Breaking Free, Loving Again -The Flash Marriage with Mr. CEO

Ryan didn't understand. His brows knitted in confusion.

Seeing his expression, she elaborated.

"If I really loved you, I wouldn't have moved on as easily as I did." She met his gaze, her voice unwavering. "Since I did … it means I was never in love with you."

Ryan's breath hitched.

It was a simple statement —calm and unemotional. But it felt like shattering him … all over again.

She didn't love him. But how can that be possible?

Didn't she draw him in her diary —wrote all those emotions and feelings? If that wasn't true, what else was?

How could she deny the emotions she once had for him?

"You loved me," he insisted, his certainty faltering but his hope still alive. If you hadn't, you wouldn't have done all you did back then. You agreed to our engagement without showing any reluctance. If it hadn't been your wish, how could you have agreed to it readily?"

Arwen let out a quiet chuckle, though there was no amusement in it.

"Just because I agreed with that decision doesn't mean it was my wish," she countered smoothly. "I agreed because I couldn't bring myself to disappoint my mother then. I decided to compromise. And compromise doesn't mean love."

Ryan's jaws tightened. He wasn't ready to accept that answer. "You gave up your passion, your dance for me," he reminded her, his voice almost desperate.

At the mention of her dance, Arwen's lips curled up in a bitter smile.

"That's my biggest regret," she said quietly. "The greatest pain I had to endure, just to accommodate people I never should have." Her voice dropped lower, carrying the guilt she had never been able to erase. "I gave up my dance, my passion —the one thing I held more precious than life itself —because of you."

"I —" Ryan shook his head. He hadn't meant to wear her pain as a proof of her love. He just wanted her to acknowledge that she had once cared.

As long as she accepted that, he could ask for her forgiveness …

But Arwen cut him off.

"You got to understand it wrongly, Ryan." Her voice firm. "I gave up dance because of you. But not for you." She let out a small, self-deprecating laugh. "Believe me when I say you never held that kind of importance. You might have been the reason I had to give up my passion, but I didn't do it for you. I did it for my mother."

She exhaled sharply, her expression filled with bitterness. "She had this obsession with the idea of me marrying you. And in an attempt to make it happen, she stripped me of everything I held dear. My dance, my dreams, my pride —myself." her eyes darkened. "Do you think, after sacrificing so much because of you, I would still have the heart to love you?"

The question hit Ryan like a collapsing world.

Arwen noticed the flicker of devastation in his eyes, and her lips curled into a disdainful smirk.

"If you really think so, then you are overestimating your worth," she scoffed. "You were never enough to make me stake everything on you."

And with that. She turned away, ready to leave. She had taken two steps when his voice stopped her again.

"Is he?" Ryan asked, sounding defeated.

Arwen paused, furrowing her brows.

Ryan lifted his gaze and pointed into the distance. His voice carried a hollow laugh as he asked, "If I wasn't worth staking everything on … is he?"

His hand trembled slightly, but his eyes didn't waver. "You said you sacrificed it all because of me and for your mother. But Arwen … does he hold enough value that you gave up your mother and family for him?"

Arwen's expression didn't change, but Ryan saw the brief flicker of something in her eyes.

He let out a sharp breath and chuckled, though it was anything but amused. "So, tell me, Arwen —if you never loved me. Why does it feel like you are willing to burn the whole world down for him? Do you …" he felt it difficult to voice it out; struggling, he completed his words. "... do you love him?"

Silence settled between them, heavy and suffocating.

Ryan didn't know if he would be able to handle the truth or not, but the question clawed his insides.

Arwen turned to face him, her eyes steady. "There is a difference between you and him, Ryan," she said, her voice devoid of hesitation. "He has become mine in just a few months —something you failed to become even after years." Her gaze remained unwavering. "He is my husband. And if I had to stake the world for him, I would do it willingly and happily. Because he is worth it." Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire

Ryan's breath hitched again, and this time, he felt something inside him crumble.

"Y-You didn't answer my question, Arwen," he insisted, his voice shaking. "If you haven't loved me, then do you love him? Do you love him?"

Arwen sighed, shaking her head. "Out of all people in the world, you are the last person I owe an answer to." Her voice was calm, yet firm. "Whether I have fallen for my husband or not —whether I love him or not —is something only my husband has the right to ask. "You are not my husband, and you will never be. So, I am not answering that."

She turned slightly, preparing to leave, but then paused. "But if you are still so desperate to know, I will leave you free to assume whatever you want." Her lips curled up at the corners in a knowing smile. "Just a suggestion, before jumping to conclusions, weigh the facts better. Don't disappoint yourself by holding onto delusions."

"Facts?" Ryan repeated, letting out a hollow laugh. "What facts should I weigh? No matter how I look at it, it all seems absurd to me. If it wasn't absurd, how could you end up marrying a stranger?"

"I don't need to explain that to you as well," she said, frowning.

Arwen's expression hardened. "I don't need to explain anything to you."

Ryan glanced at her and shook his head. "Tell me one last thing, Arwen." He took a step towards her, hi eyes searching hers. "Don't you think it's all too much of a coincidence?"