Overprotective Sons & Possessive Husband

Chapter 5:Fiancee

When Aaron came into the world, Brielle found herself facing an arduous intersection of responsibilities, as her infant's needs for breastfeeding coincided with her pursuit of an education. This period marked the most challenging phase of her life, leaving her scarcely able to recover during her postpartum confinement. Simultaneously, her acceptance into a prestigious university brought forth a formidable academic workload. On any given day, she was tasked with balancing her part-time job alongside caring for Aaron, all while struggling on the precipice of physical exhaustion.

Upon her graduation from university, Brielle succeeded in securing a high-paying job, significantly enhancing the family's financial stability. However, she harboured concerns about her adoptive mother and sister's treatment of Aaron while she was away at work, fearing he might endure the same mistreatment she had suffered.

She couldn't erase from her memory the indifference and hurtful words Aurora had directed at her when she first brought Aaron home. These painful memories still haunted her to this day. Therefore, as soon as she secured employment, she made the decision to leave her family's residence with Aaron, renting an apartment for the two of them.

During her work hours, Aaron attended a local kindergarten, patiently waiting for her at the entrance when the school day ended. Brielle found solace in Aaron's sensible nature. Despite his tender age, he displayed remarkable thoughtfulness and rarely exhibited stubbornness. He had even reached the point where he could return home independently, eliminating the need for her to fetch him.

As they stepped out of the department store, mother and son were greeted by the scorching summer sun. Aaron held a toy in his hand, trailing behind Brielle with each step growing gradually heavier. The relentless heat of midsummer proved challenging to adjust to, especially after leaving the refreshing confines of the store just moments earlier.

…

Aaron raised his small face and cried out softly,

“Mommy….”

Brielle spun around. She noticed that his entire face was bright red, his eyes and brows drooping wearily. She squeezed her brows in worry.

“What is it, Aaron? Are you unwell?” Aaron’s eyebrows creased. He extended his hands toward her and said coyly,

“Mommy, it’s hot… It’s hot! Aaron can’t walk anymore! Piggyback! Piggyback….”

Brielle was stunned by his words and could not help but smile as she bent down.

When Aaron saw this, his eyes curved happily. He stuck out his tongue playfully and leaped onto her shoulders.

Brielle held him firmly and stood up. Satisfied, Aaron clung on to her shoulders, his small face pressing toward her. With an affectionate tone, he asked,

“Mommy, are you tired?”

“Of course.”

“Wait till Aaron grows up, and then Aaron will be the one to carry mommy!” Brielle grinned,

“Okay! Aaron is really mommy’s considerate little sweetheart!”

The little boy elevated his palm-sized face and asked with a blank look.

“Mommy, what’s a little sweetheart?”

“It’s… a very heartwarming person – a person that makes people feel warm.”

“Oh! Then, Aaron will only be warm to mommy and no one else!”

Aaron sweetly rounded his pink lips, cupped her face, and – mwah! – gave a smack on her lips. The mother and son laughingly bumped each other’s heads and merrily left the area.

An extended Lincoln parked silently by the roadside.

The Lincoln had a pitch-black, streamlined body. From its window, a youthful yet cold, good-looking face could be seen.

The boy lazily lay on the genuine leather seat, a hand under his cheek. He looked to be about six, but his face had a mature and distant look that was incompatible with his age.

He expressionlessly watched the joyous scene of Brielle and Aaron through the window.

Looking from under his thin bangs, something stirred inside him, and his vision came into focus. The pair walked further and further away.

Inexplicably, a strange emotion emerged from the bottom of his heart as he glanced at the backs of the mother and son. It was something that could not be explained. His heart slightly ached. It was bitter and a little sour.

Soon after, he felt a sense of loneliness. He slightly squinted his eyes and, when he could no longer see the mother-son pair, instantly hung them down to conceal the loneliness that briefly appeared in them.

Returning his focus to the laptop on his lap, he looked at his half-finished homework. He felt somewhat vexed and decided to turn the laptop off.

A middle-aged man in a suit carefully opened the rear door of the extended Lincoln and showed the dessert he had purchased for the boy.

“Young master, your dessert.” The butler carefully unwrapped its packaging and passed the cake to him, along with a fork.

The boy received them indifferently. Staring at the delectable dessert, the scene of the boy’s smiling face as he hugged his toy still appeared in his mind. Suddenly, he had no appetite.

“Not eating.” He pushed the dessert aside and coldly ordered, “Let’s go.”

The butler, Uncle Rick, stared at him blankly. He proceeded to clean up and throw the uneaten cake into a trash can by the road and boarded the vehicle. The vehicle rode off into the distance.

Night fell.

The Ashford Group. The office of the chief executive officer (CEO).

Entering one’s sight were luxurious fixtures, stylish and elegant, extravagant to the core.

A man stood still by the window, his vigorous figure tall and slender. With a towering height of 1.89 meters, his presence was overbearing.

He expressionlessly looked into the distance, at the city’s bustling nightscape, with slightly furrowed brows and distant eyes.

Charlotte slowly pushed the door ajar and saw the figure silently standing by the French window. The corners of her mouth formed a gentle arch.

This man held the highest power in the Ashford Group. He was the son of the chairman of a conglomerate, the chief executive officer of an empire, the Ashford family’s Benjamin, and her fiancé.

They might not have held a wedding ceremony yet, but she was already the Ashford family’s young mistress in name. Their future wedding would definitely be grand and magnificent; the greatest sensation of the century.

This man was also a sensation within the upper class of society. Many young ladies from well-known families were attracted to him. When she recalled today’s headlines about the dating rumours between Benjamin and a diva, Charlotte was madly jealous!

In the eyes of an outsider, she was the future young mistress of the Ashford Group. Who would know that Benjamin and she were only husband and wife in name but not in actuality?

This man was extremely cold to her.

This put her in an extremely awkward situation.

Charlotte placed her handbag lightly on the sofa and gingerly walked to his behind. She reached out her arms to gently cuddle his fit body, and leaned her face on his broad, strong back.

“Benjamin…”

His eyes regained focus. He tilted his face while maintaining his composure. Under the cool lights, his facial contour was prominent, and his clean-cut features were a masterpiece. He had handsome brows and an attractive jaw. The best part of his face was his alluring, deep-set, almond-shaped eyes with pupils as dark as an obsidian, which could shake the heart and soul of many.

This was a handsome and mature man. His handsomeness was not just something on the surface; although his cold face looked young, he gave off the innate aura of an emperor, haughty and domineering, naturally perfect.

He appeared imposing with every move he made, just like emperors and overlords high above the masses in ancient times. With a wave of his hand, he could dictate everything.

Just by his presence, one would know that he was a man who had braved many storms – a man with a cold nature.

“Grandpa let me come to ask you. Are you going back to the Ashford residence tomorrow night?”

His eyebrows slightly twitched, and a nonchalant voice came out from his lips,

“No.”

She noticed his lukewarm expression and stole a glance at the paperwork piled up on his desk. She asked, with a tiny voice,

“Benjamin… Did I disturb you?”

Even though she was set to be his wife, even if she was already the legitimate young mistress of the Ashford family, when facing this unfathomable man, she still had to mind her every move. Despite growing up with him, she felt that she had never truly entered his heart.

Their engagement led her to think once more that she was the luckiest woman in the entire world. She deeply loved this man, but, ironically, she never understood him entirely.

Even though he was her future husband, he was usually not concerned about her. He was like this even on their first meeting. Actually, he was like this to everyone. He was domineering, prideful, and callous; she had never seen him be affectionate to anyone – except for Yichen, that was.

Only in front of Yichen would he conceal his overbearing aura.

Benjamin’s thin lips slightly crooked. His ice-cold voice bore a tinge of tenderness when he answered,

“No.”

Charlotte smiled a little and rejoiced inside for his slight concern, her eyes overflowing with immense love.

She slowly went around to his front and, with arms stretching out seductively, hung on to his shoulders intimately. Her voluptuous body alluringly closed in toward his chest. She inched closer to his attractive face with half-closed eyes and sent a kiss toward his thin, attractive lips.

Benjamin’s slanted eyes stared vacantly at her. Jolting his face aside, her kiss landed on his jaw instead.

Dumbfounded, Charlotte raised her brows and looked up, only to see him glancing indifferently somewhere else. The corners of her lips bitterly furled.

She laughed at herself silently. Yes, how could she forget? Although they were going to be husband and wife, his lips were always a forbidden area. No one was allowed to touch them. The two of them were just acting according to circumstances and were merely together for formality; he had no exceptions for other women.

Charlotte was very angry. She cupped his face with both her hands as tears foamed in her eyes from resentment.

“Benjamin… Do you love me? Answer me honestly. Do you really love me, or are you just following your grandfather’s wishes? Are you just treating our marriage as an order?”

Despite her holding it in all the time, the news of him dating another woman in a magazine today still made her angry and sad!

She was unable to bear watching him, a god-like man in her heart, be taken a share of by another!

There was no change in emotion in Benjamin’s calm demeanour; it was still as cold as snow. He did not know why his thoughts were on the hundred-billion-yuan development project instead of on Charlotte, who was standing before him.

Charlotte was indignant and attempted to kiss him a second time. He effortlessly turned his face and dodged her, shunning her far away.

“Charlotte, stop fooling around.”

Charlotte let out a bitter laugh, her heart somewhat dreary. She already knew that he would dodge her, yet it still hurt. He had never kissed her once or any other woman for the matter.

The capital’s young master had a heart of stone. There were many women around him who were attracted to him, yet none of them was special.

Even she, his legitimate fiancée, the woman closest to him, was never given an exception.

Did he really love her, or was he treating her as a comfort to his loneliness?

Perhaps, it was not even that. Was he even willing to act with her?

She did not suspect this only once. If grandpa had not decided their engagement, if this marriage was not established on his wishes, this man would probably not have looked at her more than once.