She couldn't believe herself as she sat inside a private jet; Ariel felt so small and intimidated as she looked around the whole luxurious interior.
She couldn't believe that the girl who was just a useless and bullied maid was the same girl sitting inside a private jet. When she stared at herself in the mirror, she almost thought she was staring at someone else. But, even though she dressed the part, she was still inferior to the whole exposition.
Here she was, all dressed up and ready for her marriage.
Yes, marriage.
A marriage with a man she's never seen or met.
She mocked her fate, what she was trying to run away from had somehow managed to find its way back to her. Guess one can't run away from destiny.
A few hours earlier, Grandma Nari had proposed she married her Grandson in exchange for keeping her mother's properties, and, helplessly, she had agreed.
And from that moment, everything happened in a blur: calling a woman who showered and waxed her(embarrassing moments), did her hair, and makeup, fixed her into the expensive silky white gown and heels she was currently wearing, and had Lin run series of tests on her to make sure she's free of any diseases and fertile enough to bear children.
Ariel sighed. She looked down at her thigh and stared at the yellow file in her hands. She clenched the file in her hands tightly as she remembered the contract she had just signed with the old woman.
The contract states that if she doesn't succeed in giving the old woman a grandchild in one year, their agreement would turn null and void, the properties would be demolished, and the land would be utilized for something else or sold out to strangers.
She would do it; she was doing it for her mother; she wasn't about to let her mother's hard work go to waste, even if it meant sleeping with a stranger. She thought this was an easy mission, after all, men were weak creatures when it came to women; she didn't need to learn seduction to get her unknown husband to sleep with her; she was sure he'd come for it himself, making her mission easier.
"Ma'am, we'll be descending in three minutes, please sit tight," The pilot spoke through the speaker.
Ariel sighed and looked out the window; looking at the vast clouds; she wondered how the world could be so big, and yet, out of all the people walking the face of the earth, she had to be the unfortunate one who faced all the unfortunate events.
Ariel felt like a passenger in her own body as she watched everything happen in a blur from her eyes.
Before she knew it, they had landed in Los Angeles and she was currently inside a black limousine, driving her to the city hall for her marriage.
"Go right in, Ma'am," The chauffeur said to Ariel as he opened the door for her in front of the tall city hall.
Ariel put the file into her bag and stepped out of the limousine, "Thank you." She said quietly.
The chauffeur nodded politely, then walked around and entered the car, driving off as he did.
Ariel looked up at the tall white building; this was it, the place that was going to change her fate forever.
Her heart raced with each step she took up the stairs, she was scared of the unknown.
"Hello, Ms. Hudson," A young man asked as Ariel walked through the tall door.
Ariel turned toward the voice to find a bald and mean-looking man in a green suit with an earpiece fixed in his left ear.
Was she getting married to an official bodyguard?
"Um, Hello, are you my husband?" Ariel asked innocently.
"No, please follow me," The man said and started walking away.
Ariel followed him into an elevator which soon brought them to their destination as the door slowly slid open.
"This way, please," The man said as he walked out of the elevator.
Ariel quietly followed him behind as they walked past newly wedded couples who were patiently standing in line, waiting for their turn to take a picture.
She smiled bitterly at herself. Love was so evident amongst those couples, but it was so far away from her. Her husband couldn't even come downstairs to bring her up himself.
"Go in," The man said, standing beside an office door.
Ariel looked at the man's unsmiling face briefly before looking at the door.
She sighed and put her hand on the door handle; here goes nothing.
Ariel walked into the room and saw the broad back of a man backing her as he sat in front of a long desk, facing a middle-aged woman in a white cooperate suit.
"Welcome, Ms. Hudson, please sit and sign," The woman said, pointing at the chair beside the man who hadn't so much as turned to look at the person who had just arrived.
Ariel nodded and quietly walked over, pulled the chair, and lowered herself on it. She was too scared to turn to the man beside her, he exuded a dangerous and intimidating aura. He even seemed more dangerous than the bodyguard outside the door.
Aiden knew who it was the moment the door was opened.
He was only doing this for the sake of his Grandma, but he had some limits to what he could do.
He wasn't interested in whoever his grandma had found or any woman at all, that's why he didn't bother checking the credentials that were sent to his email concerning everything about his future wife.
He didn't care; he had simply forwarded the email to his lawyer, and here he was, about to get married to a gold-digger who was only here for the benefits she thought she would be getting from him.
But he had a surprise for her, a shocking surprise.
"Please, sign this," The woman slid a piece of paper in front of Ariel, dropping a pen beside it.
"Ah..." Ariel quietly inhaled and slowly turned to look at the man who was sitting silently beside her, at least she wanted to see the face of the man she was about to get married to.
And, when her eyes met the side of his face, she felt her breath forced out of her mouth in a quiet gasp.
Only an idiot who lived under a rock wouldn't recognize that devilishly handsome face.
Aiden Chaz! World's richest billionaire and the most successful businessman. He was known worldwide for his competent tech company called 'Chaz Tech'.
How did she end up sitting next to her role model and about to get married to him?!
He was her inspiration in career, and she had always wanted to be able to work in one of his companies, that was why she worked day and night to make enough money to purchase those tech and cyber courses online, but now; she was sitting right beside him and was about to become his wife in a minute.
"Quit wasting my time, and sign those papers," Aiden said coldly.
He turned his face to her and was shocked for a moment, but his shock was suddenly replaced with anger and hatred.
He recognized her face instantly. This was the reason why he hated women, they were so scheming and corny, and the woman he was looking at at that moment was no different from them.
"Um, y-yes," Ariel stammered and quickly turned away from his stormy blue eyes.
She was shocked to see such hateful emotions in his eyes, she wondered if he was just in a bad mood or that was who he was.
But, in her years of admiring him on the Internet, she had never really seen a picture or an interview where he smiled, he was always known for his stoic and straightforward personality.
She could still feel his burning gaze on her side as she shakily signed the marriage certificate.
The woman then slid the paper to him to sign on his part.
"Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Chaz. Please stand at the side for your picture," The woman said, grabbing a camera from her drawer.
Ariel felt weird; she couldn't believe she'd now married her idol, she was giddy with excitement even though she couldn't show it. Her excitement wasn't for the marriage, no; she could feel the dislike from him from miles away; she knew better than to fool herself. She was only excited that she finally got to meet Idol in person.
Ariel got carried away in her thoughts for a second as she stared at Aiden's tall, intimidating figure as he went and stood in front of the camera.
"Mrs. Chaz, the picture," The woman reminded Ariel.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Ariel apologized, embarrassed.
She's been caught staring stupidly at the handsome man in a black tuxedo.
"You will address her by her name, Tina," Aiden said in a chilling voice the moment Ariel came to stand beside him.
"Oh, yes, I'm sorry, Mr. Chaz," Tina said.
Ariel felt like cold water had just been poured on her. No, he wasn't in a bad mood, this was who he was.
The realization hit her like a truck. She instantly understood that she had just gone from frying pan to fire.
She read about these kinds of men in novels, and she knew that the women they get married to end up dying out of frustration in suicide, but in those novels, the female leads get chances of being reborn which she knew wouldn't be the case for her.
Her life wasn't a movie or a story, and she knew she had to prepare herself for whatever was coming her way. She wasn't new to this kind of lifestyle.
"Um, I'm sorry, sir. But we have to look convincing for Mrs. Nari," Tina said cautiously.
Aiden looked at her with a raised brow, his cold face scaring her.
"What do you mean?" He asked indifferently.
"Um, I mean, scoot closer, hold her waist and-"
"This?" He questioned as he suddenly wrapped his arm around Arile and drew her close to himself, raising his free hand to her face and putting his finger below her chin, raising her face to look at his face.
"Oh, my, God!" Tina exclaimed with shock and excitement.
"Just keep holding her that way; Grandma Nari would feel the chemistry from just looking at these pictures," Tina said and kept clicking the camera, shutter sounds filled the room as she snapped them from different angles.
Ariel felt her heart speeding like a race car as she stared into those mysterious blue eyes of Aiden Chaz. He had lowered his face very close to hers and the soft way he looked at her would have made her believe he loved her, but she knew better. But she couldn't stop her heart from beating fast and her cheeks from blushing.
She felt like she was having a fever as she felt her skin burning with the way he wrapped his hand possessively around her waist.
"Perfect, I'm done!" Tina said happily.
"Get away from me," Aiden said dismissively as he pushed Ariel away from himself.
When he stared into her green eyes, he felt a mixed emotion go through his body; his instincts told him not to trust her, even though he noticed how scared and fragile she looked, he knew better than to fall for that trap and pity her.
Women were repulsing to him, every one of them he's known and met always had a personal agenda in mind. But this time, he was going to make sure he showed his little wife that he knew what she had come for and would make sure she got none of them.
"Here are your pictures and the certificate, sir," Tina handed him a white file.
"Don't need them," He said and walked out of the door.
"B-but, sir! Mrs. Nari would want to see them," Tina looked stressed and frustrated as she stared at Aiden's retreating figure.
"I'll take it," Ariel softly offered.
"Oh, bless your soul, Mrs. Chaz," Tina sighed in relief as she placed the files into Ariel's hand.
"Ariel, call me Ariel. Goodbye, Ms. Tina," Ariel managed a smile and headed for the door.
"Good luck," She heard Tina say as she closed the door.
She only met the bodyguard when she stepped out of the office. Aiden was nowhere to be seen.
"I'll take that, Mrs. Chaz," The bodyguard said with a little bow, stretching his hand out to her.
"Oh, ok, thank you. But, please, call me Ariel, he wouldn't appreciate you calling me that," Ariel explained softly.
"Noted. Please, follow me," The bodyguard said and walked toward the same elevator they came up with.
Downstairs, the bodyguard led Ariel to a midnight-tinted Bentley that was parked in front of the city hall.
"I'll drive you home," The bodyguard said and opened the backseat door for Ariel.
"Thanks," Ariel said and entered the car.
"Oh!" She exclaimed and put her hands on her chest.
The moment she looked beside her, her heart skipped from fear as she saw Aiden's hateful gaze on her.
"You don't know what you've gotten yourself into, little wife," Aiden said coldly, sarcasm lacing his voice.