Breaking Free, Loving Again -The Flash Marriage with Mr. CEO - Chapter 449

Chapter 449: Unloved.
Arwen smiled before nodding to him. She then checked the time on her watch. It wasn’t too late, but she still turned and said to Jacob, “You said you are here to see a client?”

Jacob nodded. “Yes, I was on my way.”

“Then go ahead, I won’t hold you here,” she gestured to the opposite direction. “I was on my way out too, so I will leave first.”

Jacob hummed, taking a step back and tucking his hands into his pockets. “Okay, be safe on your way back.”

Arwen then turned and left.

Jacob watched her go, his expression shifting ever so subtly again. Seeing her disappear from his periphery, he finally turned and resumed walking to where he had been heading before.

Outside the hospital, Alfred pulled up the car right at the entrance. Arwen slipped inside, instructing. “We can head back home now, Alfred.”

Alfred nodded and soon started the engine, driving away from the premise.

Arwen sat quietly, lost in thought, when suddenly she received a call. Seeing Gianna’s name flash on the screen, she answered it with a smile.

But the next moment, her ears burned from the yelling.

“Arwen!!! Are you really my friend? How could you do this to me?”

Arwen’s first instinct was to pull the phone away from her ear. Only when Gianna stopped screaming did she place it back and ask in the softest voice, “What did I do?”

But the moment she asked, Gianna yelled again. “You have the nerve to ask that? Really?”

“Anna, I am on my way back. Can you wait until I reach home?” she asked, knowing that to argue now. If Gianna was furious, it would be difficult —but still better —to talk to her face to face.

Gianna grunted, “Come and let me see if you still have the face to look into my eyes and say that you consider me your friend. I am waiting. Don’t you dare run away?”

Before Arwen could say anything more, the beep of disconnection rang out startling her —Gianna had hung up without another word.

What did she do to make her react like that?

Soon after, the car pulled up at Winslow Residence.

Arwen thanked Alfred briefly before getting out and walking inside the house.

It was already evening, and all the maids seemed to have retired to their quarters. As Arwen stepped inside, the first person she noticed —inevitably —was Gianna. As she had said on the call, she looked like she had been waiting for her.

“Anna,” she called softly, only to see her friend snap her head towards her.

Before she could say anything else, Gianna hurled a cushion at her.

“You betrayer! You still have the guts to call me sweetly. Do you think I will let you go just because you talk nicely?”

Arwen barely dodged the cushion thrown her way. Somehow, she caught it and placed it on the sofa before walking forward.

“What betrayer, Anna? I don’t even know what you are talking about. How could I possibly betray you?” she asked, still keeping her tone gentle.

Gianna looked at her like she was on the brink of madness. “You … you,” she stammered in frustration, nodding at her repeatedly as if words failed her. “Fine! Since you still won’t admit it, let me show you.”

She turned, picked up her laptop, clicked a few times, and then turned the screen towards Arwen.

“Here, read this and tell me —if this is not betrayal, then what is?”

As she said, Arwen’s gaze flickered to the screen as she read:

‘Aiden Winslow’s Bold Gambit Pays Off: Winslow Globals Back on the Top.’

She didn’t need to read the entire article. She already knew what it was about.

The day she chose to keep it from Gianna, she knew this moment would come —yet somehow, she wasn’t prepared.

Scratching the corner of her brow, a sheepish grin tugged at her lips as she turned to look at Gianna.

“This …”

“What? Finding it hard to explain now?” Gianna asked, slamming the laptop shut and tossing it back on the sofa. from where she had picked it earlier.

Arwen shook her head. “No, there is nothing hard to explain,” she said calmly —which only seemed to rile Gianna up more.

“Really?” she snapped, her voice sharp. “I thought there would be something to explain —especially when I have been going crazy with worry, and you knew everything was already fine!”

Arwen quickly shook her head. “It’s not that, Anna.”

Before Gianna could interrupt her, she reached out and grabbed her arm, taking the chance to explain —all at once.

“Really, Anna, hear me out first. I had no intention of hiding it from you, but I wasn’t sure about anything myself,” she said quickly. “I won’t say I didn’t know about it. I knew it but not in the way you think. Although Aiden told me there was nothing wrong, he didn’t explain anything. I thought he was just saying it to keep me from worrying. If he had explained even a little, I would have told you. But at the same time, you also said you believed he wouldn’t let the situation dominate him —that he would have something up his sleeve. So, I chose to believe both of you. I swear, I didn’t mean to hide anything from you.”

Gianna stared at her like she was trying to decide whether to believe her or not.

Seeing her pause, Arwen tugged on her arm. “Anna, really —why would I hide something like that from you? Aiden simply asked me to not believe the news because they were just speculations. Even though his words put me at ease for a while, a part of me still thought he only said it to comfort me.”

Gianna narrowed her eyes, but after a moment of silent consideration, her anger began to thaw. After all, after so many stressful days, she could finally relax.

Sighing deeply, she slumped onto the sofa behind her. “Do you know how scared I have been, Wenna?”

Arwen finally exhaled with relief when she saw Gianna calming down. She sat beside her and asked, “You were scared? I thought you believed Aiden. You said you were sure that he had something up his sleeves that would turn things around.”

Gianna pursed her lips. “Of course, that was just to calm you down, stupid,” she muttered. “Although I do have faith in him, I was still scared —scared that my grandfather would try to take advantage of the situation and use it against my uncle.”

“Your grandfather?” Arwen asked.

Gianna nodded. “Yes, my mother’s father.”

Arwen didn’t know much about Aiden’s father. All she knew was that the man betrayed Aiden’s mother in the worst way possible —and that Aiden barely had any contact with him.

“Does he hate Aiden?” she asked, concern creeping into her voice.

She knew what it felt like to be unloved by a parent —to feel not only deprived but undeserving of good things altogether.

Just the thought of Aiden going through that kind of pain twisted her heart in anguish. She didn’t want him to feel unloved.