No one wanted to see that. Not Liam, not her fiancé, who’d dumped her with the flip of a palm as soon as her honor had fallen. Only Aiden, and only him.

His tongue flicked over her tear-stained cheeks and brow. Belviana fluttered her wet, stiff lashes and looked up at him with dark green eyes. Aiden. Really, it was Aiden. The irony of it was finally sinking in. The realization that he was alive, the realization that he still wanted her. The realization that she was still in love with him.

Belviana stretched out her thin, white arms and threw her arms around Aiden’s neck. Aiden looked surprised, like someone who had just received an unexpected gift, and he barely had time to catch his breath.

“Gasp, hngh…!”

He thrust his penis into her soft flesh once more. Her soaked and rusted inner walls took the slippery shaft like a second nature. Aiden grabbed her ankles and lifted her up, as if folding her body in half. Belviana gasped, half-exhausted. Being crushed from behind was bad enough, but this position was too deep.

The thick, hard penis bit into her gaping cunt, pressing tightly against the entrance to her womb, then quickly withdrew. Then it sped up again and slammed into her. The juices that trickled down to her hip bones made a lustful sound as they slapped against flesh. Her wide-open thighs shuddered.

“Hngh, ung, ahhh!”

“More, hmm, cry more, Belle.”

“Ah, yes, ah, ah, ah, ah!”

It was hot enough to melt her whole body if they kept going. She could barely think straight. It was almost instinctive to tighten her inner walls and bite down on his cock. Aiden stiffened briefly at her unexpected enticement. He let out a low, raspy curse as he bucked against her.

“Ah, ah, yes. Aah!”

He thrust into her, hard and fast. An unintelligible wet moan escaped his red lips as he continued to thrust into her. It felt like they were going to fuse where they touched. It was an act of violence, but it didn’t hurt in the slightest, as if it had been calculated. The thighs he gripped with his hands were more painful, but even that was a desperately sweet stimulus to his heated body.

Please, please. She begged, not knowing what she wanted. Belviana wrapped her legs tightly around his waist. She hoped there would be an end to this abject torment, for surely it would be pleasure. Almost as if she were begging for it, the hot liquid flowed into her like a gusher.

* * *

She must have dozed off. Belviana lifted her head from the booth. She thought the bed was a little uncomfortable, but Aiden had his arm around her waist and was burying his head in the nape of her neck. It was affectionate, like a lover. A lover. It was such an unfamiliar, affectionate word to apply to Aiden and me, Belviana chuckled to herself. It was. They were lovers now.

“Are you awake?”

Aiden’s eyes fluttered open at the stirring in his arms. His eyes were languid with contentment. A shaft of moonlight filtered through the torn curtains, giving Belviana her first glimpse of Aiden’s naked torso. Belviana’s eyes widened in surprise. It was a far cry from the sleek, hard torso of his past. Fire and beatings scars, whip and sword cuts. Her mouth dropped open at the hardened scars that gripped her fingertips as she groped her way up.

“What the hell is this…….”

“I thought you were dead.”

As if he hadn’t seen her horror, he kissed Belviana’s exposed, rounded forehead.

“What the hell is this?”

“It’s hard to explain.”

“At least explain this.”

She traced a hand over the dark whip scar on Aiden’s shoulder. He was reluctant to broach the subject, but after a few strokes, he finally spoke.

“I was whipped nearly to death for what happened, but I survived. They valued my talent, and they warned me never to set foot in Dietrich again.”

“…….”

“The revolution was already in the air, I realized that after I was thrown out, and I did everything I could to bring you back, because soon there would be no need for class. But by the time I was ready, you were dead. Rumors were flying, first of suicide, then of the plague, when I dug deeper, the doctor’s report was perfect.”

Aiden reached out a long finger and ruffled her side hair.

“I tried to save your mother, but her pneumonia had progressed beyond my control, and by the time I got her a doctor, it was too late, but at least she was at peace.”

“You……you were the benefactor?”

“Yes. I bought this mansion shortly afterward when it went up for auction. There was a tomb in the garden with your name on it. I couldn’t believe it and wanted to dig it up, but it’s hard to dig up the grave of someone who deserved better.”

“…….”

“I was going to spend the rest of my life atoning for your death. If I’d known you were alive, I would have done whatever it took to find you.”

He cupped Belviana’s slender chin in his right hand and lifted it slightly. Their lips met softly, their tongues darting through the gap. A plunder of teeth and palate. Even in the midst of such a breathless kiss, Belviana felt a chill run down the side of her head.

By chance he had discovered her affair, by chance he had read the signs of the times, by chance he had made his fortune at the right time. But the cause and effect was too perfect, too perfect, for chance to explain it all. The timing of his release, her flight to the convent, the relentless surveillance that followed. Everything was perfect, as if it were a law of nature, with no room for other relationships. It was almost too good to be true, without any artificial manipulation. Feeling a slight chill run down her spine, Belviana placed her hand on his hard pectoral and pushed him away slightly.

“The bell will be ringing soon, and I have to go.”

“It doesn’t matter now.”

“But…….”

“You can go when you want to go. This is your house now.”

“…….”

“Let’s get married.”

The rush of thoughts came to a screeching halt at those words. Belviana spat out the question she’d fumbled through her tangled brain.

“But, what about your fiancée…….”

“I recognized her from the moment I saw your resume that the maid sent me.”

“So that means…….”

“Yes, it is. It was meant for you from the start.”

A bitter-sweet thrill ran down her spine. If only she could look away from the doubt that felt like a bitter aftertaste, and the darkness she could feel, instinctively, stirring inside Aiden, if only she could look away from the fact that he hadn’t chosen to betray her, but had done so out of sheer necessity.

Countless riches, and the love he’d finally found.

It’s unlikely to get any more perfect here. As if he could see straight into her thoughts, Aiden gazed at her contemplatively the entire time, a look that hinted at finding her indecision endearing. From the start, the circumstances were unfavorable for her. He cornered her as if she had any real choice to make, yet without presenting any alternative options.

A lump rose in her throat. Liliette’s now shapeless face glared at her with accusing eyes. But… She was a snobbish bitch from start to finish.

So no matter how many times she thought about it, there was only one answer. Belviana nodded slowly, mesmerized.

Aiden grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer to me. His look was so unfamiliar to her. He looked exhilarated, like a man who had just stepped onto solid ground, like a man who had finally and completely surpassed all obstacles. As if, after a lifetime of wandering, he had finally found a sense of security.