Day Forty-Two...


    ~~*****~~


    Aiden''s presence changed the atmosphere around Nathan and Stephen. He managed to stop the two from further arguing. However, another presence joined them, threatening Aiden. He had no choice but to ask his two best friends for help.


    Cherry looked so mad at him. After meeting Aiden''s father yesterday, Cherry and Aiden hadn''t talked yet. Aiden didn''t get the chance to exin to Cherry.


    "What did you do that made her upset?" Stephen asked Aiden in a low voice. They were watching Cherry who was now walking toward them.


    Nathan also gave Aiden a questioning look. Aiden continued gripping the arms of her best friends, not allowing them to leave. He was afraid that Cherry would beat him up if Nathan and Stephen were not around.


    "Nothing! It''s not my fault. It''s my old man''s fault. That old man spouted nonsense to her. He scared her by talking about marriage. He even imed her as his daughter-inw!" Aidenmented to them. He put on a pitiful look as he begged them to pacify Cherry.


    Meanwhile, Nathan and Stephen were both dumbfounded. They could imagine Master Wu intervening with his son''s private life. That old man was dying to find a suitable candidate for his son. He was tired of Aiden''s womanizing activities. He wanted his son to have a serious rtionship already.


    "Why ck Rose?" Nathan asked Aiden suspiciously. He couldn''t understand why Master Wu chose ck Rose.


    Stephen also bobbed his head frantically. He had the same question. Why ck Rose?


    Aiden took a deep breath. "My Dad caught me lying on the same bed with Cherry. He met Cherry in my own ce."


    Stephen: "..."


    Nathan: "..."


    After hearing that, Nathan and Stephen exchanged nces with one another. They both tried to unhook Aiden''s arms from gripping theirs.


    "You are a man. Go and fix this yourself," Stephen said, whispering to him.


    "I have to leave and check on Abigail. She''s in the hospital right now." Nathan also blurted out. This was his way of telling Aiden he didn''t want to get involved with his problem.


    When Stephen and Nathan started to walk away, Aiden felt like he got abandoned. The grim reaper was slowly inching closer and closer to her and his only saviors abandoned him without hesitation.


    ''I thought they were my best friends?!''


    Upon reaching his spot, Cherry immediately grabbed his cors. "What did you tell your father? Why is he acting so strange?! What kind of lies did you feed him?"


    "Cherry, calm down. Let me exin first." Aiden put his palms together and rubbed them in front of Cherry as he begged her.


    Considering the things Aiden had done for her yesterday, Cherry let go of Aiden. She would listen to his exnation.


    "Go on and exin..." Cherry folded her arms over her chest and looked at Aiden intently.


    "My Dad simply misunderstood our rtionship. You were the first woman I have ever brought into my ce so when he saw you there, he thought we were in a serious rtionship. Please don''t get mad at me. My Dad is just a nosy old man who wants to intervene in my private life."


    "Did he scare you that much?" Aiden asked her. He recalled how Cherry ran away that day.


    Cherry would still cringe at the thought of marriage. Master Wu even told her to call him Dad. Who wouldn''t be scared by that? Master Wu was creepy.


    "Yes. Your father is somehow scary," Cherry admitted.


    Aiden suppressed the urge tough. He was surprised that Cherry was frightened by his father. He thought Cherry wasn''t afraid of anything or anyone else.


    "By the way, what did I do when I got drunk? I usually forget things when drunk... and I behave strangely." Cherry recalled how Phantomke and others prohibited her from drinking too much. Herrades witnessed how odd her behavior was when she was drunk.


    Aiden automatically smiled sheepishly as he remembered the moment when Cherry got drunk. She was right. She acted very strangely as if she was a different person. She became more talkative. She evenplimented him. And what he liked the most was that Cherry dragged him into bed just to stay with her. However, Aiden wouldn''t tell Cherry those things.


    "Nothing. You just slept after getting drunk. You were well-behaved," Aiden lied.


    "Are you sure?" Cherry arched her eyebrow. She wasn''t convinced.


    "Yes. I am sure. You can even ask my staff." Aiden promptly responded, trying to convince her to believe in him.


    "Okay. Since I''m in a good mood today. I will believe you." Cherry finally smiled. She thought of Phantomke.


    Cherry was about to leave when Aiden stopped her. He grabbed her elbow. Since Cherry was in a good mood, Aiden wanted to take this opportunity to ask her about her response to his request.


    "What?" Cherry asked him. Her eyes fell on the hand that was holding her.


    "You haven''t given me your response yet. Will you give me a chance to get to know me better?" Aiden mustered all his courage up to say those words to her.


    Cherry fell silent for a moment. She assessed Aiden''s expression. He looked anxious as he waited for her response.


    After a few seconds, Cherry bobbed her head. "Yes. Do you think I woulde with you yesterday... if I didn''t want to?"


    Aiden was stunned for a moment hearing herst remarks. He felt so happy but at the same time, he was surprised. He thought Cherry would reject him. Without further ado, Aiden pulled her into a hug.


    "Thank you, Cherry! Thank you! You don''t know how much you made me happy today!" Aiden embraced her tightly, expressing his gratitude. He was one step closer to breaking the wall into Cherry''s heart.


    Cherry, on the other hand, gently pushed him away. She didn''t want other people to see them hugging each other.


    "Aiden. Behave!" Cherry warned him.


    "I''m sorry. I just got carried away by my emotions." Aiden apologized, scratching his face as he smiled at her.


    "Okay. Let''s go. I''m going to watch my sister. She is going to wake up soon." Cherry decided to return to Phantomke''s room.


    "Really?! That''s good news!" Aiden immediately followed her from behind.