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

Arwen didn't want to be bothered by his words anymore. But Ryan stood there, blocking her path.

He stared into her eyes, as if demanding for her to stop and think about what he was saying. Taking a step closer, he said, "You broke up with me and then found someone to marry that quickly —within the span of a snap of a finger? Don't you think all of this could be a set up … for you … for us?"

He had suspected it from the very beginning.

At first, he thought Arwen was just putting on a show to make him regret his choices.

But the more he saw her indifference towards him, the more he realized she wasn't acting. She was serious … dead serious.

And that was when he started notice —this was too much to be a coincidence.

Arwen crossed her arms and looked up at him, her expression unimpressed.

"Set up? for us?" she repeated, her voice laced with amusement. "What exactly did we have that was so precious someone needed to set us up?"

Her gaze hardened. "Ryan, why is it today of all days that you are having so many misunderstandings?"

"Arwen, I am just —"

Before he could explain his deductions, she raised her hand, cutting him off.

"Ryan, I don't know what you are trying to prove here, but let me help you clear your mind." Her voice was calm, yet the weight of her words pressed down on him like an undeniable truth.

"We never had anything between us. It was just a family arrangement, something we were both forced into. And while I once tried to make it work, for the sake of both our family, I was terribly wrong to do so." She met his gaze, unflinching. "There was nothing between us worth envying. And when there is nothing to envy, why would anyone bother setting us up to fail?"

Ryan frowned, his frustration mounting. "If it wasn't a setup, why would you break up with me and immediately find someone else to marry?" His voice was edged with disbelief. "Arwen, why can't you see? This was all a plan —a plan of someone to break us up. It has to be that man! He must have set a trap for you. He —He must have ulterior motives that you aren't able to see! He —"

"Enough!"

Arwen's voice cut through the air like a blade, sharp and unyielding.

The air felt silent.

Ryan stiffened at the sudden shift of her tone. Enjoy exclusive chapters from My Virtual Library Empire

A slow, icy smile stretched across Arwen's lips as she took a step forward.

"Dare to put the blame on him, Ryan, and I swear —I will make you regret it."

Ryan was taken aback, stunned by the fierce protectiveness in her voice.

She didn't look just angry … she was furious.

It was the kind of fury that came from defending something —or someone —who truly mattered.

And this was the kind of fury he was first time seeing her into …

Ryan forced himself to chuckle, though it came out hollow. "So, defensive of him. See, told you," he said, his smile bitter. "When was the last time you were so defensive of yourself, Arwen?"

"Doesn't matter," Arwen dismissed, not holding any hesitation. "It doesn't matter whether I ever defended myself like this or not. But if he is put into the question, I will defend him —without any hesitation."

"Arwen, this is what I am trying to tell you," Ryan said, desperate to make her see what he could so clearly. "He is not what you think he is. He is a manipulator. He is manipulating you, turning you into someone you are not." He gestured toward her. "You are not this. You never —"

"I have always been like this," Arwen interrupted, her words firm and unwavering. "Don't assume and believe that you know me better than I know myself. You don't."

Raising a finger, she warned, "And Ryan, one more thing: you don't know my man well. So, next time you talk about him, make sure you think before throwing around baseless accusations."

Ryan clenched his fists. "Your man?"

"Yes," Arwen shot back. "My man. He is mine. And if you question him, I will make you face the truth."

"He didn't manipulate me into anything. If anything, I walked up to him and proposed the marriage," she said, without the slightest hesitation. "If anyone trapped someone in this, it was me, not him. And …"

Her lips curled at one corner as she stepped closer to him.

"And Ryan, I think you already know what triggered me to break up with you that fine day. Don't you?"

She stared into his eyes, her gaze cold and unrelenting.

"Arwen, those pictures were —" he tried to explain.

But it wasn't his explanation that Arwen was looking for.

If she truly wanted one, she would have confronted him about it long ago. But she hadn't.

Because she never needed an explanation.

"So, you do know," she said, raising a brow in cold amusement. "Yet here you are, trying to play the victim."

"Arwen, I —"

"Ryan, it was not even that picture that triggered me to end our arrangement," Arwen said, making Ryan freeze.

Seeing the confusion on his face, she smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I never believed them," she admitted. "Because I knew you wouldn't stoop so low just to humiliate me. Even if you treated me worse than a stranger, I knew you wouldn't humiliate me by sleeping with another woman right before the day of our marriage. So no, it wasn't that picture that instigated me."

Ryan was caught off guard. He hadn't expected her to believe him on that. "Then … why did you —"

"Because I was done with you and the arrangement," she said, without the slightest guilt.

"I felt suffocated, stuck with you in an arrangement that didn't give the security of a real relationship. Since the day you left me alone to die, I had decided to let you go. And Delyth just happened to send that picture at the right time."