MTLNOVEL Chapter 559: My words and my intentions align.
Arwen stared ahead at the road. She still couldn't believe it.
She didn't lie when she said that she never signs the papers without reading them. But she forgot that there was once, she signed the papers without reading them.
How could she?
Just how desperate had she been on that one important day?
She turned to stare at the man who was driving with such nonchalance that she couldn't believe he did what he did.
She opened her mouth to speak, but for a moment, she hesitated.
But after a while, she felt the need to confirm. Hence, she asked, "You mean you made me sign them at the Civil Affairs Bureau?" Her eyes fixed on him, waiting for him to respond.
But Aiden didn't respond in a hurry. He took a moment to turn to her and then shook his head. "I didn't make you sign them," he said as if there was a big difference. "You signed them yourself, along with our marriage certificates."
Arwen wanted to demand the difference. But keeping her calm, she asked with much patience. "But why would you keep them together. We were there to sign the marriage certificates, not discuss the properties."
"And wait," she suddenly halted realizing something that she almost forgot to notice before. "Why would you even keep those papers prepared?"
Their decision to get married was abrupt. They didn't know each other. She met him at the Civil Affairs Bureau office by chance, and it was all a coincidence.
And if it was all a coincidence, then why would he keep those papers, prepared for her to sign?
"You were signing to be my wife," he suddenly spoke, pausing her from thinking more. "And even though our decision was abrupt, I made it clear from this very first moment that our relationship as a husband and wife would be as real as it should be."
Yes, he said that loud and clear.
It was his condition that she agreed all willingly.
But, how does that justify it?
Her brows furrowed, and she nodded, "Yes, I remember. But what does that prove?"
Aiden's fingers of one hand splayed across the steering wheel as he manoeuvred it to take a turn. Arwen caught sight of it and for a moment, her thoughts drifted. She forgot they were talking about it until she heard him again —
"It proves that my words and my intentions align."
"Huh?"
He turned to stare at her and then said again, "You were becoming my wife. How can I treat you unfairly?" Looking back at the road, he explained, "According to the traditions, the husband gives dowry to his wife when he weds her. How can I not? Since we didn't get time to decide what you would like to have, I gave what I deemed fit at that time."
"So, you mean you kept it arranged?" she asked, her eyes studying him.
Although his expression was nonchalant and he was responding to her with certainty, clear in his tone, she still felt it wasn't as simple as he was putting it to be.
Aiden nodded. "It was always kept prepared. For my wife." Emyr just had to make a rush to get them on time, but he had kept it always prepared for her. Just for her.
That seemed to be making sense, but somehow Arwen felt something amiss amid it all.
It was the same missing element she had always felt around him.
The part of the missing puzzle that seemed to exist between them, but she has yet not been able to identify it.
"So, you mean you gifted me the most luxurious mall in the country as the wedding gift?" she asked, turning back to look at the road ahead. "Did you not fear that I might run away with it. You barely knew me at that time."
"You didn't seem to be the kind who would run away?" he said simply.
Did he trust her so much from the very first moment? Why?
"What if I did run away?" she asked again. "What would you have done then?"
Aiden looked at her, and she gave an expression of obviousness, spreading her hands out.
"You can't be sure of the people you met for the first time? So, there always remains a what if."
"Then I would have come looking for you," he answered, his tone as sincere as it could be. "I have all the resources to find you, no matter wherever you run off to."
Arwen paused at that. She looked into his eyes. "Really?" her voice hinted at slight doubt. "But you said you wouldn't look for me if I leave you … if I am gone."
She might have let it pass, but she never forgot that he had said that he would let her go. That he wouldn't try to keep her if she ever decided to leave him.
Although at some point that seemed right, she didn't want him to do that. She wanted him to hold on to her even when she became adamant about leaving him. She always wants him to anchor her to himself so that they will never separate. Not even at the worst.
Aiden pulled the car to the side, and his fingers tightened around the steering wheel. It didn't take him long to realize what she was talking about.
"You missed a detail there, Moon," he said, for once not turning to look at her. "I said that when you said you would forget me and everything about me. The scenarios are different and completely hypothetical."
Arwen pulled her lips in a smile, but it never made her eyes sparkle. Nodding, she simply hummed, "Yes, it's hypothetical. It's not like I am losing my memory and forgetting you tomorrow."
She cleared the lump she felt forming down her throat. "Well, it's time we move on from this conversation. We are getting late." She brought her watch up to check. "Granna must be waiting for us. Let's not delay her dinner time."