Breaking Free, Loving Again -The Flash Marriage with Mr. CEO-Chapter 525: A mere stranger.

Arwen hadn't informed anyone that she would be coming.

She wanted to surprise Aiden.

There was something strangely satisfying in the idea —of showing up unannounced, catching him off-guard, and then seeing a rare smile of delight on his face.

A small smile played on her lips at the thought as she pushed open the door.

But the moment she stepped inside, that smile froze.

Her brows furrowed at the sight of Ryan standing there, but her gaze quickly shifted —fixing on his hand, which was tightly gripping Aiden's collar.

She wasn't sure what was happening there, but seeing Ryan's hand on Aiden was enough to push her off the edge.

Without a second thought, she charged forward and yanked Ryan away, her movement swift and furious.

And then —without hesitation —she raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

The sharp sound echoed through the room, deafening everything.

Ryan hadn't expected it. He stumbled back a step, stunned.

"Arwen, I—" freewebnσvel.cøm

"How dare you?" Not giving him any chance, she spat, her voice cold and cutting.

He blinked, dazed by both the slap and her anger.

"How dare you lay a hand on him?" she repeated, stepping between them protectively. "What gave you the courage? Had I not warned you enough?"

Ryan looked at her, searching for words, but none came. He was too shocked to gather his thoughts. His eyes were simply fixed on Arwen, urging her to understand him … even if it was for once.

Her breathing was heavy, her body trembling slightly from the surge of emotions coursing through her —rage, and something else that she couldn't name.

She turned toward Aiden then, her eyes softening as she took in the disheveled state of his shirt and the storm still lingering in his gaze.

One look in those eyes, and she could tell there had happened something that made him furious.

He didn't look calm; rather, something had happened that had rattled him.

Her hand rose almost instinctively. He cupped his cheek, her thumb brushing gently over his skin in a quiet effort to soothe whatever had lit the fire inside him.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly, her brows knitting in concern. "Did he do something to you? Did he say something to irritate you?"

Aiden wasn't calm —not even close. But the sight of her, this worried, this close, this furious on his behalf, anchored him in place.

He couldn't let her worry deepen.

"No," he said, his voice rough, but steady. "He didn't hurt me. He doesn't have that capability to begin with."

His gaze shifted to Ryan, fury tightening his brows. "He just tried to claim something that was never his."

Ryan's fingers clenched tightly at that. His jaw ticked as he glowered, ready to retort.

But before he could, Arwen left him no chance.

Still staring at Aiden, she gently touched his face, forcing him to look at her. Her voice, though quiet, carried the conviction that silenced the room.

"What's yours could never be anyone else's," she said softly. "Be it anything …even me."

Aiden paused at her words. He knew she was just reassuring him, but something about the way she said it —calm, certain, unapologetic –stirred something deep within him.

It was like a balm on an old wound.

It calmed him. At once. Truly.

Behind them, Ryan staggered a little when he heard Arwen say that. The blow of her words hit harder than her slap.

He had thought —hoped —that some part of her still belonged to him.

But her words just now shattered all his hopes.

"Arwen, how could you say that?" he asked, partially in disbelief. "You barely know this man. How could you say something like that to him?"

Arwen's expression hardened immediately. She turned to pin Ryan with a stiff gaze. "If you have forgotten, let me remind you, Mr. Foster, the man you are referring to is my husband. And you don't get to teach me what promises I get to make to me."

"Arwen, he is not the right person," Ryan said, this time more confidently than the previous times. "Your meeting with him was not a coincidence. He approached you with a purpose. And I am here just to find that out."

"Find out," she echoed, chuckling at his confidence. "You are here to find my husband's intention behind approaching me?"

Ryan didn't like the way she called Aiden her husbands in every second sentence, but he curbed it. Nodding, he said, "Yes. I am —"

However, Arwen didn't let him finish,

"Who the hell do you think you are to step in between us to find out our affairs?" Her voice was cold and cutting. "Do you even hold a position?"

Ryan wanted to say that he cares for her. That maybe some part of him always would. But something in Arwen's gaze stopped him, drawing a line he couldn't bring himself to cross.

She continued, her voice unwavering.

"Mr. Foster, let me clear this again for you. Aiden is my husband. And you are nothing but a stranger to me. I don't need the validation of a mere stranger to trust the man I married."

Then, without looking back at Ryan again, she turned toward Aiden and gently interwined her fingers with his.

She turned and looked at Aiden, intertwining her fingers with his.

"Even if he had some hidden motive for approaching me," she said, her tone softening only for Aiden, "that's between him and me. I don't give you —or anyone else —the right to interfere or to question it."

Her words weren't just a declaration. They were a boundary —the boundary that she wouldn't allow anyone to cross.

"Now, if I have made it clear to you enough, I would like to see you leave.

She said, gesturing him towards the door, that she had left it open. Emyr was standing there.

When Arwen caught the sight of him, she swiftly cued him, adding loud enough to not leave any trace of misconception.

"Mr. Ethan, please escort Mr. Foster out."