Chapter 401: Let’s Stop Fighting

KADEN’S POV

"Goodnight, Rebecca," I murmured when it became obvious that she wasn’t going to answer my question.

She remained silent, her back still turned toward me. I sighed and moved closer, slipping my arm around her waist before pulling the blanket over us properly. The moment my bare skin met hers, a low groan escaped my throat before I could stop it. Fuck. I wanted her again. The soft heat of her body, the way she fit against me so perfectly, and the faint scent of our earlier intimacy still clinging to her skin—it all made my cock twitch and begin to harden once more. I held myself back, forcing my hips to remain still even as every instinct screamed at me to pull her closer and take her again. She didn’t push me away or tell me to stop. She simply lay there without moving.

"Relax, Rebecca. I’m not going to do anything," I whispered, more to myself than to her.

She didn’t answer, and I decided not to bother her anymore. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but my mind refused to cooperate. What the hell had happened tonight? I couldn’t understand myself. One moment, I had been struggling with a fever that had nearly driven me insane, and the next, I had found myself wanting Rebecca so badly that I could barely think straight. And the worst part was that I didn’t regret what had happened.

Fuck! What the hell was wrong with me?

I opened my eyes and stared into the darkness. I loved Rola. She was the woman I wanted to be with, the woman I had chosen to build a future with. Once these ridiculous ninety days were over, I intended to put this forced marriage behind me and start my life with her. So why the hell had I allowed myself to become intimate with Rebecca again?

I glanced down at the woman lying beside me. I wasn’t even sure whether she was asleep. Her breathing was quiet, but I could still feel the tension in her body. Rebecca and I had been through too much together. Our bond had ended badly, and we had both moved on with our lives. She had Melvin, and I had Rola. There was absolutely no reason for us to complicate things again.

Perhaps it was the fever. Perhaps being so close to her had awakened memories I thought I had buried long ago. Whatever the reason, I didn’t want to think about it anymore. It had happened, and there was nothing I could do to change it. Tomorrow, we would talk about it like two reasonable adults and decide how to move forward. For now, I just wanted to sleep.

I tightened my arm slightly around her waist, closed my eyes, and eventually drifted off.

The following morning, I woke feeling better than I had in days. For a few seconds, I remained in bed, staring at the ceiling as I tried to understand what had changed. The terrible headache was gone, my body no longer ached, and there wasn’t even the slightest trace of the fever that had kept me bedridden since the wedding. I sat up slowly, expecting the dizziness to return, but nothing happened.

"Well, I’ll be damned," I muttered, relieved that I was finally feeling like myself again.

I turned my head and saw Rebecca still sleeping beside me. The blanket had slipped down during the night, pooling around her legs and leaving her completely exposed. Her bare ass was on full display right in front of me—soft, round, and tempting in the morning light. My cock throbbed immediately at the sight, blood rushing south so quickly that it almost hurt. For a dangerous second, I simply stared, remembering how it had felt to grip those hips while I fucked her from behind last night.

I looked away sharply, my jaw clenched.

Her dark chocolate hair was scattered across the pillow, and her face looked unusually peaceful. For a moment, I simply watched her profile instead. It was strange seeing Rebecca like this. Whenever we were together, she was either arguing with me, glaring at me, or threatening to make my life miserable. Yet here she was, sleeping so peacefully that it was difficult to believe she was the same woman.

I almost smiled, but then I remembered everything that had happened the previous night, and my smile disappeared. Fuck! We really needed to talk.

Careful not to wake her, I got out of bed and headed into the bathroom. I took a long, refreshing shower, enjoying the fact that I could finally stand without feeling as though the entire room was spinning. However, when I returned to the bedroom with a towel wrapped around my waist, Rebecca was gone.

I stopped near the bathroom door and looked around. The blanket had been pushed aside, and her clothes were no longer on the chair where she’d left them. I frowned, realizing that she had probably woken up, remembered what had happened, and decided to escape before I could say anything.

Typical Rebecca.

I shook my head and walked toward my wardrobe. Well, she could avoid me for a few hours if she wanted, but we were living under the same roof for the next three months. We couldn’t spend the entire time running away from each other.

After getting dressed, I headed downstairs for breakfast. The dining room was quiet when I arrived. Two guards stood near the entrance, while several maids were busy arranging dishes on the enormous dining table.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," they greeted, bowing respectfully.

"Morning," I replied, taking my usual seat at the head of the table.

One of the maids immediately poured me a cup of coffee while another served my breakfast. For the first time in two days, I actually had an appetite, and I was enjoying my meal when I noticed a young maid approaching the doorway with a tray of food.

"Wait," I called, making her stop immediately.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" she asked, turning toward me.

"Where are you taking that?"

"To Lady Rebecca’s bedroom, Your Majesty."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why? Isn’t she coming downstairs for breakfast?"

"Her Ladyship requested that her breakfast be brought upstairs. She said she doesn’t wish to eat in the dining room this morning."

I leaned back in my chair, immediately understanding what was happening. So that was how Rebecca intended to handle things. I had suspected she would try to avoid me, but I hadn’t expected her to start so early.

"Put the tray down," I instructed.

The maid hesitated. "Your Majesty?"

"I said put it down. Go upstairs and tell Rebecca I want her to join me for breakfast."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

She placed the tray on a nearby table, bowed, and hurried out of the dining room. I picked up my coffee and took a slow sip, wondering whether Rebecca would actually listen to my message. Knowing how stubborn she could be, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she sent the maid back to tell me to mind my own business.

But I wasn’t going to allow this awkwardness to continue for the next ninety days. We needed to talk, not because I expected anything from her, but because I wanted us to understand where we stood. I loved Rola, and Rebecca loved Melvin. That hadn’t changed, and whatever had happened last night didn’t have to change it either.

I returned to my breakfast, expecting Rebecca to ignore my invitation completely. Five minutes passed, then ten. By the time fifteen minutes had gone by, I was beginning to think she wasn’t coming. I was even considering sending Logan to fetch her when I heard footsteps approaching the dining room.

I looked up and saw Rebecca standing in the doorway, wearing a simple blue dress that fell just above her knees. Her hair was neatly brushed, and she looked as though she’d spent considerable time preparing herself before coming downstairs.

"Good morning," I greeted casually.

"Morning," she replied without looking directly at me.

She walked toward the table and took a seat several chairs away from mine. I raised an eyebrow, wondering whether she was deliberately trying to irritate me. There were only two of us in the dining room, yet she had chosen to sit as far away from me as possible. However, I decided not to comment.

One of the maids immediately approached her and began serving breakfast. Rebecca thanked her quietly before picking up her fork, and for several minutes, we ate in silence. I glanced at her occasionally, but she seemed determined to concentrate on her food. She didn’t look at me even once.

Finally, I placed my fork on the table. "Rebecca, we need to talk."

Her hand paused briefly before she continued eating. "About what?"

I almost laughed. Was she seriously going to pretend she didn’t know what I was talking about?

"About last night," I replied.

She immediately looked up. "What about last night?"

I studied her face for a moment before answering. "You know exactly what I’m talking about, Rebecca."

She glanced toward the maids standing nearby, then back at me. I understood her concern and immediately turned toward the servants.

"Everyone, leave us."

The guards and maids bowed respectfully before filing out of the dining room. Once the doors closed behind them, I turned my attention back to Rebecca, who was now staring down at her plate.

"Alright," I began. "Now that we’re alone, can we talk about what happened?"

Rebecca sighed and dropped her fork. "Kaden, there’s nothing to talk about. Last night was just..." She hesitated for a moment, searching for the right words. "It was the heat of the moment. That’s all."

I watched her carefully. "The heat of the moment?"

"Exactly," she replied firmly.

"Alright."

She blinked, clearly surprised by my response. "Alright? That’s all you have to say?"

"Yes, Rebecca. If that’s how you see it, I don’t have a problem with that."

She frowned. "What else do you want me to say?"

"Nothing. I’m not asking you to say anything you don’t want to say."

"Good, because I don’t want you getting the wrong idea about what happened."

I leaned back in my chair. "And what wrong idea would that be?"

"That I still have feelings for you or that last night somehow changes things between us," she replied. "Because it doesn’t. I love Melvin, Kaden. You know that. He’s the man I want to be with, and I’m not going to throw everything away because of one stupid moment."

I felt a brief flicker of irritation at the way she described what had happened, but I quickly pushed it aside. There was no reason to take offense. Hadn’t I been telling myself exactly the same thing since waking up?

"Rebecca, relax. I’m not asking you to leave Melvin," I assured her.

She sighed.

"I’m trying to tell you that we don’t have to make things more complicated than they already are. Listen, Rebecca, we have ninety days to spend together because of this ridiculous magical marriage. Whether we like it or not, we’re stuck with each other until the agreement ends, and spending those ninety days arguing, insulting each other, and trying to make each other’s lives miserable is going to be exhausting."

She folded her arms across her chest. "Well, maybe if you stopped being so arrogant—"

"Rebecca, can you please let me finish?"

She rolled her eyes but gestured for me to continue.

"Thank you," I replied, shaking my head. "What I’m saying is that we don’t have to be enemies, and we certainly don’t have to become lovers again. We can simply be friends. Two people who have known each other for years and are trying to get through an unfortunate situation without making it worse."

"Friends?" she repeated, looking at me suspiciously. "Since when did you start wanting to be friends with me?"

"Since I realized that fighting with you every single day for the next three months might actually kill me faster than that fever."

Rebecca stared at me for a second before a reluctant laugh escaped her lips. I smiled, relieved that she was finally beginning to relax.

"There. See? You can actually laugh at something I say without insulting me afterward."

"Don’t get too excited, Kaden. There’s still time," she replied.

I chuckled and shook my head. For the first time since she entered the dining room, the tension between us seemed to ease.

"Look, Rebecca," I continued, becoming serious again. "I’m not asking you to forget everything that happened between us. I know we have our differences, and I’m not pretending our past doesn’t exist. But we’re both adults. Surely, we can manage to live peacefully under the same roof for ninety days."

Rebecca lowered her gaze to her plate, considering my words for a moment before looking at me again.

"And what about last night?" she asked. "Are we just going to pretend it never happened?"

I took a deep breath. "If that’s what you want, then yes. We can put it behind us."

She studied my face suspiciously. "Just like that? And you won’t bring it up again?"

"Not unless you want to talk about it."

She seemed to relax slightly. "Good. Because it was a mistake, Kaden. A one-time mistake, and it’s never going to happen again."

I nodded. "Alright."

"I’m serious," she insisted.

"So am I, Rebecca."

"I love Melvin."

"I know."

"And you love Rola."

"Exactly," I replied.

She looked away for a moment before nodding. "Then we’re clear."