Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 130: You Really Do Love Him, Don’t You?

Jasmine couldn’t describe the fury she felt after hearing what the man just said,

"You don’t love her? Then why the hell do you want to marry her?"

She couldn’t believe he would say this to her face, how arrogant of him to actually do that. It felt like a cold blatant dismissal of the warmth that came with romantic relationships, and marriage to be exact.

Marriage was sacred, and beautiful, it was lifelong and him actually being so open about the fact that he didn’t love Anne...yet he still wanted to marry her?

She was right after all, Anne shouldn’t participate in this marriage.

"Because she is the most suitable person for me, no one else." These next words made Jasmine stiffen a bit.

"A scientific behavioral study carried out in 2018 discovered how many marriages tend to fail because of incompatibility, which is undoubtedly the main cause, and in contrast, the study also revealed how successful marriages even without love thrived based on compatibility. You see Miss Kent, I believe more in facts than emotions. I could be here swearing eternal love and loyalty, but I’d rather be transparent."

"Your facts might be true but they are in no way reassuring Mr Sterling. Anne deserves the best in life, she has been through way too much to live a miserable life." There was still a sharp bite to Jasmine’s tone. Though she was still remaining polite outwardly, internally she was already thinking about places they could go. She would make sure to pick somewhere Anne would like, somewhere Anne would be at peace and happy.

"She will not live a miserable life." He suddenly said with so much certainty, the confidence with which he said those words somehow felt inevitably reassuring, but Jasmine didn’t want to fall for it, she didn’t want to risk Anne’s happiness.

"I don’t consider many people my own but... Annelise, is mine..."

Since when had he considered her that?

His, that thrilling feeling tugged his chest once more.

Feelings, he didn’t understand them, facts were where he thrived.

And the fact that she was his was unchangeable because she carried his blood, because whenever she was near he always felt a sense of peace he hadn’t felt in all his life, because she was his antidote.

"She will not suffer a lack, she will not be hurt by anything or anyone, she will be well protected and anyone who dares to do a thing to harm her will suffer the most painful tortures of their life because anyone who hurts what’s mine pays tenfold."

There was something brutal about his gaze as he uttered the last part, it reminded him of something he had to take care of.

"You don’t want her to marry me," He stated seeing the look on Jasmine’s face, "But no one else in this world can take her away from me."

"It’s funny Mr Sterling, you call her yours yet you claim your heart doesn’t beat for her. If you don’t love her, how can you know if she’s in pain, how can you know if she’s happy? How can you be able to give her the kind of life she needs?" Jasmine seemed to have turned calmer, that was because she’d heard something in his voice, seen something in the man’s deep unfathomable eyes.

"I called her mine because she truly is mine. She laughs a lot when she’s happy, and might even bounce around like a carefree five year old. And she eats ice cream like a heavy meal and a memory all together..."

He recalled that night at the Black Thorn Manor when she’d had a little bit of whiskey. He’d seen happiness light up her eyes on that night, even as she made him follow her around. He’d seen joy and the nostalgia of memories in her eyes as she devoured ice cream. He also didn’t realize he knew all these things about her, but they came so naturally as if his subconscious had kept everything about her recorded and sealed into him. Burned into his brain and he could never forget.

"Annelise is someone who does not need life’s luxuries to make her smile, she can smile at a memory and be satisfied..."

He’d seen it in how she interacted with Donald, after he found out about her brother, he came to realize she saw Donald as nothing but a younger brother, that was why he was so adamantly certain she wouldn’t want to marry Donald. And whenever she was around him, her eyes would light up with memories, she was simple in her own way, yet complex in her own way.

When he sees emotions in her eyes, he somehow understood them without even feeling them himself, no, it made him feel them as if they were his.

"I know her lips tilt down when she’s hurt, when she’s wronged she stands up for herself no matter what, she’s strong and a little rebellious. She...is unlike anyone else and no one else is like her."

As he said these words, his eyes were glued on hers as if he was saying every word to her.

For some reason, the more he spoke, the more Anne’s eyes began to mist over, crystalline tears shining in her beautiful brown eyes, instinctively he reached over the table and swiped off a tear before it fell, the warm liquid against his thumb felt like a sharp thorn that didn’t just pierce his skin but deep into his chest.

He hated it!

He didn’t even realize this, but Jasmine’s gaze had slowly softened as she watched the duo with keen interest, something glimmering in her eyes.

He didn’t love Anne?

Why did she suddenly have a hard time believing that?

.....

"Jass, I’m sorry. I..." Anne began to apologize as they left the restaurant.

"What are you apologizing about? Being in love with a man and deciding to marry him even if he has never said he loved you before?"

"Huh?" Anne was going to apologize for lying about them having fallen in love. With the way Andrew spoke, Jasmine should have figured it out by now right?

"He’s a bit cold and seems like someone detached from emotions but...have you seen the way he looks at you? I would marry him too even if he never utters the L word."

Anne’s eyes went a bit wide in surprise.

So Jasmine hadn’t figured out the whole falling in love thing was a facade?

"I see why you agreed to marry him, and to be completely honest..." She sighed looking down at Anne’s stomach which was still flat, something she’d been doing out of nervousness for the new life about to come.

"It isn’t a bad idea to get married for the baby’s sake. I know a lot of arranged marriages that end up becoming a lifetime of romance, so I guess I’m slightly reassured. Any man can tell you they love you, I’ve seen many men who’ll go on and on telling you how much they love you but you never feel it. Marriage without love is a trauma plastered in my mind..." Jasmine’s eyes turned glassy as she spoke the last part.

"Hey..." Anne warmly placed a hand on Jasmine’s arm. "Bad memories shouldn’t be kept and remembered, bad memories should be tossed away and replaced by new and good ones."

Smiling bitterly, Jasmine shook her head. "I have forgotten, and I’m still forgetting, but enough about me, it’s about you right now. You’ve always described this boss of yours as a complete jerk, and I can slightly see why but...he cares for you Anne."

If Anne wasn’t putting up a front for Jasmine, she would have burst out laughing at that statement.

He cared for her? Who, that cold and arrogant Andrew Sterling whose head was filled with business stocks and how remarkable of a man he was that he didn’t seem to see anyone else?

"You know, I’m beginning to lean towards men who don’t swear undying love. Did you hear him say; Annelise is mine? I have a feeling you’re going to be just fine being his wife."

Anne could barely keep her surprise hidden.

Things sure had taken a turn, against her expectations.

Jasmine was beaming like a school girl, repeating some of the things Andrew had said while they were inside the restaurant.

The arrogant man seemed to have won over Jasmine without even trying.

Without thinking, Anne turned her head to look at a certain direction where the tall man stood under a lamp post speaking into the phone with a controlled authority. His aura was domineering, everything about him intimidating, but a few simple words from him had made Anne’s heart beat wildly.

’You don’t want her to marry me, But no one else in this world can take her away from me.’

Thinking back to it now made heat warm up her face.

’If you dislike every part of me so much, I’ll give you one single part you’ll never be able to hate.’

She suddenly remembered the cold night on the terrace of that vibrant hotel where the anniversary event had taken place.

She remembered the burn of his sinful lips against hers and felt a blaze of heat in her lower belly.

Anne didn’t realize she’d watched the man for too long, she only broke out of her daze when Jasmine’s voice sounded next to her ear.

"You really do love him, don’t you?"

The question made her go stiff.