|| Veronica ||

Bright sunlight hit my face, making my eyes flutter open to the breathtaking sight of the sparkling clear ocean through the screen wall.

I sat up and realized that I slept the whole night on the couch with no blanket.

What the actual fuck? No one put a blanket on me? Did things like these only happen in the movies? I wondered, baffled.

I checked the time on my phone to find it was only six in the morning that meant I hadn't slept all that much. I stretched my arms and got down from the couch, deciding to freshen up.

From what I heard last night, my luggage was in the master bedroom. Not finding any bedrooms downstairs, I climbed up the marble stairs. I found a single door upstairs and stepped in without knocking.

As I tiptoed inside, I found Aaron sleeping on his stomach, shirtless. With much difficulty, I tore my gaze away from the protruding muscles which were disp

|| Veronica ||

"Do you usually do this much shopping or are you just wasting my money?" Aaron asked while following behind me in the shopping mall.

"And are you usually this inhumane or are you just mean to me?" I fired back, shooting him a glare.

I was carrying more than ten shopping bags, yet that jerk didn't offer to help me and was casually walking with his hands in his pockets.

Like I didn't answer his question, he didn't as well and entered a watch shop. I huffed and trailed behind him. I placed the bags in a corner and stood beside Aaron as he was looking for a suitable wristwatch.

"Can you show me the most expensive wristwatch you have got?" I asked the man on the counter.

"If you think you can make my credit card decline by buying useless expensive things, then you are dead wrong. Even if you buy everything in this mall, you still won't be able to make me go bankrupt," Aar

|| Veronica ||

I rolled over the unfamiliar bed, trying to go back to sleep, but I couldn't. Thousands of thoughts were clouding my mind.

Why did he betray me? that was my primary thought and the biggest mystery of my life now. Regardless of his reasons, it was true that he didn't keep his words, which was enough reason for me to loathe him with all I could.

Thwarted, I threw off the duvet and stood up. I made my way out of the room to find Aaron sitting comfortably on his seat, working on his laptop with a few flight attendants standing near him at his service.

I took a glance at my lacy white top and denim shorts before plopping down on the seat in front of him. Aaron didn't even bother acknowledging my presence.

"How long till we land?" I asked one of the attendants, grabbing a magazine from the table, not wanting to create a scene in front of others' presence, even though my blood was boiling to get some answers and yell my lungs out at him.

The lady politely answered, "Eight more hours till we reach the Maldives, ma'am."

Currently, Aaron and I were on our way to our so-called honeymoon destination. I randomly selected the Maldives because of its beautiful crystal clear sea and beach since I didn't expect to actually go there.

From the moment I got on his private jet, I locked myself in the private room. And after thirteen hours, I came out. I didn't say a word to him in the car, either. I was pretending like he didn't exist. Because if I talked to him in presence of no one else, I would end up shouting at him.

I looked outside the window, my vision started to get hazy as a certain fact kept poking me.

I am married.

"Ugh!" I let out a loud groan, threading my finger through my silky hair, trying to pull my scalp out of frustration, earning weird looks from the flight attendants. "Can you all give us some privacy, please?" I let out and they quickly scurried away without another word.

A pin-drop silence spread across the space as it was just me and Aaron with only the sound of his fingers typing swiftly on the keyboard.

"I want to talk to you," I started calmly after placing my elbows on the counter, but he didn't pay any heed.

Anger fueled within me. I hated it when someone deliberately ignored me. I already had a short-temper, and people like him infuriated me the most.

I shut down his laptop abruptly, almost squeezing his fingers in between. He winced and pulled out his fingers. "What the hell is your problem?" he snapped.

"What the hell is your problem? Why the fuck did you marry me?" I questioned, raising my voice.

"My wish," he responded in the same tone as me. I resisted my urge to strangle him and dug my nails into my forearm.

"But you promised me you won't come to the altar," I spat out. How could he just play with my life because of his silly wish?

"I had a change of mind. Now, shall I give a written explanation as to why my mind decided to change?"

"You are bound to," I stated. Of course, he needed to explain it to me. I needed to know why he did that.

"No, I am not. I won't answer any of your questions if I don't feel like it, and you can't force me either," he declared, making me clench my jaw.

"I'm your wife," I blurted out the cruel fact.

"I don't accept you as my wife," he stated, massaging his forehead with his fingers as if he was having a headache. Well, I hoped his head would explode right there.

And what a jerk he was. He was the one who said there would be consequences if I didn't marry him. In a way, he forced me. Still, he dared say he didn't accept me? Only I can say that.

"You—" I was abruptly cut off by him.

"Don't speak another word," he ordered. My face twisted in disbelief. Who the fuck did he think he was to order me around?

"How dare you?" I let out, letting my voice sore higher than before.

"I'm in a horrible mood. You will keep quiet if you want a peaceful mutual divorce. Or else, I can and I will drag you around the court for years for that divorce," he threatened, a slight look of anger in his mostly emotionless face. It made my nose flare in rage.

I stood up and slammed my palm on top of his laptop, not caring if I happened to break it. "If you think you are the only one with power, then you are wrong, Mr. Aldridge," I challenged.

"Oh, really?" he mused and stood up from his seat. He had a fierce look on his face as he seemed very pissed off. All of a sudden, he slammed his palm on the counter, making me flinch slightly, and caged his arms on both of my sides.

Aaron leaned closer to my ear, his warm breath fanning on my cheek. For some reason, I had forgotten to breathe due to his proximity. His body was only inches away from him.

"If I want, I can do anything I want with you here, and no one can stop me, not even you. So, think before you speak," Aaron murmured dangerously in my ears.

I gulped and took a deep breath. Proximity didn't scare me. I was a professional actress, I had done more than enough scenes like this. So, instead of backing away, I lunged forward, making our chests collide, our face even closer. "You do not scare me. You never will."

He shifted his gaze to my lips and said, "Oh, is that so? Let's give it a try then." He was about to lean closer to my lips. The image of that night again flashed in my head, which made me panic slightly.

"I will file a molestation case if you do so."

Aaron twitched his lips. "But I'm your husband."

"Abusive husband," I corrected.

"How can I be an abusive husband when we just got married yesterday?" He arched an eyebrow.

"Don't worry. I have my ways. I will put fake allegations on you," I said proudly and raised my imaginary collar.

Aaron resisted a smile from taking over his face and backed away, turning his head around. A sigh of relief escaped my lips.

"You better not try to take advantage of an innocent girl like me. I have a black belt in taekwondo," I announced and formed my fists in balls, crossing them protectively in a way to defend myself.

"What an unfortunate coincidence. I too have a black belt in taekwondo." It piqued my interest. Even though we had a lot in common, nothing could be more different than our personalities.

"You wanna bring it on, then?" I urged, throwing a few punches in the air, ready to break his nose in the first hit.

"Too exhausted for your crap." Aaron rolled his eyes and put his hands in his pocket, entering the room I came out from earlier.

He closed the door with a thud, and I pouted. I plopped down on the comfortable seat and stared outside the windows, letting the unwanted thoughts consume me.

°°°°°

It was around midnight when we landed in the Maldives. Now, Aaron and I were in the car, on our way to the beach resort.

I was starting to doze off as the exhaustion of the hectics of my wedding and jet lag was starting to get to me.

I was fighting to keep my eyelids open while my head started to tilt towards my left. I was trying to find a comfortable position until my head rested on something hard but comfortable. I scooted closer to find warmth only to get flicked on my head.

I threw daggers at the grumpy person on my left for blowing away my sleep.

"Move away," Aaron grumbled.

I grunted and scooted to the furthest right corner. How rude! Would I infect him if I rested my head on his shoulder for a few minutes?

I pressed my lips in a thin line and gazed out the window. The ocean came into my view, and it was gorgeous. The full moon shining over made it look even more ethereal. Such perfect scenery. It would have been so much better if I came here alone, not at least with a hated person.

I don't know when I fell into a slumber but when I opened my eyes again, my feet were dangling in the air and I was in someone's arms. I couldn't see anything as it was too dark. I was about to let out a scream, feeling as though Aaron might have sold me to a group of bandits.

That's when a familiar voice spoke up, "Turn on the lights."

Immediately, the lights illuminated and I was welcomed with the sight of Aaron's handsome face from up close. Once I looked around, I realized that we had arrived in our resort bungalow.

"Place the luggage inside," Aaron instructed his guards.

"Put me down," I spoke up sternly, which made Aaron turn his gaze at me.

Nonchalantly, he dropped on the black leather couch in the living room.

"What the heck, dude?" I winced as I seemed to have hurt my back a little.

"You told me to put you down. Be grateful that I didn't drop you on the floor." Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Why did you even carry me? You should have woken me up," I pointed out, sitting on my knees on the couch, still rubbing my back.

Was he trying to take advantage of me? Though I won't blame him completely. After all, I made men attracted towards me like a strong magnet.

"It's because everyone was staring at me with expectant eyes to carry your heavy body," he shrugged, frowning at the thought of it. My bubble of fantasy burst, making an enraged look take over my face.

"Who is heavy? Me? Are you kidding? I don't even weigh more than—"

"I don't need to know your weight," he interrupted me.

I scowled at him and laid back on the couch, too exhausted to bicker with him. "Let's continue this in the morning," I managed to mumble before sleep started taking over me.

I didn't hear what exactly Aaron said, something like how someone could fall asleep on the couch so quickly. Well, he didn't know but whenever I was tired, I would just take a power nap on the couch during my shoots.

I diverged into a deep slumber, hoping for all of it to be a bad dream. I wanted to wake up in my bedroom as a single, unmarried woman, never having any memories of Aaron Aldridge.

However, it was only a fantasy. My fate was sealed. Whether the two of us accepted it or not, we both were now husband and wife.


|| Veronica ||

Bright sunlight hit my face, making my eyes flutter open to the breathtaking sight of the sparkling clear ocean through the screen wall.

I sat up and realized that I slept the whole night on the couch with no blanket.

What the actual fuck? No one put a blanket on me? Did things like these only happen in the movies? I wondered, baffled.

I checked the time on my phone to find it was only six in the morning that meant I hadn't slept all that much. I stretched my arms and got down from the couch, deciding to freshen up.

From what I heard last night, my luggage was in the master bedroom. Not finding any bedrooms downstairs, I climbed up the marble stairs. I found a single door upstairs and stepped in without knocking.

As I tiptoed inside, I found Aaron sleeping on his stomach, shirtless. With much difficulty, I tore my gaze away from the protruding muscles which were displayed on his back and shoulders and made my way to the closet.

If I didn't want to see Aaron's face

Chapter 6: Photo Act