.


    I went back to the roof pool, painting an amused expression to hide my inner pain. There was one more


    question I needed to ask. I corrected my smiley mask before inquiring, “So… what about your


    engagement? Was it Lanfen’s parents who insisted on your marriage, or perhaps –


    “No,” he cut me off, turning his suddenly serious gaze on me. “I was the one who proposed.”