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

a long inhale of the cigarette, he sighed as he watched the smoke curling up towards the

be at cross roads?" a

didn’t bother turning his gaze to meet him. His voice was cold, laced with contempt. "What are you doing here?" He

and see how our prodigal heir is doing," the man replied, laughter dancing

his drink, not bothering

father trusted you and followed your lead like

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

Aaron sneered with a

"I could help you now. Uproot Davis and his darling wife. Eliminate the obstacles. And then... all that remains becomes yours. The sole heir to the Allen family." His smile was a blade

finally acknowledging him with a withering glance. Then, wordlessly, he tossed back the rest

stepped past the man, he paused

growl. "But I won’t repeat the same mistake my father made, I will take care

that, he walked out, not sparing a backward

smile fades, replaced by a hard, venomous stare. "Really thought you were smart? The Allen family must surely pay with every bit of their life for their

he unlatched the locket on his neck, his hand softly caressed it, his

For the sake of their experiments you were sacrificed, yet

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

he took note of every little detail of the room. The smoky air, the faint scent of men’s cologne which seemed to

their leader

overturning nothing but empty glasses and ash. Aaron

had been quite clear. "Don’t return without

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

his gaze sweeping across

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.

he

what was the purpose of

to report this, not

~At the Hotel~

the grand entrance of