Arranged marriage : Married to an unknown man

Xavier Knight

I was sitting in my bed, working on my laptop. I hadn’t worked since morning because I was unable to. I was under the effect of medication and had been sleeping all day.

Why did the doctor give me the medicine which made me sleep? My whole day was wasted due to sleeping.

I couldn’t even go to the office because Sean and Daniel were persistent to make me stay in bed when they came to meet me in the morning…

I was sitting on the bed after freshening up and brushing my teeth when they entered my room.

“You are finally awake,” Sean said, sitting on the bed beside me.

“You really made us worried Xavier,” Daniel said as he took an armchair, placed it near my bed, and sat on it.

“When did you guys arrive?” I asked in a low voice as I rested my head on the headboard of the bed.

“You don’t know? Oh, how would you know? You were lying in the bed nearly unconscious, groaning in pain. And about your question… We are here since three in the morning. Ariana called me. She was worried about you and asked me to bring a doctor with me.” Sean replied.

She called him? How did she know I was having a fever?

“You always do this, Xavier. Why did you go into the rain when you know you always get sick after that? You know Princess was so worried about you. She was here with you all the time, taking care of you. She hasn’t slept since midnight. And now, she is there in the kitchen cooking for you.” Daniel snapped.

That caught my attention. She was worried about me? She was here all the time? So, she was the one who was giving me a head massage. I remembered someone running fingers through my hair. And when for a moment running of fingers stopped, I became restless but it started again. I felt so relaxed at that time.

“How do you know I went into the rain?” I asked.

“Ariana told us, she saw your wet clothes lying on the bathroom floor, she thought you went in the rain and then we confirmed it from Finn,” Sean said. Oh!

“Why did you go into rain in this cold weather?” Daniel asked.

Well, I went in the rain to think clearly. I was very confused about my feelings for Ariana. I was angry with Andrew and his daughter. And while standing in rain, I thought about Ariana. She indeed is not like the Smiths. She’s extremely different from them. Standing in the rain cleared my feelings. And I decided to know Ariana better. I decided to give her a chance.

“I had something in mind so I went into the rain to think clearly,” I replied.

“This is ridiculous Xavier! If you were so desperate to think underwater, you could have done it under a warm shower.” Daniel snapped.

“You know, we were worried about you? You were twisting and turning in the bed. You were burning in the fever.” Sean said.

I know they must have been worried. I would have also worried about them if I had seen them in such kind of condition.

“Sorry about that. Now I am fine. I think I should get ready for work.” I sighed.

“You are not going anywhere. You are sick.” They both snapped.

“I am not sick. I can work. Besides I have many meetings to attend today.”

“You. Are. Sick. And we’ll take care of your work and meetings. You will stay in bed. Is that clear?” Sean scowled.

“But..”

“No buts! You are not going anywhere and that’s final. Now you take rest we are leaving.” Daniel said as he got up from his chair. I couldn’t say anything as I knew if I’d argue they would stay in my room for the whole day and would not allow me to even lift a finger.

When they both left, I closed my eyes and rested my head on the headboard. After a few minutes, the door of my room opened and someone entered. A whiff of flowers passed into my nostrils. It was her. I opened my eyes when she touched my forehead. My eyes lingered on her cheek. I touched her cheek to inspect the bruise, I could feel her shudder under my touch. I removed my hand when she said the bruise was gone.

Then she said she cooked soup for me which made me scrunch my nose. I don’t like soup, it’s for sick people and I was not sick, I just had a fever. That’s all.

I didn’t want to eat it but she assured me that it tasted good. I saw the pleading in her eyes, so, I agreed. And the smile she flashed made my heart skip a beat. I never saw her smile at me before. When I tasted the first spoonful of soup, I was stunned because the soup was so delicious. It surely didn’t taste like any other soup for sick people. I instantly felt hungry and finished the soup hurriedly.

When she asked me if I wanted more, I got embarrassed, she was standing there the whole time watching me eat hurriedly. But I couldn’t say no as the soup was very tasty and I wanted to eat more. She went out to bring more soup.

But she didn’t come back instantly. I was longing to eat more and waited for her to bring soup. I was restless. When she came with the soup I finished it instantly. She gave me medicine and then I laid back on the bed. She was about to leave when I tugged her wrist.

“Could you please give me the head massage that you gave me before?” I whispered when she faced me. I saw her surprised expression. She thought I didn’t know that it was her who gave me the head massage. I truly liked how her massage calmed me and helped me sleep peacefully. I wanted her to do it again.

She sat beside me and started giving me the head massage. I didn’t know when sleep engulfed me but when I got up, it was already noon. She gave me a vegetable soup that was tasty too. She really cooks delicious food. Then I took medicine and slept again.

And now it was almost six in the evening and here I was, sitting in my bed, catching up on my work. My room door burst open and Daniel and Sean walked in.

We started talking business, about the meeting they attended on behalf of me and other things. Almost an hour later there was a knock on my bedroom door and Ariana came inside.

“Sorry to disturb but dinner is ready.” She said politely. She had been cooking dinner? Dinner could have been ordered from outside. She had been up since midnight. Wasn’t she tired?

“Okay, Princess, I was waiting for dinner. I am starving.” Daniel said as he excitedly stood up from the couch.

“Well, the same goes with me,” Sean replied, standing up.

I frowned. They are staying for dinner? Did she cook for them too?

“Umm.. you want your dinner here in your bedroom?” She asked looking at me.

“No, I’ll come downstairs,” I replied. Then she left saying okay. Daniel and Sean were about to leave when I stopped them.

“You two are staying for dinner?” I frowned.

“Yep. Princess invited both of us. Any problem?” Daniel grinned. I ignored his comment.

“We denied but she wanted us here, we couldn’t say no, so, we accepted.” Sean shrugged his shoulders.

“Besides, who will say no to the best food in the world? She is an amazing cook. Well, I don’t have time to talk. I am starving, so bye.” Saying that Daniel rushed outside.

Well, if she could make the boring soup tasty then indeed she’s a good cook. I stood up from the bed to go downstairs to have dinner. Finally, I would get to eat proper food. I only had soup since morning. I was excited to taste her other dishes.

I and Sean left the room. As we reached the dining area, we saw Daniel already sitting there and filling his plate hurriedly. Daniel and food, no one can separate them.

I reached the dining table and saw mouth-watering dishes that were being served. Chicken curry, rice, steamed dumplings, and much more. The aroma of food made my stomach grumble instantly.

I sat on the chair placed at the head of the table. Sean sat to the right of Daniel who was sitting on the first chair to my right. Sean began filling his plate.

I set a plate in front of me and was about to scoop Chicken curry from the bowl when a voice stopped me.

“No, you can’t eat that.” Ariana came rushing to me with a tray in her hand which made me look at her questioningly.

“I have cooked chicken soup and vegetable salad for you.” She said softly, placing the tray in front of me. I heard snickering. I glared at those two who were now trying to stifle their laughter.

“No! I am not gonna eat that. I am perfectly fine now and the food on the table is too much, why did you cook separately for me?” I asked annoyingly.

“Umm… The doctor said that…that you have to eat light food all day.” She said softly fiddling her fingers.

Fucking doctor.

“The day is over. It’s almost night now, I will not eat that.” I grumbled and she saddened.

“Xavier, this is not right. She cooked that especially for you. You should eat that or it will be wasted.” Daniel grinned showing his teeth. I will kill him.

“Xavier she cooked that especially for you. You must eat that.” Sean replied. I knew she cooked that especially for and I appreciated that but I wanted to eat something spicy.

I gazed at her and found her watching me with hopeful eyes. Goodness.. those eyes. I let out a frustrated breath and agreed. Her face instantly lit up. Then she turned to leave.

“Wait, aren’t you eating?” I asked her. She turned around.

“I’ll eat after you all,” she replied. I was about to ask her to sit and eat with us but Daniel beat me to it.

“That’s not gonna happen, princess. You will eat with us. Now sit and start eating.”

“Yes Ariana, you will eat with us. Sit now.” Sean said. She was hesitant but eventually sat on the left side near me.

“Wow princess, this smells so good.” Daniel sniffed the chicken curry on his plate. I stabbed the fork in the salad. I too wanted to eat chicken curry.

Then Daniel took a spoonful of rice mixed with chicken curry and brought it near his mouth but stopped and looked at me.

“Wanna eat?” He teased. I kicked him from under the table due to which his spoon dropped in his plate and his other elbow hit Sean’s arm making his spoon drop as well.

“Fuck Xavier!”

“Fuck Daniel!”

I stifled my laugh. Serves them right.

“I told you two not to curse!” My head shot up in the direction of the one who spoke. Ariana. And she was glaring at both of them?

Woah!! That’s new.

“Sorry.” And now my head automatically turned to Sean and Daniel. What had happened to them? It was new to see them being ordered around.

“You said that in the morning too but you two again did that. Cursing is not a good habit.” She scolded them.

This was the first time I was watching her like this. She was trying to intimidate them but she didn’t know that she was looking too damn cute.

“Sorry again.” Daniel and Sean avoided looking into her eyes.

“It’s okay, don’t do it again.” She said softly. I had noticed this. She always flinches when someone curses around her. I must go deep into it.

We all resumed eating silently. Well, I was eating sulkily but Daniel and Sean were eating happily. After we all were done eating she stood up to collect dishes.

“Wait, you don’t have to do that.” I stood up and stopped her.

“Yes Ariana, you were generous enough to cook for us and now we’ll do the dishes,” Sean said.

“No, no, it’s okay, I can do it.” She countered.

“No means no Princess. I’ll not let you do the dishes.” Daniel picked up the dishes from the table and went to the kitchen.

“But..”

“No Ariana.” Sean picked up the empty plates. I also went to the kitchen to do the dishes. She came running after us yet we refused to let her clean. She didn’t leave the place, instead, she just stood there. We cleaned the dishes and then dried them with a towel. Then we all sat in the living room and started talking about business. Ariana was basically silent and was sitting there only listening to us.

“I think we should leave now.” Sean states. We all stood up. Then he approached me.

“Take care of yourself.” He gave me a side hug.

“Yeah, it’s time to leave. And don’t you dare make us worried again.” Daniel hugged me. I hugged him back and smiled.

“I won’t.” Yeah, I won’t because my mind is clear now.

Then they both approached her.

“Thank you, Ariana, for cooking delicious food for us.” Sean smiled.

“Thank you, Princess,” Daniel said. She gave them her most beautiful smile. I was watching her mesmerizing smile, smiling to myself but what Daniel and Sean did next took my smile away and made me shocked.

They both kissed her forehead one by one.

Fucking hell!! What the hell is happening here? Since when they started doing this? What am I missing?

I scowled. Why did they kiss her forehead? I knew they both considered her as their sister but still, a hug is okay. But a kiss? It’s too much. I have to talk to them about this.

They left the penthouse but the scowl on my face didn’t leave. They shouldn’t have done that.

“Umm… I think you should rest now otherwise fever will be back again.” My attention turned towards her, who was now standing a two-hand distance away from me.

I looked at her face. She was looking tired yet was trying to hide it. Today she really changed my thinking about her.

She took care of me all day, she was up since midnight, she cooked for Daniel and Sean too and cooked separate food especially for me. The most surprising thing was she didn’t complain at all. Though she was tired, she didn’t reflect it on her face, not for even once.

“I am totally fine now,” I said as I took steps towards her.

“The one who should take rest is you. You haven’t slept since last night. You must be tired.” Her wide, tired eyes met mine. My eyes softened looking at her.

Don’t ask me why but I did this. I raised my hand & with a frown on my face, I wiped her forehead with my fingers where those two stupids kissed her. She visibly shuddered under my touch.

Then I placed my hand on the back of her head and pulled her slightly closer to me and kissed her forehead.

“Thank you for taking care of me. I really appreciate it. Now go to bed. You need to sleep.” I whispered, looking into her now even wider eyes. She looked surprised and kept on staring at me with wide eyes for longer. I smiled inwardly.

I snapped my fingers in front of her face.

“Huh?” She blinked her eyes.

“I said go and sleep.” She instantly ran past me which made me laugh out loud.

Goodness, she is so damn cute.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.