Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ

Chapter 32

Prepare to meet his family 

I couldn‘t sleep that night. My heart raced and I felt restless. The next day was supposed to be my grand test of whether or not I would act well as Aren‘s fiancée. I could say that I wanted to do my job well because Aren was paying for my Grandma‘s medical treatment, but it was more than that. Fake relationship or not, I wanted to do well in front of his family. Was it weird? 

Yes, I was aware that I cared about him, probably much more than I should. The things he did, aside from teasing me, made the little chrysalises in my stomach turn into pesky butterflies. It was terrifying how quickly he could win me over. I was starting to treat him as an exception to my stereotypical image of a wealthy man. Of course, there was still the matter of mutual trust. Because my previous relationship damaged me, I needed full disclosure even though I knew that it could have been an unreasonable demand. Everyone had their own secrets and the right not to talk about things that were difficult for them or painful for them. I was no different. So who was I to expect Aren to tell me everything from the start? Perhaps I should give it all some time. After all, our situation was far from normal... 

Neil showed up at the penthouse around 8 AM. It looked like Aren had forced his poor assistant to help me prepare for the evening‘s event. As I walked down to the salon where he waited for me, I truly hoped that he had some magic wand with him because I got up from the bed looking ten to fifteen years older than the day before. My lids were swollen, the dark circles underlined my eyes in the worst possible way, and my complexion seemed almost translucent. I couldn’t even imagine the amount of makeup I had to put on my face to cover the evidence of my sleepless night. “Oh, dear.” Neil‘s comment said it all. 

He carefully looked me up and down, a grimace painting his face, then he pulled out the phone and made a call, walking out into the corridor. He came back a minute later, looking at me with a smirk 

“Ms. Bell, it‘s time for us to go,” he said, gesturing at the door. 

It turned out that Neil had booked me a series of beauty treatments in one of New York‘s most luxurious salons. I didn‘t believe that any of that could work, but it did. After a few weird and smelly facial masks, I started resembling a living person. Once my face had been taken care of, my whole body had been scrubbed, massaged, and rubbed with essential oils to the point where I started to think of myself as a walking–talking air freshener. After five–hour treatments, I had never felt that relaxed in my whole life. I became lazy enough to wish to spend the rest of the day by the roof pool with a glass of prosecco in my hand. Unfortunately, Neil had the whole day planned for me already... 

“It‘s time to get you a dress,” he announced, leading me back to the car. 

I sighed and forced my overly relaxed mimic muscles to smile. Despite everything, I wanted to look as presentable as possible while walking by Aren‘s side. Two hours and thirty–four dresses later, I swayed out of the boutique with a work–of–art–like Elie Saab golden evening gown and Versace sandals. 

After all those sweet tortures, Neil generously took me out for lunch. We sat down in a patio 

1/4 

meet his

and I decided on an arugula salad. “Are you sure that you don‘t want anything else, Ms. Bell?” Neil scanned my plate with a

stomach is tied with a knot. I‘m so nervous I can barely swallow anything, ” I said,

nervous. Mr. Lan won‘t let anything bad happen to you, and as far as I know, your relationship with Mr. Lan

can I ask you a question

I wanted to know… Has Aren ever told you to do

if I am allowed to tell you that...”

working in Café Dorado.” I gasped. It looked like Miranda was right. My head started to spin. I knew that it was ridiculous, but I couldn‘t help but wonder if any of our later encounters were his doing. “Were you or anyone else working for Aren spying on me?” I asked, nervously squeezing the fork in

not.” Neil snorted. “In the report I handed Mr. Lan was information about your family, your education, and social status, along with basic information about your address,

“And when did you give that report to Aren?” I asked,

before you‘ve signed the contract,” he

couldn‘t have had any effect on what had happened. But he had been interested in me before, and I couldn‘t forget him from the moment we‘d met at the café. Was it destiny that had drawn us

hair tied up in a bun

and golden petals, and with my feet slenderized with heels, I walked down the stairs

to meet

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