Chapter 626: Resolving issues - Part 1
Aria had been unable to sit still since the time Noah had walked away without speaking a word to her. His indifference hurt her badly, more than she had even assumed. But she could only accept his behavior without complaining as she was in the wrong and it was only right she was punished.
However, Noah's cold treatment was only making her jittery and she kept pacing back and forth in her room as she waited for the man.
The door clicked and Aria stood up at once as she clutched the hem of her shirt until her knuckles turned white. She bit her lip as she stared at the man who just glanced at her before he closed the door.
Without even looking at her another time, he trudged towards the wardrobe.
Aria's heart broke on seeing his behavior. He was furious, Aria knew. What she did not know was how to appease the man. She just stared at his back until he entered the bathroom and when the door closed, she kept staring at that door.
A strange kind of fear filled her heart and for a moment, a pang of pain shot through her, rendering her miserable and confused. Noah's actions had instilled a bizarre kind of apprehension in her. She was now scared of losing the man, the love of her life. Aria felt helpless, even more so when Noah came out of the bathroom and again, without looking at her lay on the bed with his hand over his eyes.
Aria just gazed at him, not knowing how to speak to him and what to speak to him. Her heart was pounding in mad reverie. But she had to communicate and she had to resolve all their issues right now.
With that thought, she crawled on the bed and lay down beside him and before Noah could even react, she hugged him tight, startling him completely.
"Aria, what..." He started, shocked to see her trembling.
"Please forgive me. I was wrong. Please forgive me." She cried and Noah sighed lightly.
"Aria, go to sleep. We will speak about it tomorrow."
"No, we will resolve our issues today. I do not want to drag this matter another moment." Aria refused and wiped her tears against his shirt and for an instant, Noah did not know whether to laugh or cry.
While he was devastated to see Aria cry, he was still angry at her for putting her life at stake without informing him. Only he knew how petrified he had been when he learned about her plan. His heart had almost exploded in fear while his soul nearly escaped his body. Those few hours before he met Aria had been the most dreadful time of his life and Noah wished to never face such a scenario again.
Aria was his soul and losing his soul was akin to losing his entire life. Noah was still in the aftershock of all that happened and whenever he thought about Aria's carelessness, anger surged through him, making it impossible for him to forgive her even if he wanted to.
"You are tired, Aria. Sleep. We will talk about what happened today tomorrow." Noah tried again, only for the woman to shake her head.
"No. We will talk and we will talk right now." Her tone turned serious.
"Aria." Noah's tone too changed and Aria huffed softly.
"Fine. Since you do not wish to speak to me...." Aria moved away from him and Noah raised his brows at her wondering what she was up to now. She got out of the bed and walked towards the door.
"Where are you?" He jumped out of his bed immediately, perplexed by her behavior.
"Since you do not wish to speak to me, I will sleep in the guest room until we resolve our issues," Aria stated as a matter of fact and she opened the door, only for Noah to close it with a bang.
Her eyes widened when she saw the man's arms trapping her in between the door and his body. The veins on his arms were bulging and Aria felt his heart skip a beat when she recalled the sheer amount of strength he had used to close the door. By now, the whole mansion would have heard the sound.
"Aria, what do you think you are doing?" Noah queried, his eyes flashing with helplessness. 'I am the one angry here. When did the situation reverse?' He wondered.
"I am just...I am just...."
"Aria, turn around." He ordered. But the woman stood still, her body tense while her heart kept pounding in nervousness.
"Aria." His voice was low and hoarse and this time, she turned around unwilling to provoke the angry beast all the more.
"You wanted to speak, right? Fine. Let's speak." Noah gave in but shoved his body on her, forcing Aria to take a few steps back until she was pressed against the door. "What do you want to speak about?"
"Could you...could you move back a little?" She stuttered as she bit her lip and Noah tilted his head, staring at her for some time. His intense gaze only made her apprehensive and Aria, who had been avoiding his gaze, finally looked at him.
"Finally." He groaned and moved away from her, allowing her the space to breathe. The sudden closeness had rendered her breathless and with him now away from her, Aria sighed in relief. Yet, her heart crumbled when she felt the loss of contact with his body.
"Now, speak. What do you want to talk about, Aria?"
"I....I...." She licked her lips and looked everywhere but him, and Noah was done entertaining her. She had to realize what she had done wrong and how much agony he was in when she had put her life at risk.
"Looks like you have nothing to speak about. Fine." His voice turned cold and he returned to his bed.
"Wait." Aria rushed to him frantically and held his hand, stopping him from giving her a cold shoulder. With great difficulty, she had made him speak to her. She could not lose this opportunity.
"I will speak. I will." She sucked a deep breath and mustered all her courage.
"Please forgive me. I was wrong." This time, she looked at him in the eye as she apologized and Noah discerned what her state of mind was. She was being honest with her apology. Her words were sincere, not perfunctory merely to appease him. She had realized what her mistake was and where she had gone wrong.
"And why are you apologizing?" Noah continued to test her even though his anger had vanished the moment he had heard her apology. He could never be furious with her, he had understood this long ago. Yet, seeing Aria put her life at risk had made him lose his sanity and until Aria understood how much she meant to him, he had to put her as well as himself in misery.
"For acting without thinking and not informing you about my plans. I should have discussed the matter with you before I took action."
"Right. You should have spoken to me before you went on your petty adventure all by yourself." Noah's voice was calm and there was barely any emotion in it. However, Aria understood how pissed he was and how much he had been tormented by her reckless decisions.
"Aria, Jared is not a measly criminal or a thief who you can subdue using your power. He is a wicked man and you have no idea how capable he is. Why do you think the police and the Intelligence have been unable to capture him even though he was right in front of them all these years?" Noah inquired and Aria swallowed her saliva when she met the man's frightful gaze.
"He is not a normal man, Aria. He is a monster. I understand that you wanted to save your friend and I appreciate your sentiments. However, have you ever wondered what would have happened if either you or Ivy were to be captured by him?"
The moment the words escaped his lips, Noah's face paled. He could not even imagine how brutal Jared could be. He had already gone through the crimes the man had committed and each one among them was more vicious than the other. Every woman he had dealt with had ended up in a miserable state and Noah was mortified to even think what might have happened if the twins were to get caught by him.
"Maggie is your friend and I admire that you are willing to give your life for her. However, what I am aggrieved about is you never considered me when you made your decision. In your desire to save your friend, I never came to your mind and that hurts a lot."
"No, Noah. That's not the truth." Aria refuted at once. "Please believe me. I wanted to speak to you."
"Yet, you did not. You sought your sister's help but did not think of even approaching me and this...."
Aria saw the hurt in his eyes and her heart broke all the more. She had never thought in his perspective and every word of his stabbed her heart directly.
"I am sorry that you do not trust me enough to involve me in your problems."
"No, Noah. Please do not say such things. I trust you, a lot."
Noah just smiled at her sardonically and Aria's eyes turned red at once.
"Your actions and words do not match Aria and I am deeply annoyed at myself. I am not trustworthy enough in your eyes and that shows how lacking I am. You showed me where I stand in your life and I must thank you for it."
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