Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ

Seriously? | knew a lot about colors- | knew most of the number codes to describe them in programming, but | had never felt the need to mark scolor as my favorite. Why the hell would 1? “Everyone has colors they like,” Veronica convinced. “How about thinking about one color that soothes you and makes you feel comfortable? It could be related to your childhood toy or the place you visited when you were young. How about that?” Her suggestions swirled inside my head, but no childhood memory of mine was related to a certain color. | remember that Grandpa painted my room pink and lilac, and I loved that room, but it was because my Grandpa did it for me, not because I loved those colors. Discouraged, | decided to pick something random...

I mumbled, “Blue.” “Pardon?” Veronica blinked atcuriously.

Shyness flashed in my expression. | couldn‘t explain how | ended up picturing Aren in his navy blue suit. | adored him in every kind of suit, but, for sreason, his sexiness reached a whole new level when he wore any shade of blue. “Blue.” Voicing that one word again filled my whole body with strange agitation. “Oh, that's perfect!” Veronica exclaimed, clasping her hands together. “We have a perfect design for decorations with light-blue and ” LITTIN “No.” | shook my head with confidence. “It cannot be light-blue. The shade must be darker, like cobalt blue, navy blue, or... indigo blue.” Her mouth curled into a mischievous grin, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Indigo blue! Let's go with indigo blue! It could be just perfect! We could order indigo flowers for the decorations and mix them with swhite, and it will look amazing!” She giggled, searching through her catalog to showwhat she had in mind.

The pictures she showedpresented amazing flower arrangements and fancy table settings. My lips rushed to form a smile as | saw the gentle mix of white and deep, vivid blue. I instinctively knew these colors suited him-- they suited us.

Veronica turned out to be a true genius in her profession, able to apply her clients‘ weirdest ideas and make them fit into reality. When she showedher previous creations, | felt that | was in good hands. At the stime, | kept comparing my level of visual creativity with all the colorful suggestions from her other clients and found myself dull. Sitting there with her and discussing the subtle differences between chiffon and organza was probably the most out of my comfort zone kind of thing | had ever done.

Fortunately, my clever wedding planner must have had a sixth sense telling her that I could hardly understand what she was saying. Therefore, she simplified her language the best way she could to not makefeel like an absolute idiot. She talkedthrough the different ways | could set up the outdoor aisle for the wedding. She suggested using multiple flower garlands to make magical, romantic curtains that would lead to the makeshift bower where Aren and | would say our vows.

Imagining every single detail felt bitter-sweet. It felt as if | was planning an event that could easily be every little girl's dream, except for the fact that it was all a facade. We weren‘t in love, and as much as | couldnt complain about my peculiar relationship with Aren, this marriage already had a termination date. In two years, we were supposed to go back to being strangers.

“Mr. Lan, over here!” Veronica called out to my husband-to-be, pullingout of my bemusement | turned my head around and saw Aren and Neil walking toward our table. My fiancé was wearing navy blue...

Had he noticed that | found him most attractive in that color? I bit my lip, taking in the magnificent sight of him.

As he caughtstaring at him, a wicked smirk formed on his lips. He nodded, greeting Veronica, and then sat next to me, smugly kissing my hand at hello.

Damn it! | was supposed to be pissed at him, but my freaking hormones would gladly makeact like a puppy, fawning over him! | ended up struggling not to smile while he grabbed my hand in his and placed it on his thigh.

To make matters even worse, my flusteredness was obvious to both Neil and Veronica. Once Aren‘s assistant sat down next to our wedding planner, | could see them grinning in enjoyment while observingblush around Aren. “Have you chosen anything yet?” Aren asked, shifting his eyes from Veronica to me. | smiled hesitantly, but before | said a single word, Veronica blurted out, “We will go with indigo blue.” “What?” Aren raised his eyebrows at me, his expression quickly turning to a deadly serious 195 all about the color one.

| gasped nervously. Was there anything wrong with choosing that color? The restlessness withinmixed with annoyance. He was the one who wantedto choose, and now he was showingthat he had a problem with my choice?! “Whose idea was that?” he asked, his tone firm and indifferent.

“Your fiancée,” Veronica announced proudly, rattingout.

him to keep on the act. Does anyone mind tellingwhat was wrong with my choice?! His grip on my hand tightened, but he didn’t say a single word. He shifted his eyes to Veronica instead “Let's add gold color to it as well,” he said, commandingly. “Excellent!” Veronica widened her eyes in excitement.

“It will add a touch of glamour, money, power—" “No,” Aren cut her off curtly, gently grasping a strand of my wavy hair. “I want it to represent my sunshine and her golden hair.” His voice, filled with tenderness, made my heart skip a beat.

I glanced at him, confused as he smiled with a warmth | had never seen in his expression. | smiled back at him, but a huge question mark stayed on my face as | tried to process what made him act the way he did.

My pounding heart didn‘t seem to slow down as Veronica explained to Aren the details of our wedding. | struggled to find any traces of his discontent on his face, but he stayed too focused on our wedding planner to letread him. He just kept my hand in his grasp, gently rubbing his thumb against my palm side, teasing my nerves, and arousing me. | knew that if | wanted to ask him about it, | had to wait for the end of our meeting. In the meantime, my restlessness grew to an insane level.

Finally, Veronica had written down our arrangements and left us alone in the café. Aren turned ‘my way with a smile and tenderly stroked my cheek. | was about to ask my question when the telephone ringing in his pocket took that opportunity away from me. | watched him walk away from the table to talk, an anxious grimace forming on my face.

Neil leaned forward on the table with a smirk. “I got to hand it to you—if you wanted my boss to lose his fucking head over you, then this was a master move.” | chuckled nervously. “I'm still not sure what I've done, and what is it about adding the gold color to represent me? Neil cleared his throat, his amusement rising by the second.

“Well... he calls you sunshine, so | assthat has something to do with your golden blond hair, and that's why he’s chosen gold to be your color.” He shrugged. “Yeah... | get that much, but what would represent him then?” | asked as my heart hammered against my chest. “The color you chose for him. The fact that you did it unknowingly is quite delightful. If | believed in such crap, | would say it's destiny at work to put you two together.” Neil leaned his back against his chair and grinned beamingly, “Calldumb, but I still don‘t get it,” | gave him a wry smile, Neil sighed, “Aren Lan is calculative and cold while making business decisions, but, like many successful businessmen, he often relies on his gamblers instinct. That sometimes makes him superstitious, especially when he notices a “sign,” helping him make his decision. And it so happens that his Chinese last name, Lan, means blue... or more like indigo blue.,” | gasped.

The change Blue. Now that | thought about it, it was the one color that had always been present in Aren’s surroundings. It was visible in Lan Diamond Tower's architectural design, in the blue shades of glass that formed a crystal vault.

It was also in Lan Diamond Corporation‘s logotype, not to mention, the most obvious example of Aren‘s enterprises -- the Blue Crystal Hotel. | had long known that Aren cherished his mother's name. Perhaps he thought that by making her name’s meaning present in his life, he could keep the memory of her vivid. | bet that it was also a clear message to the Winton family so they would know where his loyalty lay. | had never even thought that choosing the color of the flower arrangements and wedding decorations could have any significant meaning, but it did for Aren, and | kept grinning inwardly, overjoyed with the accidental right choice | made.

While Aren talked on the phone, Neil filledin that there was one more place we needed to go that day, | had to get myself a wedding dress and Aren needed a tuxedo. Neil was supposed to accompany Aren while | was going to get help from Miranda.

“Mr. Lan wants you to feel comfortable, so you may choose where to get the dress. We can either go to one of New York's finest bridal boutiques, or you can get a dress that is specially designed for you by a promising talent on the market and Mr. Lan’s friend, Michael Yang,” Neil explained as we walked toward the car.

Led by my sudden enthusiasm for everything Aren-related, | replied, “Then | will gladly visit Mr. Yang if he agrees to design a gown for me.” Neil nodded with approval and made a call to confirm my meeting with the designer. | couldn‘t hide my excitement. | had never been especially interested in the way | looked or what | wore, but | wanted the day of our wedding to be different. | wanted it to becspecial in every way, even if it was just an event that started our contractual marriage.

My joyous mood faded as soon as Aren got into the car with a deep frown on his face. He grabbed my hand and tried to cover his irritation with a warm smile he gave me, but the problem seemed to be too serious for him to keep his poker face. “What is it?” | asked, staring into his eyes with concern. He reached out his hand and stroked my cheek. “There was a problem with our European unit's supply. | know how to solve the problem, but | need to go to London in person.” | touched his hand on my cheek. “How long will you be gone?” He smiled wryly.

“I'm going to get my measurements taken, and then I'm flying out. I'll try to fix the problem as soon as possible.” The tone of his voice sounded different from the one | got used to hearing when he discussed business. It was almost soothing as if he was doing his best not to makeworry. Of course, that was the exact thing that madeworried...

| frowned. “What's the worst-case scenario?” He sighed heavily. “I will cback on our wedding day.” ““I'wo weeks...” | muttered nervously, “Veronica will take care of everything. Neil will send the invitations, and you can invite even a hundred people if you want to. You just need to let him know,” he coaxed.

| let out a humorless chuckle. “There are only six people in New York City that | could invite. and one of them is in a coma.” “Even better!” Neil interrupted, tuming his head around from the front seat. “Less work for me.” | glared at him. At that moment, | found his sarcasm searingly annoying. Fortunately, he caught the meaning of my stare and decided to stay silent for the rest of the way to the meeting with Mr. Yang.

Aren locked his gaze on me. “I'm sorry that I'm leaving you alone with all of this.” | forced myself to smile. “I won't be alone. Miranda will helpwith the dress, and there’s Veronica to handle the rest of the work. | will be fine,” | assured.

Aren narrowed his gaze at me. | knew that he could see right throughand notice how restless I was, but he decided to act as if he believed me.

“You will do perfectly, sunshine.” His warm encouragement made my heart pound again.

Soon after that, we arrived in front of a red brick building, Mr. Yang's atelier. Miranda was already waiting by the entrance. Aren got out of the car with me, and the three of us walked inside. As soon as we passed the threshold, a willowy-this Asian rushed toward us.

“Miranda, Aren! What a pleasant surprise!” he exclaimed, spreading his arms wide before his eyes landed on me.

“Well, hello there, cutie pie,” he purred sassily.

A second later, Aren’s hand wrapped around my waist, possessively pullingclose to him.” Watch it, Michael.

Don't try anything weird around my fiancée,” he hissed.

Miranda stepped between the two, heaving an audible sigh of annoyance. “For God's sake, Aren! You know damn well that he would much rather bang you than your fiancée. And Michael, you shouldn‘t joke around like that...

Aren’s is peculiarly sensitive when it comes to Cora.” | watched the whole scene with a nervous smile on my face. Aren still held his hand tightly around my waist, yet | chose to ignore that fact and stretched out my hand toward Michael.

“Hi. My nis Cora Bell. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Yang.” He giggled, slightly covering his mouth with his hand. “Please callMichael.” He reached out his slender arm for a feathery-gentle handshake.

“Great! The introduction is over!” Miranda clasped her hands. “Now, can we get to work already?” she urged.

“Certainly, my dear,” said Michael, gesturing at the opened door, leading to his atelier. Miranda walked in first, and Michael was right behind her. | wanted to follow them, but then Aren grabbed my hand and stoppedin the corridor.

2/3 “Sunshine, | need to go now, and we probably won't see each other until our wedding, but there is something | wanted to give you,” he said, grabbing my hands in his. “I wish that i could have given you this personally, but there's no time. You will have to go and take it yourself. It's in my bedroom.” “It's OK,” | breathed out, unable to hide the fact that his words madeterribly anxious.

“It's something that belonged to my Mother...” | swallowed hard and raised my eyebrows at him. “Are you serious? You wantto have something that was your mother's?” “Yes,” he replied before kissing my forehead. “It's in my safe, behind the wall mirror.” “Are you certain that you wantto open your safe?” My eyes kept scanning his face, trying to find traces of insanity. He smirked, his seductive gaze sending a wave of heat through my body. “Mother toldto give it to the woman | was going to marry. It so happens that that's you.” “B-but this is just a contract marriage...” | burst into awkward laughter. His arms slid around my waist. “Beautiful, I'm not planning to marry anyone else.” “What?” was the only word | was able to choke out before he sealed my lips, kissingpassionately. His arms pulledcloser, pressingagainst his body. My hands instinctively traveled to his neck, feeling the need to touch him. | couldnt care less if Miranda or Michael were watching us. It was tto admit it-Aren was my addiction, and each dose of him felt more and more intoxicating. | didn‘t know how long our kiss lasted. All | could tell was that my lips were already puffy and swollen when Aren leaned back. “I need to go now, beautiful,” he said, placing one more sweet peck on my forehead. “Wait!” | called out, as he was about to exit the building. “Your safe... You didn't tellthe code...” He smiled warmly. “The code is the date when we met,” he said before disappearing behind the door.

| stood still in a daze, staring at the door. My heart thundered erratically. Putting together the most recent minutes of my life, | muttered, helplessly wondering, “What the hell has just happened?”