The CEO's Rejected Wife And Secret Heir novel Chapter 178

Chapter 178: Chapter 178: The Gist

Aria pov

I lowered my voice even though he was too far to hear. "Let’s just say... I’ve been riding him like it’s my job. Multiple times a day. He tried to call a truce last night—said his ’sperm bank was on fumes’ and if he kept going he’d faint and end up in the headlines as ’CEO collapses from exhaustion and too much sex.’ I had to let him sleep for like fifteen minutes before I was climbing on him again."

Olivia let out a loud, delighted scream that made me pull the phone away from my ear. "LET THAT MAN LIVE, ARIA!"

I laughed so hard I almost slipped off the railing. "I’m trying! He’s the one who keeps looking at me like he wants round five even when he’s half-dead."

"He’s probably terrified and thrilled at the same time," she said, still cackling. "You finally got your hands on him without all the baggage, and now you’re making up for the lost weeks in six days. I respect it. But maybe feed him some electrolytes or something. The man needs to survive the honeymoon to enjoy the baby."

"I’ll consider it," I said, grinning. "He’s coming over now, so I have to go."

"Tell him I said hi, and tell him to hydrate," she called. "And Aria?"

"Yeah?"

"I’m really happy for you. Like, stupid happy. You deserve this."

My throat tightened a little. "Thanks, Liv."

"Call me tomorrow. I want updates on whether he makes it to day four."

I have to go," I told Olivia "Dinner’s ready."

"Good. Eat something. You’re growing a person," she’d said right before we hung up.

I hung up still smiling, just as Damien stepped out onto the deck, two glasses of sparkling water in hand—no alcohol for me, and he’d switched too without me asking.

"Everything okay?" he asked, handing me one.

"Olivia says hi. And she says you need to hydrate."

He raised an eyebrow, lips twitching. "She knows about the... truce negotiations?"

"She knows enough." I took a sip, watching him over the rim. "She screamed ’let that man live’ when I told her how many times I’ve tried to kill you with sex."

He laughed—low, tired, but real—and sat beside me on the railing, our thighs touching. "She’s not wrong. But I’m not complaining."

"Good." I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Because I’m not done yet."

He wrapped an arm around me, hand settling warm over my stomach like always. "Noted."

We stayed like that for a minute, the lanterns flickering, dinner cooling behind us on the table. The water lapped softly below, steady and calm, but I could feel the post-call tension still humming under my skin—Olivia’s words, the update about Charles, all of it lingering on my tongue.

Damien must have felt it too. He shifted slightly, his thumb pausing its slow circles on my belly as he studied my face in that quiet, accurate way of his—the one that still caught me off guard sometimes.

"Barnes?" he asked, voice low, almost gentle.

"Charles moved." I felt his arm tighten. "Olivia said Barnes has it covered."

"He does." His voice was steady. "We have two more days here. I’d like to give you those two days."

I looked up at him. The lantern light moved across his face, warm and shifting.

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