The convenient marriage

Chapter 21. A sleepless night

But it seemed that his assumption of how she felt about the situation was a little more positive, alright much more positive, than it actually was.  His heart ached a bit knowing he was the one who caused her unrest, but it was the only way to change her current view of him. A view that absolutely needed to be changed until the twins were born. It was imperative for her to regard him as her husband before then.

The time limit of the contract he had previously signed with Aria, before the latter lost her memories, was until the first child between them was born or five years had passed without conceiving a child. As the first condition was met, then the proceedings for the divorce would begin with the twin's birth. Aria, fearing he might change his mind later, demanded when they signed the contract to sign the divorce papers as well, and leave the documents to Aria's lawyer for safekeeping.

To avoid suspicions from the public's eyes, they would still be a married couple for a bit longer, then after a month had passed from the birth, her lawyer would submit the divorce paper that he had in his possession to be processed. And the only one person who could stop the procedure from happening was Aria. As long as Aria would fall in love with him, when the lawyer would call  to confirm her orders one last time, she would cancel moving forward with the divorce. Thus he could only press forward in this manner.

'Aria, the meal is getting colder.' Zane reminded once again looking at the woman, who finally reacted to his words.

'Ahhh... alright.' She replied and started to eat the food Zane had just microwaved. Although the food still tasted alright once it was warmed up, its taste could not compare to freshly made food. But to Aria right now it made no difference.

She just ate for the sake of her pregnancy. It was unknown how long the renovations of the mansion would take. She had to get used to the situation, as nothing would change even if she felt uncomfortable and nervous.

Remembering again for the thousandth time of the sleeping arrangements, her face turned pale. Then a bit red, as she remembered how she had woken up in the afternoon. Then realizing the possibility of waking up in the next morning the same, she turned pale again.

The intermittent changes of her complexion and diverse expressions did not escape Zane's eyes. He looked at her wondering expression, her frightened one, her desperate one... they were all quite endearing. The ever changing color of her face was adorable. 

But, though he liked the turmoil he had caused to her heart... though he liked that her thoughts were all on him, he was not one to torture her or make her feel too uncomfortable. For one she might become too wary of him, leading to a counterproductive effect, and for two it pained him to hurt her like this.

It seemed he had become quite weak willed when it came to Aria. As such, sighing a bit, he wanted to offer to sleep on the couch in the living room, at least for a few more days, until she accepted in her mind the change. Forget it, he thought, they still had time to prevent the divorce. But he did not manage to open his mouth, when the small woman's face brightened up a bit. He did not know what conclusion she had come to, but it seemed she resigned herself to the situation.

Zane could not tell just from her expressions, Aria's exact thoughts, so he wouldn't be able to tell the complex and intricate set of measures Aria was devising in her mind to restrain herself during her sleep... to make sure she kept her distance from Zane.

Well... not exactly complex as the set of measures momentarily had only 2 strategies, but still she was in the process of thinking up more.

The first strategy was to put two pillows on the middle of the bed, to assure she wouldn't have any way of crossing over to his side, but this could only be implemented after the second strategy. Which was... going to bed only after she was sure Zane had fallen asleep.