One Night Stand Gone Wrong

**Three weeks later**

Arielle had all the proof to sue both Emma and Sophia.

When she was about to take action, Thomas’s mother, Emelia Payna, approached her. It derailed her plans.

Emelia threatened to make her disappear if found entangling with Thomas, who was due to marry Sophia.

Arielle waited for two weeks for an explanation from Thomas, but he did not say a word.

Thomas merely explained that Sophia was the girlfriend he had at college, the one who had tried to use him without knowing his identity.

Thomas had assured Arielle that he did not have any feelings for Sophia, he had not had any in years, and Sophia was nothing to him.

But he could tell something was bothering Arielle.

His worries came true when he arrived in her apartment to see candlelight dinner, wine, and a table full of his favorite dishes.

“What’s wrong?” He asked straightaway.

“It’s scary how well you know me,” Arielle laughed bitterly.

“El, what is it?” He panicked.

“Let’s break up!” She said, looking straight into his eyes.

“Why?” He managed to ask, his fists clenched and jaw tight.

“Because I broke the rules of engagement. I am starting to have feelings for you.”

She sucked a deep breath before adding, “This was a fling. I should have broken up with you as soon as I realized I had started to catch feelings.”

Thomas did not know whether he should be happy or sad at this revelation. He already knew he liked her, a great deal at that. He had never said anything because he was unsure of her feelings. But the way the reveal came made him tongue-tied.

“El!” He mustered the courage to confess, but she cut him off.

“You are not the right person for me,” she said stubbornly.

“What do you mean?” Thomas changed his words.

“You are my employer. You have a responsibility, a family, a fiancé. All the people around you hate me. I have always wanted to marry someone who would give me a complete family where I would be loved and cherished, something I had lacked in my own home.”

Arielle explained her stand clearly.

“If I were together with you, I would be too exhausted fighting. I would be so overwhelmed that the budding feelings would quickly burn to exhaustion. I don’t want to live so pathetically.”

Arielle knew it was not fair to Thomas. Hailing from a family where no one ever loved her, she had vowed to spend her whole life alone rather than marry into a broken and toxic family.

The Paynes were not for her. It was as unmistakable as it could get. She did not want to drag this any further.

“I don’t know what to say. I like you. I might even be in love with you.” Thomas swallowed the lump in his throat.

Thomas could not ask her to wrong herself to give him a chance. She was too precious in his heart for that.

“You meet all my fantasies of the perfect husband and lover. And I know it’s not fair to you or me. But I can’t.” Arielle cried for the first time in more than a decade.

“My family never loved me. I don’t want to be depressed and hurt again. I am so sorry.”

Thomas felt his heart break at her sobbing.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“No, I am so sorry. I wish things were simpler, better.”

“I had hoped to ask you to be my girlfriend after your contract ended. And get married, eventually. It is my loss in every way.” Thomas held her in his arms and cried.

The lovers stayed in each other’s arms and cried for the longest time.

When they settled their emotions, Thomas picked her up bridal-style and brought her to the washroom. He put her beside the basin and gently wiped her face. She did the same for him.

They had a quiet farewell dinner.

As much as Thomas hated breaking up with her and wanted to stay, he knew he could not. If he did, knowing the kind of fate that awaited her, he would be no different from her original family. He could not hurt her like that.

After eating, Thomas packed up the leftover food and put it in the fridge.

Arielle was still sniffling at the table.

“You are not wrong. You should not hurt yourself. You must never wrong yourself. In the future, when there are better circumstances, I will find you again. Maybe destiny has other plans for us.”

Thomas said as he forced her chin up and made her look at him.

Arielle was touched. She could not help but kiss him.

The salty kiss escalated to something more.

They made love repeatedly until she passed out.

Thankfully, Arielle had the sense to initiate a break-up on a Friday night. They did not have to worry about missing the office. It also gave them time to compose themselves.

Arielle spent the rest of the weekend getting herself to cheer up as she cleaned her apartment to remove any signs of Thomas being there. She could not remove his traces from her heart, but she could ensure she would not be reminded of him all the time.

She dived back to work on Monday as if everything was okay.

Thomas spent the entire weekend drinking himself to a stupor. John had come to check on him on Sunday morning, feeling something was off, only to find him in an inebriated state.

John called Thomas’s best friend, Mathew Stark, who fortunately had just returned from abroad.

Together, they managed to pull Thomas out of his misery and talk some sense into him.

It took an entire afternoon and the better part of 6 hours, but Thomas saw hope at last.

‘Mathew is right. It is just like taking a break. She is not fickle. She won’t immediately fall for anyone else. I will fix everything in the company and free myself before I seek her and pursue her again. I will never let her go. It is just a temporary separation because the timing is wrong.’

With such thoughts, Thomas was no longer depressed and pulled himself together before going to work as usual on Monday.