Chapter 364

Aria Vince took me for a drive, and believe it or not-I was frightened. He hadn’t said a word, and his hand, which was tightly wrapped around the steering wheel, made me believe that he was not here for a wedding talk.

After a while of driving. Vince stopped the car at the side of the road and turned around to look at me.

He took a deep breath. “Since we’ve both signed the contract, I’ll just say what’s on my mine.” He sounded serious.

“First of all, let me start by saying that you’re one of the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He said, staring at me. “I admire you for taking over your family, and I’ve heard good things about you.”

“Thank you.” I took in his compliment, smiling brightly. Being admired by the one I loved was all I ever wanted-even if he despised me.

“I feel flattered that someone as powerful as you would want to marry someone like me.” Vince paused for a second. “But the way you did it was wrong.”

A sudden feeling of cold found its way through my body as all I wanted was to wake up from this bad, dream. Unable to respond, I frowned slightly-waiting for an explanation.

“You’re still young, and you live in this perfect fantasy, so I’m sure you don’t mean any harm-but you shouldn’t have forced me to marry you.” Vince spoke in a soft tone.

It wasn’t new to me, but this time it was not coming from his friend’s mouth. It came from the source himself. Forced? He thought I had forced him to marry him?

“Uhm, wow,” I looked down, feeling embarrassed.

“I hope you can listen to me.” Vince didn’t back down. “I feel trapped and disrespected by you picking me up like a piece of garbage, deciding that you’ll marry me just like that.” He told me his frustrations. “Then you come with this ridiculous contract-thinking you have the right to decide over my life.”

I froze.

“Aria, do you understand where I’m coming from?”

“Yes.” I gulped.

He spoke almost like a dad scolding his daughter, showing he did not want to hurt my feelings.

His words were painful, but they were necessary as I slowly began to see the picture. I could feel the pain in his eyes and listened to every word.

I did force him to marry me. I could’ve fought for his heart as any normal woman would’ve done, but instead. I used dad’s connections to get a ring on my finger.

Without thinking it through, I ordered him to marry me, knowing he would not decline to save his family’s honor. How could I even have the nerve to wish for his heart!

“I invited you to my house. You cooked for us, which was very nice, by the way.” Vince smiled tenderly. “But then you told off my brother while that’s not your job, you brought back old memories by mentioning our father, ranted about blowing people’s heads off-and god knows what.”

I’m a terrible person.

I’m a terrible person.

For a second, I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to keep my tears from falling.

I wasn’t trying to parent his brother. I was only trying to help so no one in the family would interfere.

Just the thought of Vince reading through the parts in the contract about Luis’ manners and education which I was responsible for, made me want to disappear.

This was all a misunderstanding.

“Luis is still a kid. He’s gone through a lot. He’s vulnerable-so you can at least watch your words.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” My voice cracked, hoping he had nothing else to say. I’d talked enough crap about everyone for this conversation to go in any direction.

“I also heard you want to clean my circle of friends, which is very rude, considering those friends have been there at my lowest and know me better than you ever could.” It almost looked like he read his words from a script.

He must’ve practiced what to say beforehand, meaning it must’ve been on his mind for a long time.

Maybe, I was a nuisance.

Again, this was all a misunderstanding. I just wanted him to be surrounded by good people with good hearts. Friends that would not push him aside or betray him as Beau had done.

“I-I didn’t-

“Disrespecting Beau, name calling the other Alfonzos?” Vince’s tone grew colder. “Unless you want us to go to war with all the families as soon as we get married, don’t ever do that again.”

“I’m sorry.” My cheeks burned.

I wanted him to stop and did not know how much more humiliation I could take.

“That thing you said about Serena?” Vince sighed, breathing through his nose. “I’ll give you a pass because you’re still young and somewhat immature, but unless you don’t want me to lose the tiniest bit of respect I have left for you-please do not ever say that again.”

Young and immature.

Vince having the tiniest bit of respect for me sounded like a nightmare.

Just how much did he dislike me?

May it be Serena or not, bringing back her past out of spite was low, even for me. I knew it was, and I couldn’t explain why I had done it. Talking bad about others and there struggles made me feel a bit better about my own life.

“I won’t.” I closed my eyes, still trying to hold back my tears. “And I’m sorry.”

All I wanted was for him to love me the way I loved him.

“As for Oscar hiring Angelo Marino as your advisor, a Marino to make me feel threatened and to keep this marriage in check. That must’ve been the icing on the cake. “That’s so sick. I don’t even know where to start.”

I gulped, agreeing with his words. If he only knew that although I respected dad-I did not stand behind his decision to let Angelo babysit me.

All dad wanted was to protect everything he built. Yes, he was wrong-but it ultimately was my fault.

He didn’t know the Garcias for that long. People made them out to be monsters-so having the Marinos behind me, knowing his only daughter would be safe, would be a way for him to retire in peace.

Having someone behind me who could not get persuaded by my husband to overthrow me kept dad’s heart at peace, and at the end of the day, that was all I could wish for.

Daddy didn’t want me to marry Vince in the first place-but he went along with it because I requested so.

All he wanted was to make me happy, so how could I go against him?

“I’m sorry for calling you so suddenly, but you’ve left me no choice.” Vince chuckled awkwardly. “We are getting married in a few days, and I want us to be on good terms.” He explained. “I do not wish to make a fool out of you or to lie to you.”

He had come here to warn me about what I was getting myself into. Vince could let me walk down the aisle, make me believe he wanted to be with me-but he didn’t.

He had a good and honest heart.

“I appreciate your honesty.” I attempted to speak a complete sentence, but I did not get far as tears started streaming down my face.

Startled, Vince unbuckled his seatbelt, causing me to hide my face in my hands. “Hey, don’t cry!” He pulled away my hands to see my face. “We’re just having a conversation. There’s no need to cry.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but the pain in my throat felt too heavy, and so did the endless tears.

“I don’t want you to hate me.” I sobbed, feeling Vince’s finger near my eye to wipe away my tears.

“Forget the contract, I’ll tell dad to cancel the wedding, and I’ll help you clear the Garcias name—”

“No, it’s too late for that.” Vince shook his head, chuckling. “We’ve announced our engagement to the entire city.”

“That’s okay. I’ll take the blame.” I breathed, trying to stop my tears.

“The Garcias don’t have a good reputation, it wouldn’t matter that much-but I don’t want your family to become the laughing stock.” Vince spoke. “And I need you. My family needs you.”

I had been selfish this entire time while Vince still cared for my family’s well-being. He cared for the Morales and the Garcias, while I only cared about what I wanted.

“So what? You expect me to walk down the aisle with a smile after all you’ve just said.” I asked. “I know you: hate me, and I can live with that, but-”

“Don’t say that because it’s not true.” Vince said, trying to convince himself. “I do not hate you.”

No person in the world would go on a rant the way he did without hating the person. I knew he disliked me, but I hadn’t realized just how much until now. I thought I could make him love me-but now I wasn’t that Sure anymore.

“Okay, so you expect me to sit out the marriage until you can’t take it anymore, and you’ll end up divorcing me?”

I was hoping for him to deny my accusations, but Vince shrugged his shoulders.

“That was my plan, yes.”

As I was about to let out more sobs, Vince grabbed my hands and leaned closer. “But seeing you here, vulnerable, capable of actually listening and not being the robot your dad molded you to be.”

He stopped my tears. “I think we can make it work. I want it to work.”

“You do?”

“Yes,” Vince said. “I won’t love you overnight, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be capable of loving you the same way you love me.” He told me the truth. “But we can start as friends and see where this marriage leads us.”

So I still had a chance?

It wasn’t completely over.

“What do you expect from me as your wife?” I attacked him with questions. “What will it take to make you love me?”

Vince smiled slightly. “I have no expectations, and I’m not a demanding person. I want you to be kind and respect the ones I care about.”

Usually, I would’ve reached for my notes so I could write down everything, but I didn’t want to be the person Vince made me out to be. I didn’t want him to see me as a robot.

“What do you expect from me?” Vince asked. After all the shit I had pulled, he was still kind enough to listen to my expectations.

Growing up as a Morales, I never truly had a voice of my own and just followed whatever dad told me to do. Thinking about what I wanted almost sounded foreign to me, and the only time I had done that-was when I had requested to marry Vince “I have one request,” I admitted to spare myself any future pain.

“Tell me.”

“I know the thought of being with me disgusts you, and I know you have your needs.” I tried not to roll my eyes. “But whatever you do, please don’t bring other women around me.”

Beau’s rant about Vince’s habit of partying and sleeping around with different women was something I had no desire to be a part of—and I didn’t want to hear or see it. “These orgies or whatever? Not on my watch.”

“Orgies?” Vince snickered, shooting me an offended glare. “Sure, I can do that.” He shrugged, not showing any embarrassment. “You seem tensed-so maybe you’ll have to try it one day.”

“No thanks,” I whispered with flushed cheeks. “I don’t believe in…stuff like that.”

Vince bumped his shoulder against mine, smiling playfully. “Your call.” He teased. “Also, is there anything you’ve done or said I should know about?”

My mind went to the altercation at the bakery as that was the only one I could think of at the moment. I might’ve used the Garcia name to scare off a man-but that was not a big deal, and it was not worth mentioning.

“No, there isn’t”

Vince smiled, relieved. “Good.” He did something unexpected and reached for my hand. “Then we’re good.” His soft hand squeezed mine, showing me I did not have to worry anymore.

Shocked, I tried to find even the tiniest bit of hatred behind his eyes, but I couldn’t see anything. Not anymore.

“So we’re getting married?” I asked softly, making sure I wasn’t crazy.

“I guess so.” Vince answered.

“I’m sorry, all we can do is sit back and watch, but my mom-”

Vince shook his head, stopping me. “I understand, and I don’t mind at all.”

Of course, he didn’t. He wasn’t looking forward to getting married in the first place and just went along with it for the good of his family. What would be the joy of putting all your energy into a marriage for some woman you didn’t even cared about?

“If that’s all I should probably take you back home.” Vince released my hand from mine and gripped the steering wheel. “You’re not that bad, Aria. He spoke. “Not at all.”

I couldn’t hide the joy on my face. I wasn’t that bad? Those weren’t the words I wanted to hear, but at least we were heading somewhere.

Maybe, just maybe-I could make him love me after all.