Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ novel Chapter 56

The Gift 

“Oh My God!” I heard Michael exclaim behind my back, and Miranda‘s wicked chuckle followed 

As I turned around, I saw Miranda, leaning her back against the door frame with her hands crossed over her chest, Michael stood on the threshold, his mouth open wide in shock as he looked at me 

“What have you done to him?” he asked, his eyes wide in terror, “Are you a witch or something Or is he on drugs? If you led him with something that makes him act like this, then girl, I want to meet your supplier!” he demanded, still looking at me as if I were an extraterrestrial species, 

Miranda prodded his elbow. “I told you, she‘s special.” 

I laughed nervously, walking their way, “Truthfully, I don‘t know what happened just now... He... He just...” | paused, frantically searching for words to describe it, but my mind was one hot mess. 

Miranda grinned and winked at me. “Let‘s get inside and talk. And you...” She pointed at Michael. “Get that prosecco out of the fridge and three glasses. We would need those.” Michael nodded while his mouth stayed open, his mind ineptly processing the images he saw. Miranda grabbed my hand and led me to the three–piece, Louis XVI–style suite with the same style table that stood in the middle of his spacious atelier. She sat me down on the sofa before taking the chair. A minute later, Michael joined us with a bottle and glasses. 

“So, mind telling me what happened to my stone–heart friend?” he asked me as he uncorked the prosecco, before pouring the sparkling liquid into the glasses. “I wish I knew...” An awkward chuckle escaped my throat. “Miranda told me before that he acted differently around me, not like he used to, but today... something changed.” 

Miranda took her glass from the table and leaned toward me, grinning with her eyes narrowed interrogatively at me. “So, what happened earlier today?” 

Michael quickly joined her, and a second later, I found their gazes locked on me, urging me to talk 

“Well… I was asked to pick the color for our wedding decorations. Somehow, the wedding planner and I ended up picking an indigo blue. I didn‘t know that it was Aren‘s last name meaning though,” I said and took a big gulp from my glass. Michael and Miranda blinked their eyes at me before bursting out into laughter. They laughed for a minute until any of them could choke out a word. “How did Aren react to that?” Miranda finally asked, wiping off the tears of laughter. I took another sip from the glass. “He said that we should add gold color as well... so it could represent me.” 

Their loud peal of laughter filled the room the second the final syllable left my throat. I sighed 

14 

The Gift 

heavily, reluctantly becoming their main source of entertainment. 

“Girl, you placed a leash on that guy! I‘ve never seen him so close to being head over heels for anyone in my life!” Michael announced, gesturing so widely he almost spilled his wine on the floor. 1 

I blushed. My lips curled into a beaming grin before I realized it. I would be a stinky liar if I said that I didn‘t want their words to be true, but I was still afraid to trust what I saw and heard. The memory of Aren‘s voice, telling me that we would never be in a real relationship, was still vivid in my mind. Did he change his mind? If not, then what did his behavior mean? 

Once we had drunk the entire bottle, the subject of our conversation shifted from my relationship with Aren to my wedding dress. Michael made me try on twenty of his designed gowns, as if I were his favorite doll. 

“Now, I finally know what you need,” he said, grabbing a sheet of paper and starting to sketch something Miranda and I silently watched his hand draw swift lines that eventually blended into a beautiful gown design. When he finished, he proudly turned the sheet of paper our way so we could judge his creation. Once I saw the sketch, my heart began to pound. He had drawn a beautiful dress with a jewel neckline, a waistline that was delicately outlined with a band, and a mermaid skirt with a fishtail back. 

I nodded, already feeling excited about it. The bright grin on my face made Miranda chuckle. “If that cold–blooded businessman you are getting married to is not in love with you right now, he will surely fall in love once he sees you in that dress.” 

My cheeks blazed with fiery blush. Him, falling in love with me... Was that even possible? 

I sat on Aren‘s bed. My hands brushed his sheets, letting the traces of his scent fill the air around me. I bit my lip, thinking how badly I wanted to feel his arms around me and his lips clashing with mine. As my mind started to produce tons of lewd ideas about using anything that smelled like him to satisfy myself, I was in serious need of a distraction. Luckily, the sound of the incoming message pulled me back to the land of sane, yet the indecent thoughts came back in a rush as I found the message was from Aren. “Have you found the safe?”