My eyelids flicker as I feel a soft kiss on my cheek. It wakes me up, but my eyes still feel so heavy I can't really open them.

Once my blur vision becomes better, I can make out Aiden smiling down at me. He's already in his office suit, and rays of sunlight cast upon his handsome face. The sight makes me wonder if I'm still in a dream.

"You can sleep again," he says in a soothing voice. "I just want to let you know that I have to leave early for a factory visit."

I squint, trying to sit up properly on my bed, but Aiden makes me lie down again.

He places a kiss on my forehead. "Just rest again, Heaven. You told me that you didn't have any morning classes today."

Now that I think about it, he's right. I want to get up and send him off at the door, but I need time to muster all my energy.

"I'll see you again later this evening," he says.

"Okay," I say in a hoarse voice.

I sound groggy, and that makes me want to bury myself. I don't even want to know how I look right now. Aiden looks so perfect while I'm a sleepyhead mess.

He chuckles lightly. I watch with a lost expression as he walks out of my room.

These little things between us make me wonder all over again if all of this is real. Despite this huge feeling inside me that I know I can't stop anymore, I can't help but feel that I'm just a kid. Being together with Aiden makes me think whether I deserve him or not.

I flop my head back into my pillow, staring at the ceiling as I pull my blanket up. I close my eyes, trying to sleep again so that I can get rid of this overthinking habit. It fails because I suddenly don't feel sleepy anymore.

I blink. Once. Twice. My head is already filled with Aiden again, especially about the moments with his family yesterday. I still can't believe that it happened and that his parents were being so nice to me.

His mother is the sweetest person ever. The things she said to me when we parted make me feel that I mean so much to Aiden.

Even though I always try to deny this happiness, things have indeed gotten real between us. I can't help but think so.

But then, why do I still have this fear inside me?

Why am I feeling scared, so very much scared? Like everything can end in a blink of an eye.

My eyes squeeze shut as I lie on my side. I want to sleep again, but I can't. It's pointless because my mind has already been clogged up.

I groan, getting out of my bed. Just like any other morning, I need my usual cup of hot tea, so I walk out of my room and head to the kitchen. The first person I see when I step into the site is Ashton. He's sitting on a stool at the counter, sipping his coffee and reading a newspaper.

My legs stop short as I stare at him. The lunch meeting with Aiden's parents flashes back in my mind. I have so many questions in my head.

Ashton notices my presence and puts his coffee down. "Morning."

"Morning," I greet him back.

I sit on the stool beside him while Ian places a cup of hot chamomile tea on the counter for me. I mouth a 'thank you' to Ian, and he smiles, walking back into the kitchen.

I sip my drink and sigh. My eyes narrow to Ashton again, who's now checking his phone, probably to settle some things in the office while Aiden is away.

"About Aiden's parents..." I start, unable to hold myself. This curiosity is killing me.

Ashton looks up at me, putting his phone back into his pocket. My words seem to have earned me his full attention.

"Did you really tell his father what had been going on?"

Ashton sighs. His eyes soften as he sees the puzzled look on my face.

"It was always the usual talk in which he asked how Aiden had been doing," Ashton says. "For a father to worry about his son was something that one would have expected, wasn't it? I couldn't hide things from Luke. I never could and never will."

I nod in understanding. "So, all this time, he knew all along that Aiden was helping me out? That I'd been living here?"

"Yes," Ashton says. 

"Did he not say something against it?" I can't help but ask. I know the answer, but maybe Aiden's parents didn't like me at first. "Did the idea of having a stranger inside this house displease him--"

"Come on, Nevaeh," Ashton cuts me off. "You're no stranger. You're Max's cousin." When I don't say anything, Ashton sighs again. "Besides, he knew that Aiden was trying to help you out after the incident with the security guard downstairs. It was Aiden's effort to amend the situation and take full responsibility."

Slight relief washes over me. Considering that Aiden is the heir of an influential family and the successor of Klein Enterprise, I thought that his parents would have had high expectations for the woman he was seeing. I just came out of the blue as a helpless teenager, but they apparently don't have a problem with that.

"Actually," Ashton pauses, "when you came here that night after the incident, it wasn't the first time that I saw you."

I frown, not understanding what Ashton means.

"It was very surprising that you were that girl," he says. "I doubted it, but it was a sight that wasn't easy to forget. I knew that it was you."

I freeze. My heart beats like a drum in my chest.

Ashton smiles knowingly. "Two years ago, Aiden stayed at the altar for two consecutive nights, waiting for his bride to miraculously come back."

My breath catches in my throat. I still remember that moment vividly, and the fact that Ashton is suddenly bringing this up makes my head spin.

"At the worst point of Aiden's life, when he was mentally destroyed and felt like his life crumbled, and even though he wanted everybody gone from that site, do you think that Luke would let him be alone in that state?" he throws me a rhetorical question and shakes his head. "No. Luke ordered me to stay, to watch over him. I was there, watching him from afar. I watched him break down, and I watched you cry for him."

My hand shakes as I cover my mouth. I never thought that someone would have seen me that night.

"You didn't just cry," Ashton says with a serious expression. "You broke down too. You wept for him. You were shaking with pain like you would die with him."

Tears pool in my eyes.

I did. I did feel like I was shattered into pieces while watching Aiden crumble.

Even after that night, it still hurt to remember.

"I'd never seen something that made me utterly speechless until I saw both of you that night," Ashton says. He waits for me to take all of this in, trying to read me. "It was unbelievable, but it was also beautiful to watch that the girl who wept for him came back into his life to heal that same heart she was crying for. A coincidence? Yes. But maybe not. Maybe it was meant to be. I can't help but think about that."

I take a deep breath to calm down. "Did you tell Aiden about this? Or are you planning to?"

"No, I haven't told him about this." Ashton scrutinizes me. "Should I?"

I abruptly shake my head. "No."

I don't want Aiden to question why I was there in the first place. Now, I feel like the truth is mocking me, waiting to be revealed. It's calling me out.

Yet, I still don't know how to tell Aiden. I'm too scared.

"I have a question I've been wondering for a long time." Ashton tilts his head, watching me. "Two years ago, why did you go back there?"

I feel like the world stops moving. I can never answer this question.

"Families and guests had already left the wedding venue two days before," Ashton says. "Why did you suddenly go back?"

I look away, avoiding his question. I can't even tell a lie or make up stories because I've already felt pathetic enough.

Hearing nothing from me, Ashton says, "You can't tell me. That's fine." His voice is filled with disappointment, and my heart drops.

Ashton doesn't push me to answer, but I know that he's still curious.