Billionaire's Second Chance

Aria moved away. “As much as I would like that train of thought to continue,” she said and grinned. “I have a lot of unpacking to do, so no room for distractions.”

“That game, huh? Whatever, I have some important matters to discuss with you anyway.”

“Is everything alright?” She looked immediately alarmed and for some unknown reason, it made her appear more adorable. She was such an insanely genuine person.

“Yes, everything is alright. Pretty fucking perfect, actually. I just wanted to talk to you about your mother’s hospital bills—”

“Oh right. I suppose since we are getting married, the contract is no longer valid. Don’t worry about paying for the last two months; I don’t want it to be a conflict of interest. With my new promotion, I am sure I could handle those payments myself. And since we have been paying all the other amounts on time, the hospital should allow me some extra time. I will probably incur some interest but that hardly matters in the grander scheme of things.”

“Aria,” I said with an urge to laugh. “What on earth do you think you are talking about?”

She raised her eyebrows. “My mother’s hospital bills. I am guessing that’s where you were going with bringing up that subject?”

“Quite the contrary. Have you not realized by now that I will gladly turn over my entire fortune for you? My money is your money. What I wanted to discuss,” I said, planting a kiss on her mouth, unable to help it. “Is that I paid off the rest of her bill. Since I am marrying her daughter, it’s the least I could do. She is giving me far more than I have given her. You were right on one account of course; the contract is no longer valid. You are going to be my wife now. We don’t need some stupid contract.”

“Well, I have actually been thinking about that,” Aria said softly and slowly, as though weighing her words in her mind. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, Zayden. You know I love you a lot, more than words can ever describe. If you don’t then you’re just stupid and shouldn’t be allowed to run such a huge empire.” She giggled. “I love you with all my heart and want us to be together forever. But life is strange and sometimes things happen. In the case that we

ever find ourselves in a situation that is unpleasant as far as our union goes—”

“What are you trying to say, Aria?” I felt myself stiffen. I didn’t like hearing those words.

“Well, I guess what I am really trying to say is that the last thing in the world that I want is to feel like I am in some way taking advantage of you. As you know, I have nothing but some annoying amounts of debt. You have quite a lot. In the case that we were to,” she choked up trying to formulate that idea. “In the case that we ever, you know, split up for any reason, I want you to feel like your assets and everything you own are secure and yours. Which is why I think a prenuptial contract is important. To protect you.”

“Are you joking?” I stared at her closely to make sure that she was being serious.

Her words at once annoyed me greatly but also made me admire her even more. Any other woman would be thrilled that I hadn’t brought up a prenup or tried to convince me to ignore it if I had brought it up. Aria would be the only person to care so much about protecting me because she didn’t want me for my money. She wanted me for me.

The part that annoyed me was that she thought that such an arrangement would even be necessary. That was absolutely preposterous. I saw no situation in any part of our future where divorce would ever even cross my mind, and I highly doubted that she did too. So she must think somehow that I might change my mind about how much I loved her down the line…she simply did not get that what I felt for her was beyond everyday romance, beyond my concern for my own life…

“I am not joking, Zayden. I want you to feel secure. It is important to me that you know that I am marrying you for the right reasons. I appreciate the promotion I got at work, and it will certainly help me grow into my own going forward. As such, even though we are nullifying our contract, I am going to pay you back for the money you paid towards my mother’s hospital bills, just like we had planned. I want us to be equals in this relationship, I couldn’t stress that more. In fact, down the line I expect to pay for half the costs we incur during this wedding. I know you don’t need the money, but it’s really a matter of principle at the end of the day. Do you understand what I am getting at?”

“I do,” I said and pulled her back towards me. “I know exactly what you are getting at and this is precisely why I am in love with you. We are getting married, which means there is really no distinction between my money and your money, my home and your home. Everything is ours from now on, together. That is what family is all about. We will be sharing our lives with each other, every bit of it. But okay, if it makes you feel better you can slowly pay me back for whatever you wish, so you feel like we are equals. If the scales are tipped at all, they are in that you are cleverer and far more intelligent than I will ever be, so you have the upper hand, in a sense.”

She giggled and let out an adorable little snort. “You guys must all stop this ridiculous praise of my intelligence. It’s starting to get way too funny. I am 20 years old and I don’t even have an undergraduate degree yet.”

“Exactly my point,” I said cheerfully. “But anyways, moving on. You can go over checks and balances and ‘pay back’ whatever you think you need to. We have a whole lifetime for you to do this, as it happens. I am firmly intent upon this, so if you put up further arguments, we will just be wasting precious time that could be spent fucking. I will not ever agree to a prenup. The whole idea behind it suggests that there is even the slightest bit of possibility that you and I might not be together forever. I would rather die the most painful death than allow myself to even entertain such an idea. I have been married before and it was a complete disaster, as you know very well. Given that I had made up my mind that nothing would convince me to partake in a union again. Then you came along. Believe me when I say this, Aria, I would never have proposed to you if I had even for a second thought that there was a possibility that we wouldn’t last forever.”

She hugged me tighter, kissing my chest. “How did you get to become such a sweet and loving person? God I am so lucky.”

I shrugged. “It’s the effect you have on me. Most people – my own mother included – would laugh at the idea that someone used those words to describe me.”

“Well your mother sounds kind of awful anyway,” she said.

“Yeah, you will have the opportunity to experience it firsthand soon enough. Apparently it is the norm to invite your parents to your wedding, or something.” I rolled my eyes.

She laughed. “I am sure she isn’t so terrible. She did give birth to the most amazing man in the world, after all.”

“You are too sweet,” I said, and kissed her forehead. “But seriously, my mother can be a nightmare, so if I were you I would be careful. She is going to try and make you feel as though you aren’t good enough for me. She obviously won’t have any idea what the fuck she is talking about, so if I were you I would ignore everything she says.”

“I’m sure I could get her to like me,” she said confidently.

“You know what?” I thought about that for a second. “You actually might just accomplish that, Aria. It is rather difficult not to fall in love with you, as I speak from very personal experience.”

The doorbell rang. “Were we expecting company?” Aria asked.

“Oh yeah, that’s kind of a surprise. I’ll be right back,” I said and walked to the door to welcome Fiona Davis.

“Sorry our house is a bit of a mess, my fiancée just moved in today and we are still figuring out where to put everything.”