Forced Marriage: My Wife, My Redemption by Lilyheart

Chapter 329: Where is she?

Aaron sat slumped in a dim quiet corner of the 24-hours nightclub notoriously known from its interior seemingly as night even when it is broad daylight.

A cigarette dangled between his fingers, its smoke curling lazily into the stale air, dissipating like the certainty he once had in his future.

His gaze was unfocused, fixed into the distance, his loosened tie hung askew around his neck, and he couldn’t even recall when he’d undone it or when he’d lost track of everything.

His hair was scattered and unkempt, the result of countless frustrated fingers dragging through it.

His eyes were bloodshot, hollow, void of the glint once associated with the dashing young master Aaron Allen. That image of prestige, control, and effortless charm had vanished.

He didn’t believe this was happening. Not to him.

Desmond was supposed to have this under control. Aaron had always believed..no, he had always known that Desmond held the cards.

No matter who stepped up to back Davis, Desmond would find a way to buy them over, to put them back in their place. That was the confidence Aaron had built his world on.

But then, what happened?

"What step had he gone wrong?"

He’d asked himself that question a hundred times in the past few hours, but every path his mind wandered led to the same dead end.

No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t add up.

Desmond had tried to warn him. He remembered now, those vague remarks, the moments of hesitation but Aaron had dismissed them all with blind arrogance.

He was too sure of Desmond and too trusting of his capabilities that he failed to see that Desmond, too, had limits.

Though Desmond had always tried to pull him along, to let him into the ropes but then...the hardest truth.

He shook his head lightly.

"I have nothing left. Nothing to start with. Nothing to fight back with. Totally nothing."

really the end?" he

long inhale of the cigarette, he sighed as he watched

master Aaron to be at cross roads?" a voice

voice was cold, laced with contempt. "What are you doing

and see how our prodigal heir is

his drink, not bothering to

yet? You’ve always wanted the Allen family broken apart. My father trusted you and followed

the table lamp, his voice interrupting "You don’t have to take it to heart. I was only trying

really dedicated," Aaron

and his darling wife. Eliminate the obstacles. And then... all that

Then, wordlessly, he tossed back the rest of his wine. Rising, he grabbed his suit jacket, car

he stepped past the man, he paused for just a

said, his voice a low growl. "But I won’t repeat the same mistake my

he walked out, not sparing a backward

the man’s smile fades, replaced by a hard, venomous stare. "Really thought you were smart? The Allen family must surely pay with every bit of

the locket on his neck, his hand softly caressed it, his gaze filled with love and

avenge every bit of your death. For the sake of their experiments you were sacrificed, yet at the end, you were denied your entitlement," his voice cracked but swiftly

Voices approached. Without another word, he slipped through a side

of the room.

not far," their leader barked. "Search the

the private box, overturning nothing but empty glasses and ash.

instruction had been quite clear. "Don’t return without Aaron

wrong," he said as he thought about the faint scent that lingered in that

room, he carefully searched around, his gaze sweeping across every little

here for a few hours. The leader’s brows furrowed in contemplation as he analyzed the situation,

here for hours," he said thoughtfully. "Drinking. Smoking. But this fragrance..." He sniffed again. "Musky. Subtle.

was he meeting?"

was the purpose

to report this, not just Aaron’s escape, but this unknown

~At the Hotel~

launch had gone surprisingly well. Richard stood near the grand entrance of the ballroom, exchanging polite farewells with the last