Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 274: Forever
His heart thundered, racing like a fast paced beating drum.
If he said her name in this moment, it would be like a prayer on his tongue, if he parted his lips it would be to plead. He never pleaded for anything, he could acquire what he wanted with the snap of a finger, but she was the delicate flower whose petals were soft and fragrant, and as she drifted into his colorless life, her fragrance permeated his heart, her colors illuminated the dark corner of hate he had kept himself clustered in all his life.
Maybe he hadn’t really killed his heart in the past, maybe his heart had been waiting, patiently waiting for years and years till it found someone who taught it how to beat in the right way again.
His heart had been waiting for her.
He wanted to plead, his heart still held a bit of darkness and it didn’t deserve her light, but if she accepted him, if she chose to take his heart and give him hers in return, he would spend every single second for the rest of his life to keep a smile on her face.
"I love you." He had said those words to her.
He waited with his breathing halted to hear what she would say, studying each and every passing expression on her face.
He thought her heard a sharp intake of breath, a small gasp when the words escaped his lips. A sweet smile on her lips and then she lowered her gaze from his.
A shot of panic like an arrow shot from it’s bow stabbed his heart and his gaze followed her lowered eyes but he couldn’t see whatever she was hiding until she looked up at him again.
Her large, expressive eyes shone like they had crystals in them, but it was a little sheen of tears and he couldn’t control the panic from oozing out of his voice.
"What’s wrong? Was it something I said?"
Anne just couldn’t believe she would see this day, she was still trying to digest his confession that overwhelmed her heart with so many feelings when she heard his panic filled voice.
His usually authoritative voice was gravely, she could sense his nerves. She couldn’t believe she was the reason he looked and sounded so nervous.
His handsome face was so near to her own, those dark eyes desperately searching her face and she laughed softly.
"This wasn’t the plan Mr Sterling, you weren’t supposed to fall in love with me." She said softly, keeping her emotions under control.
She could still remember several times how he drew uncrossable boundaries between them, she could still remember that their relationship had an expiry date, she could still remember how helplessly her heart had wavered...she couldn’t believe his heart wavered too. But maybe every moment something in her heart told her he wanted her to stay whenever she tried to put distance between them, she had been right.
He wanted her, not just for lust but because he loved her.
Andrew seemed taken aback since he had thought she was crying because he frightened her with something he said. He started by wiping the traces of tears on her lower lids.
"Are these happy tears too?" He asked.
Anne remembered telling him once that she was crying because she was happy, she nodded and he flicked her nose then muttered,
"Crybaby."
He studied her face in a few seconds of silence before saying,
"I lost Annelise."
He had already surrendered when he could no longer resist her, he already surrendered when he knew that she had power over him, over his heart.
He accepted defeat a long time ago and embraced the feeling of love.
"I fell in love with you, I’m the one who breached the terms of the contract. I’m the one changing the plan now. Annelise..." He hesitated for a long time, caressing her warm cheeks,
"I don’t just want a year or two from you. Will you stay with me, right now, tomorrow, and forever?"
Forever, It was meaningless to him before, wasn’t it just a word used by hopelessly romantic people who needed a term to make their words sound dreamy?
Now he knew the meaning of the word, the meaning of something as mundane as laying with a woman in his arms and never wanting to let go. And he knew in this lifetime she was the only woman he would ever want to live these kinds of moments with.
Anne parted her lips to speak but suddenly stopped, a downcast look showed in her eyes.
Forever...
That removed the complications in their relationship. The word forever removed her painful longing, she wouldn’t have to look at him and feel pain that she couldn’t love him for more than a year, she wouldn’t have to look down at her stomach and feel pain that an innocent child would be born into the world without a complete family. She could allow herself to dream of a life with Andrew, she could allow herself to want moments with him, but in her heart there was one thing...and that one thing posed as an obstruction to her fully accepting his heart in this moment.
He studied her quiet expression, how her light brown eyes flickered thoughtfully and a look of realization showed up on Andrew’s face. Though he didn’t know what she was thinking, and he didn’t know what his words of opening up his heart had made her feel, he knew he would have to give her some moments to fully digest them, so instead of pressing her to speak, he leaned down and pressed a warm kiss to her forehead.
Deep inside he was dying to know...would she really want to be with him?
From the start he hadn’t been the most ideal man to her. He had hurt her several times, and used negotiations to marry her like a business transaction. No woman would want to be treated like a commodity, since he hadn’t given her the freedom of choice in the past, he could at least give her that now...he would allow her the time to think about the choice of accepting him or not.
As he thought about this, a voice in his head wondered...
What if she chose not to?
What if her heart chose not to warm up to him? Could he really let her go?
Andrew had never thought of what he would do if she didn’t want him. His heart was already protesting against that thought, and something inside him knew that even if she rejected him he would still cling to her. That was how madly he had fallen for her, and even till this moment, he hadn’t fully figured out the extent of his feelings for her.
The thought of her pushing him away and rejecting him made a strange fear fill his heart, and it made him want to know if she liked him, even a little bit. Liking him was much better than hating him, he would love her enough for both of them. Even though he wanted to ask so desperately, Andrew swallowed the urge.
He might just be overwhelming her with these feelings he confessed to her, the last thing he wanted was to frighten her or confuse her, so he held back.
"I’ll get my answer in the next ten hours, understood?" He asked searching her eyes until she nodded.
He could barely survive the uncertainty of right now, how was he going to survive the anxiety of the next ten working hours?
"I took away the right to making an important decision in your life from you in the past, I never gave you a choice to choose the outcome of your life. Though I don’t regret the contract because it brought you to me. When I get back later, I’ll ask you this again okay?"
"Okay." She voiced very softly, almost inaudibly and he leaned down to lightly peck her on the lips then added,
"Stay home today, there are two bodyguards outside, if you need to go anywhere they’ll be with you to protect you. They won’t crowd you, I’ve told them to stay hidden. But you’re not allowed to go to work." He added in a whisper, he was supposed to leave but he was perfectly satisfied being here that he couldn’t help himself. He kissed her again before pushing himself about to leave but she grabbed his arm, momentarily stopping him to say,
"But it’s a work day and I have a lot to do at the office so I have to go to work too."
"Have you forgotten, Mrs Sterling that your husband owns the place? You could skip work whenever you want. Stay home okay? I need to make sure it’s safe for you at the company first."
Till this moment, the thought of her being his wife still filled his heart with pride and a strange thrill.
How had he never understood the concept of marriage before? It was a bond that kept one person and one person alone as your companion for the rest of your life, there was nothing else he wanted more than to wake up every morning to her by his side, to go to bed every night with her by his side, and knowing that she was all his and his alone.
"But I really need to be at the office today, it will be very unprofessional if I don’t show up. And no one at the office is supposed to know that you and I are married."
A cunning smile raised his lips making Anne feel suspicious.
"On the contrary, the whole company should know by now that you’re my wife." He said it so casually, yet he looked so pleased by the fact. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
"What?" Anne sat up hastily.
"What did you think the photographs of you in my office would do? Anyone and everyone who walks into my office will see it, and word spreads really fast, I’m sure right now, every corner of SE knows that you’re Mrs Sterling. No one will question anything you do."
***
A/N: I know guys, I know, I’m sorry for missing a few days. The past few weeks have been hectic for me and I thought I could do it all, turns out I can’t and I crashed. Even an overworked engine would crash not to mention a human, I was forced to give myself well needed rest in order to recharge. I know the absence of updates can be very upsetting, but I still want to express my heartfelt appreciation for your support even while the book was on standby. Thank you very much, and I hope you continue to enjoy reading.
