*A few days ago*

"Aria, are you sure you wanna do this?" Liam asked as she proposed this plan to him.

"Do you think I"m kidding?" She asked and stared at him.

"No, but I mean this is a big decision and you should think twice." He suggested and looked at her helplessly.

"I"ve thought it through and this will be a contract marriage. There won"t be any love and you can date anyone you like, I won"t be holding you back. Just gotta pretend in front of the world and join hands with the Rong Empire." She explained her plan.

"What about you then?" He asked and she just looked away.

"I have plenty of things to take care of." She said snd he stood beside her.

"How long are you gonna run away from your feelings?" He asked her.

"Those feelings died long ago." She said and he just looked at her.

"Ari, you"re gonna destroy your life this." He said and didn"t want her to take her harsh decisions.

"You"re gonna help me or not?" She got straight to the point.

"I will but I don"t wanna see you kill yourself like this." He begged her.

"You gotta let all your feelings out." He advised her.

"I"ll send you the details of the party that we"ll attend together." She said and walked away without listening.

They both were good friends and he always observed her closely for she"s the most mysterious person in the room. He noticed that she was always trying to avoid the truth for it reminded her of the past, of all those feelings that she had suppressed to turn herself into this cold person that she was today. He knew that she"ll go to ay extend to destroy that past completely and separate herself from it and this marriage was also a way to do this, to separate herself from her past and the guy she loved.

*Present time, at the party*

Noah was shaken after hearing that Liam was her fiance, he felt as if he had lost her completely. It felt as if she was the light in the darkroom that he was locked in and now that she left him all that he saw was darkness, that started to kill him slowly. He became quiet. The others were shocked on hearing the news for they also didn"t see this coming.

"Ready to act?" She asked Liam as they were about to step inside.

"I was born to be an actor." He said and smiled at her.

"Oh, such pretty face... pity that you chose to be in business." She said and shook her head.

"I didn"t, my dad chose it, but I like it..." He said and smiled brightly.

"Why? Cause you get to make money?" She asked him.

"No, cause first, I get to act in front of people, just like now. And second, I get to meet pretty girls like you. My both dreams are fulfilled." He joked and they both laughed.

"Why did you chose to be in business?" He asked as they walked further after talking to some people.

"I also didn"t choose for myself, it was already written in my fate." She said as she waved at someone.

"So do you like it?" He asked her in curiosity.

"I love it." She said with a smile. "Cause I get to control their lives." She said with a cunning smile.

"You"re a devil behind a beautiful face." He said and she felt flattered.

"Well, tell me who"s the one chasing after you." He said and lowered his head to her ear. She kept a smile on and stepped on his shoe.

"If I give you an inch, don"t take ten." She said and glared at him. He just smiled softly.

"You know you look pretty cute when you"re angry." He said and placed his arm over her shoulder. She gave him a death glare.

"No seriously, who is he." He asked in a more serious tone. She pointe her finger toward the place where Noah was standing. Noah was standing in a corner, leaning against the wall, staring blankly at the floor. He was still the whole time and it looked like he was about to cry.

"My G.o.d, he looks like a kid whose mom left him at the amus.e.m.e.nt park." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"It"s a joke so you can smile." He told her and she just smirked at his stupidity. Suddenly he took her hand and dragged her towards the stage.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing now?" She asked him in frustration. He pulled her closer and started dancing.

"Making your lover even more jealous." He whispered in her ear and then pinned her around. She was kinda angry but didn"t complain, for she knew that it wasn"t on any help as they were in front of so many people.

After some time they parted and focused on their own business, meeting people, discussing their upcoming plans, and setting meetings with other businessmen.

The party lasted for a long time and they all were tired by the end of it. Liam had some work so he left early and Aria went back with Jimmy and Sofi while the rest went back themselves. There was complete silence in the car.

"Ari, what are you planning to do now?" Sofi asked in frustration for she was tired of her keeping secrets from them.

"What do you mean?" She asked her.

"What"s with this fiance thing now?" She asked loudly. "You don"t even love him." She added.

"Love isn"t the most important thing." She replied calmly.

"You"re destroying your life." She said helplessly.

"It"s my life and I can do whatever I want." She said, her voice rose a bit.

"I"m sorry mam," Sofi said and went completely quiet again.

Jimmy was watching all this and suddenly asked her, "What about him then?" She was kinda shocked.

"What does it have to do with him? He can do whatever he wants." She said and looked outside the window.

"You know he regrets everything and it"s killing him. He was going to apologize to you today but instead, he was heartbroken again." He explained to her.

She looked to her side and was tired of everything. They were only noticing his pain but no one even once mentioned what she went through two years ago. It appeared that according to them, Noah never betrayed her, he never left when she needed him the most but it was she who didn"t understand his feelings and was heartless.

She knew that Sofi was on the verge of tears because she shouted at her. She leaned back and sighed deeply.

"He"s the reason why I"m doing this..." She wanted to say it out loud but couldn"t cause no one could understand her. They all had become distant towards her.

"I don"t want to get hurt again, I don"t want to be that weak ever again." She thought and her eyes were filled with tears and she closed them making a few tears run down her cheeks.

"Don"t make more this difficult for me, I"m already hating myself enough..." She thought and clenched her fists tightly to stop her tears.

*In the other car*

The Trio, Troy, and Noah were in the other car. There was an awkward silence in the car, there were many things they wanted to say but no one dared to speak up. Noah didn"t even look at them, he just turned his head away and stared outside blankly. They reached the hotel where they were staying. Noah walked out of the car at first, while the others were still unbuckling their seatbelts. He rushed to his bedroom and locked himself inside. They knocked at the door but he didn"t even answer. After long persuasion by Troy, he opened the door, only Troy was standing at the door because the others had a lot of work to finish. He let him inside. His eyes were red from crying and all the sheets were destroyed.

"What are you gonna do now?" Troy asked him carefully after he sat on the bed beside him.

"I gonna leave her alone." He said and Troy was shocked by her words.

"I"ll give up on her because there"s no hope. I"m gonna go away from her..." He said helplessly.

"You"re gonna give up again?" Troy asked her. Noah was confused by his words.

"Well it"s the right thing to do, after all, you didn"t fight for your freedom earlier, neither you did fight for your dreams or even your love so it"s the right thing to give up on her." He said and looked away.

"What else should I do?" He asked him helplessly.

"She doesn"t even talk to me, and now she went even more out of your reach." He sobbed.

"You did this to her." He shouted at him.

"You forced her to build so high walls around herself and now you have to break them," Troy said and said all just this to encourage him to be stronger. But he was quiet so he left his room.

The next morning, Noah knocked at his door, at 5 am.

"Open the door!" Noah said and sounded desperate.

"What the h.e.l.l do you want?" He asked and was still half asleep.

"I thought about what you said all night. And I don"t wanna give up again. Even though there"s no hope, I still wanna try once..." He said with determination in his eyes.