Too Late Mr. White! I'm Married To Your Rival Now novel Chapter 154

Aria POV

I sat on the bed for a while, lost in thought, before finally sighing and grabbing my pajamas, ready to wash up and sleep.

A proper wife should wait up for her husband to return from his business engagements. But tonight, I didn’t feel like being a proper wife. It wasn’t a real marriage anyway—just a convenient arrangement, each of us getting what we needed.

Who cared? He didn’t like me!

By exactly nine o’clock, I had already showered and buried myself in the soft bedding. My mood hadn’t improved much, but after two consecutive nights of insomnia, overwhelming drowsiness finally took over. Within ten minutes of turning off the lights, I was fast asleep.

---

I woke up extremely early the next day—after all, I’d gone to bed so early the night before. A little past six, I got up, carefully applied my makeup, put on a cute dress and flats, and went straight downstairs to hail a cab to Lillian’s apartment.

Hmph! I was deliberately avoiding Aiden. Since he was so guarded and drew such clear boundaries, I wasn’t the type to shamelessly cling to him anyway. From now on, no unnecessary contact—just maintain the facade of a perfect couple!

The sky wasn’t fully light yet when I arrived at Lillian’s building, just before seven. I bought breakfast for two and went upstairs, ringing the doorbell several times before a drowsy Lillian finally answered.

“Am I dreaming?” she mumbled, squinting. “What time is it?”

“Seven. Is that early?” I said, deftly slipping past her into the apartment.

Lillian struggled to focus on the wall clock and muttered a curse under her breath. It was only 6:45.

“Aria, have you lost your mind?”

Lillian had only gone to bed at two in the morning, planning to catch up on sleep during the weekend, only to be woken up at this ungodly hour.

She ran a hand through her bird’s-nest hair and watched as I efficiently laid out breakfast on her dining table.

“Go brush your teeth,” I instructed cheerfully.

She gave me a pitiful look, but I nudged her into the bathroom, even squeezing toothpaste onto her brush for her. “Time is precious! Let’s eat quickly and head out early!”

“Aria,” she protested through a mouthful of toothpaste foam, “I’m pretty sure we agreed on meeting at noon.”

“Did we? Well, I’m already here—you can’t expect me to go back now and come again at noon, can you?”

Lillian let out an exaggerated sigh. It seemed all her patience for the month had been used up in this single morning.

She was still yawning repeatedly when she emerged from the bathroom. What could she do? I was already seated at the table, happily eating my breakfast.

She sat down opposite me, took a sip of warm water to wake herself up, and then eyed me suspiciously. “You’re acting strange, Aria.”

My hand trembled, nearly spilling the soy milk.

“Nonsense. You’re still half-asleep and hallucinating,” I insisted, feigning calm as I kept eating.

Lillian snorted. “Don’t play dumb. Did you have trouble sleeping last night?”

She studied my face closely. “Wait, no dark circles. Then why are you up so early? More importantly, why are you torturing me? Spill it!”

I glanced at her. “So you’re just mad I came too early.”

“Don’t change the subject. Is it because of Aiden? Did you two have a fight?”

Knowing I couldn’t hide anything from my seasoned best friend, I decided to lay it all out. “Does Aiden Carter seem like the type to argue with me?”

“Then why not sleep in? Avoiding him?”

“…I went to bed right after texting you last night and woke up naturally at six. I didn’t want to spend the morning at home with him, glaring at each other, so I came to you.”

I took an aggressive bite of my steamed bun, as if it were Aiden’s head. “He’s so guarded and distant? Fine, I get the message! From now on, no unnecessary contact. We’ll just play the loving couple in public!”

“You know,” Lillian said thoughtfully, “right now, you really seem like a little girl throwing a tantrum with her boyfriend.” She paused, then added, “Bet if Aiden called you right now, you’d drop me and run back to him.”

---

**Author’s POV**

The previous night, at exactly nine o’clock, the Maybach glided smoothly into the villa’s courtyard. Aiden, dressed in a crisp black suit, stepped out and instinctively looked up toward the second-floor bedroom. The entire floor was dark.

He frowned almost imperceptibly and entered the house. The first-floor living room, which should have been warmly lit, was also pitch dark. He silently changed his shoes and went straight upstairs.

The music room was, as expected, empty. The door to her bedroom was firmly shut.

He knew she kept a regular schedule, but going to bed by nine was unusually early.

Had she gone out?

Aiden took out his phone to check. Aside from a few work updates from his assistant, Miller, there was no message from her. This was unusual.

He stood silently outside her closed door for a moment, then turned to retrieve the spare key from his room and pushed the door open with utmost care.

In the faint moonlight filtering through the window, he could clearly make out the slight mound under the covers—she was already asleep.

The ghost of a smile touched his lips. Aria was so sweet, even her sleeping posture was utterly charming.

Aiden watched her quietly by the bedside for a long time before finally pressing a kiss to her forehead and gently closing the door behind him.

If he weren’t worried about disturbing her sleep, he would have made love to her right then, passionately and without restraint.

But right now, there was something even more urgent than physical intimacy.

He needed Aria to see her own heart clearly.

More than desiring her body, he yearned to claim her heart.