Breaking Free, Loving Again -The Flash Marriage with Mr. CEO-Chapter 457: By fate.

Gianna felt tears prick her eyes. She didn't know what the future held, but hearing Arwen say this filled her with a sense of relief.

"Gosh … hearing you say all that suddenly makes me fall in love too," she said, wiping her eyes before the tears could fall and embarrass her. " I want to experience it myself —to see if everyone turns this poetic when they fall."

Arwen raised an amused brow. "You want to fall in love?" she repeated, teasing. "And here I thought love was your sworn enemy. I still remember back in university, you practically vowed to never fall for a man. What was it you said? 'I would rather love a dog than fall for a species called man'?"

Gianna was at once flustered. She coughed, trying to brush it off, but Arwen's expectant gaze made it impossible to escape.

"Ahem, ahem! You can't blame me for that vow, actually," she said defensively.

Arwen hummed as if truly entertained. "Oh really?" she asked, crossing her arms. "Then who do I blame if not you?"

Gianna thought for a second, then looked straight at her with certainty. "You and Ryan," she said. "It was because of you two that I gave up believing in love —or in men. Did you forget what kind of torment he put you through every day? Watching you with him, imagining the future you were meant to share … it terrified me. So, of course, I got scared. What else would make me vow something like that even without having any experience in love?"

Arwen was taken aback. She opened her mouth to retort, but paused, realizing Gianna wasn't entirely wrong.

Back then, she hadn't believed in love either. She had accepted Ryan and the arrangement between their families because she had to —because she thought there was no way out, and over time, she would learn to manage it better. She stayed caged in that belief, convinced she had no choice.

It wasn't until she met Aiden that she realized love wasn't some far-fetched dream. With the right person … love was the most beautiful feeling in the world.

"It's only now —seeing you with my uncle —that I realized love isn't as repulsive as I thought it to be," Gianna admitted softly. "Maybe I will give it a try someday … see if it works for me."

Arwen didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her words. The way Gianna said it made it sound like a skincare product she would test to see if it suited her skin type.

Shaking her head with a smile, she said gently, "Love is a common feeling, Anna, but what makes it special is the person you share it with. If you fall for the right person, it becomes the most ethereal emotion you will ever experience. But if not … it can be the worst pain you will ever endure. So, while making a choice, choose it wisely."

"Really?" Gianna blinked. "Is it really that difficult? "

Arwen was about to say something when Gianna asked again.

"When you chose my uncle, was it the same?"

And there she halted. She stared at her in her eyes, opening her mouth to speak, but then changed her idea and shook her head. "Actually, I said it wrong," Arwen said, her words slow but deliberate. "When it comes to love, you don't need to make a choice."

"Then?" Gianna asked, curious.

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Arwen smiled. "You just have to let it happen. Believe in fate and destiny. It will always bring the right one to you —sometimes sooner, sometimes later and sometimes at the right time."

That's how she met Aiden —by fate.

Not because she chose him, but because fate chose them together.

***

The next day, as Gianna had said, she decided to leave the very moment they completed breakfast.

Arwen stared at her and said, "You are making it look like I was having some kind of extra-marital affair. Now that my husband is returning, I am sending away my lover."

Gianna almost choked at those words. Glaring at her friend, she said, "Can you choose your words better. Do you even realize what dire consequences I would have to face if your husband even doubts this? He will have my head served grilled for tomorrow's breakfast. That too only because he will be back in the evening, otherwise, instead of breakfast, he would have had it for dinner."

Arwen chuckled at her exaggeration. Shaking her head, she simply suggested. "If you want, I can always present him with that idea. It would just need me a few sweet words, hugs and kisses, you know." She said as she stepped forward with open arms.

But Gianna stepped back, intensifying her glare, "You —you sure have guts. But sorry, I don't have it. If you want to die so badly, go and die yourself. Don't drag me along. I value my life more than I admit. And hence I will leave before you can try something crazy."

Arwen laughed, enjoying teasing her friend.

With that, she quickly gestured to Mr. Jones, who asked someone to carry the luggage out. Giving a small hug to Arwen, Gianna soon left.

Arwen watched her car disappear, and when it was gone, she returned and turned to look back at the clock. Her lips curling up in anticipation.

A few more hours to go …