Chapter One Hundred and two

Damien's POV;

"I'm hopelessly in love with you, Ariana."

I finally said it. But, I wasn't done with my confession. I continued speaking when I saw she was too stunned to utter a word.

"I longed for adoring someone as sweet as you. I longed for a relationship, only like the one I have with you. I longed for a life where I will live with you when we are together in our home. Do dreams at any point work out as expected? Indeed, they do, because I discovered you and I love you, Ariana Delaney Kingston." I recited. I had my heart in my mouth as spoke. I was a nervous wreck.

She narrowed her eyes at me. That was not the reaction I was expecting.

"Brianna put you up to this, didn't she?" She wasn't asking, she was stating the fact.

She caught me. Why's this woman so smart?

"She wouldn't give me the address to this place until I rehearsed those lines perfectly. I just had to." I resignedly confessed. I was embarrassed at how silly I had become because I was in love with the woman in front of me.

"I meant it though. I've fallen for you and I need you in my life." I crossed over to where she stood.

"Babe, say something." I said when I saw that she had been quiet for several seconds.

"Damien," she exhaled and bit nervously on her lower lip. At least I wasn't the only person who was nervous.

"A love confession doesn't change anything. I'm still going on with the divorce. I'm sorry." She said and moved away from me.

She crushed my spirit with that heart-rending response.

"Ariana don't give up on me like this. I need you, I can't imagine my life without you." I held on to her hands.

She shook her head repeatedly.

"Damien let's not lie to ourselves, we can't work out. We're worlds apart. It's not meant to be. I don't fit into this world you've thrown me into. I want peace of mind." She spoke with her heart on her sleeve

"I'll give you all the peace you need!" I said hastily.

"You don't even know what I want!" She walked away from me, out of the kitchen. I followed closely.

"Whatever it is that you want? I can give it to you."

"Damien I want a simple life without all the media drama and attention. Can you give me that?"

I kept mute. For the longest time, I had been on the news for one reason or another and my marriage to her shed more light on private life. She was the most public part of my life and now that I saw how it affected her, I was going to try to change that.

"You see what I'm saying. You can't do it." She said conclusively with a shrug. She must have misinterpreted my silence.

"I can! Ariana, if you want us to be more private then we'll do just that."

She shook her head in thought.

"No Damien, I still can't come back to you."

"Ariana, please give me a chance."

"No. Please leave Damien." She said turning away from me.

I saw that she was in no mood to listen to me. I nodded trying to fight the disappointment that was seeping through me.

"I'll leave but I'll be back. I'll just give you some time to think things over."

"There's nothing to be thought about. My decision is final." She had her chin up in a confident stance.

"We'll see about that." I smirked.

Her pitch black eyes flashed with worry but it was gone as soon as it came.

I dropped a kiss on her forehead before walking out the door.

I wasn't going to give up on her just yet. Not at all, in fact.

***

Ariana's POV;

I glared at Brianna as she walked into the house, humming a familiar tune. She seemed to be in high spirits while I sat there sulking since Damien's exit.

"Hey Ari. So, how did it go?" She eagerly plopped next to me on the couch.

"I thought you were on my side, Brie." I narrowed my eyes as I wrapped my arms around under my chest.

"Of course I am." She said.

"Why did you bring Damien here?"

"The man misses his wife, I can't stand in the way of love. You needed to see how he was begging me to let him have the address."

I glared at her. I couldn't believe that she found this amusing.

"I'm sorry okay? Just give him a chance already, the man looks like a lost puppy without you."

"I'm sick and tired of people telling me to give him a chance. I've given him so many and he fucked each and every one up before I could blink. No one understands what I've had to go through since I married him." I was breathing heavily after that outburst.

"Whoa. Calm down tigress." Brianna said carefully.

"I get that your marriage has been rocky from the start but tell me this, didn't you think of situations like these before agreeing to tie the knot with him?"

"I didn't have a choice." My voice broke and tears rolled down my cheeks before I could stop them. It broke my heart over and over again whenever I thought about how I was so gullible and was tricked into marrying someone I didn't want.

Brianna sat up in alert.

"What do you mean?" Her eyes looked smaller as they squinted in worry.

I shook my head.

"Brie, I don't want to talk about it. I'll see you in the morning."

I tried to not think about Damien's confession but my mind kept taking me back to the way he professed his love. The words had been ingrained in my memory and kept repeating themselves over and over.

I know I rejected him a little harshly but I did not believe my feelings for him were strong enough to be called love. Even if they were, it was too much of a risk to go back to him.

I hardly had a wink of sleep throughout the night and by the time I looked at myself in the mirror the next morning, I looked thoroughly disheveled. I needed some coffee.

I traipsed into the kitchen with a tired frown marring my face.

"Oh goodness me! You look like you've been hit by a truck!" Brianna exclaimed the moment she set her eyes on me.

"Thanks for the compliment." I sarcastically responded. I pulled out a chair and rested my head on kitchen island.

"Coffee?" She offered.

"Please." I said somewhat desperately.

One cup of coffee later...

"And what in the Williams Shakespeare was that recital you made him do?" I said laughing in between my words.

Brianna and I were caught up in a never ending conversation over our drinks and we soon wandered over to the happenings of the night before.

"What? I was trying my hands at script writing directing." She turned pink.

"Yeah right. Those lines were so cheesy." I snorted.

"Is that why you rejected him?"

"One of the reasons." I hummed and took another sip.