Breaking Free, Loving Again -The Flash Marriage with Mr. CEO

And it was then that Arwen saw what Beca wanted her to see.

Her pupils dilated briefly, and subtle shock flickered in her gaze.

Beca watched her and then slowly said, "When you had first said that the engagement between you and Ryan was nothing but a family arrangement, even I believed the same and supported you on breaking it. But, dear, —"

She paused, her gaze growing profound as if understanding something that wasn't very evident on the surface. "... after seeing this, I no longer believe the same. An emotion as deep as what you have written and a portrait as detailed as you have drawn doesn't come from some mere arrangement that's been forced. It comes from deep within."

Arwen didn't respond. Her gaze remained fixed on the portrait sketch of Ryan in the book, and to the right of it was written.

[His eyes look like November.

Not cold, but heavy.

I am willing to give him all my sunshine.]

Even if she wanted to deny, she couldn't …

"Arwen, I know Ryan did many wrongs to you. He deserves all the punishment of this world. But if that comes at the expense of your wishes and happiness, then it's not worth it." She shook her head and then reached out to place a hand over Arwen's. "If you have your emotions so deep for it, it's not worth letting him go. Especially when he had realized his feelings for you."

Beca could vouch for Ryan this time. She had seen her son, desperate for Arwen, willing to cross hell if that could bring him her forgiveness.

If Arwen was also holding the same deep feeling for him, it would be only better if the two came together.

"I know the difference between you two has only increased since the day you two broke up. And you have probably even taken a step to move on from what you have for him, Arwen. But dear, believe even if you feel like you have gotten successful in moving on now, in future you will regret it. So —"

Before Beca could finish what she meant to explain, her words paused when she saw Arwen shaking her head at her.

"I will never regret anything," Arwen said, finally looking up at her, her gaze as clear as it could be.

While Beca frowned in confusion, Arwen shook her head with more confidence and repeated her previous words. "I will never regret it, Aunt Beca, because there was never anything like that to begin with."

"What do you mean?" Beca's gaze went back to journal that still remained open at Ryan's identical portrait sketch. "If there wasn't ever anything, then how did you —"

Once again before she could say, Arwen spoke, her head already shaking at whatever Beca was thinking. "I didn't."

"You didn't?"

"I didn't," Arwen repeated, gazing down at picture. "I didn't draw this."

"Arwen, this diary is yours."

Beca tried to counter, but Arwen felt the sudden surge of clarity in her —one that might not be backed with memories, but was surely backed by strong instincts —one that she couldn't deny.

"Indeed," she said, "the diary is mine and so is the handwriting here," she tapped on the right-hand side page. "I wrote this but it's definitely not for Ryan, same as this sketch isn't for him. I didn't draw him. I could never."

"Is it because you don't want to accept?" Beca would understand if Arwen was still unwilling to forgive Ryan.

However, she just didn't understand what Arwen meant.

"As long as it's the truth, it's not hard to accept, Aunt Beca. And this isn't truth." She let her finger brush against the paper as she continued. "I didn't do this sketch. I never had any reasons to."

"But then who could do it, Arwen. This diary is yours." Beca didn't want to believe it. But when she saw in Arwen's eyes, she realized Arwen wasn't trying to struggling to accept, she rather looked confident in her stance as if she knew every word she was speaking about.

Arwen looked down at the diary and suddenly her gaze turned cold as ice, piercing the image sketched across the page. "It's not hard to tell who could do it. After all, except for one woman, no one else had the reason to."

"Catrin?" the guess wasn't difficult. Beca was able to do it immediately, realizing that indeed Catrin could use it in her favor. After all, all she needed was to give Ryan something to hold on and Arwen's diary was the perfect thing.

That was her best friend —one she had treated as her own sister. But now, she felt betrayed.

"Arwen, I am sorry," she said, looking guilty. She never thought to pester Arwen, but today she exactly did that. How could she bring to forgive herself? "I didn't mean to make you —"

"I understand, Aunt Beca," Arwen shook her head. "You just wanted to encourage me to choose the happiness. I don't blame you for anything you said. It's just that I want to make one thing clear to you. No matter how Ryan feels now, it has got nothing to do with me because I don't share the same feeling. I never did."

Beca understood. Nodding, she agreed. "I didn't come to force you, child. I just meant to let you know that no matter what you choose, I am willing to stand by your side."

"Thank you, Aunt Beca."

—————

Since the lunch was done and so was their conversation, not long after Beca left. Arwen remained in the private room. Her gaze fixed at the diary that still laid on the table.

She might not have sketched Ryan, but she did journal all the rest that was there in the diary. It was her handwriting.

And even though she hadn't yet read what all she had written there, she could tell, there was someone she had kept on mentioning everywhere.

Who is he?

And why had she written so much about him?