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

Aiden was still in his office when a knock interrupted him. When he glanced up, it was Emyr who entered the room with a relaxed expression.

"Sir," Emyr started slowly. "They have finally left for New York."

Aiden's hands paused for a second. "Did you confirm it well?"

Emyr nodded. "Yes. Both Mr. Martin and Ms. Martin have boarded the flight. One of our men is there keeping a watch on them."

"Keep this watch until the end," Aiden said, and understanding him, Emyr nodded.

"Yes, sir."

"Is there anything else?" Aiden asked when he saw his secretary still lingering there.

Emyr hesitated for a brief second before saying. "Sir, we got a call earlier. Chairman Davies wants to meet you."

Aiden glanced up at him, and Emyr added to explain, "Ms. Marie called earlier. But since you were busy with the conference, I didn't feel right to disturb you."

"Anything else?"

Emyr shook his head.

Aiden gestured him toward the door. "You can leave first, then."

Emyr gave a small bow before leaving the room. Once the door shut after him, Aiden's face hardened. He set his pen aside and leaned back on his chair, closing his eyes.

He seems exhausted for some reason.

At this moment, his phone vibrated on the desk. When he checked, it was Jason.

"What is it?" he asked, accepting the call.

Jason didn't respond immediately. But when he did, there was a hint of complaint in his tone. "What should there be? Should I only call you when there is something?"

Aiden closed his eyes and pinched the space between his brows. "Where are you now?" he asked, knowing that his friend wasn't in his best mood.

"Luxe Lagoon," he simply mentioned, asking grumpily, "How long will it take for you to reach?"

"I still have a few documents to check. Once done, I will be there."

"You will be prioritizing your work over me, Aiden?" Jason's voice was as though he couldn't believe it. "Was it for this day I prioritized my friends over everything?"

"..."

"Fine, I learnt a lesson. Since you forced me, don't come to blame me," Jason mimicked, like he had lost all his faith and trust. He made it deliberately sound evil. "Stay there. I will instead call Arwen and ask her to decide. I am sure he would understand my situation better."

"Can you be less dramatic, Jason?" Aiden's tone was flat.

And on the other end of the call, Jason pursed his lips. "Only if you reach here in the next fifteen minutes. Otherwise, at the sixteenth minute, it wouldn't be me but Arwen calling you."

With that, the beep of a disconnected line resounded through the air. Jason had hung up the call.

Aiden stared at his phone for a long moment before finally getting up to leave.

————

In one of the private rooms of Luxe Lagoon —

Jason and Jacob were sitting in silence when the door was finally pushed open.

Aiden stepped inside, and his gaze darted to look at both Jason and Jacob.

"You are three minutes late," Jason noted, looking down at his watch.

Aiden merely glanced at him and walked to grab a seat. He didn't explain, nor did he ask anything. He simply sat and waited to hear. But when even after minutes, Jason said nothing, he looked at Jacob, who shook his head, telling him that he had no idea about it either.

"Jason," Jacob finally spoke when the silence only stretched further. "Now, even Aiden is here. Will you tell us what you asked us here for?"

"Why are you making it sound like I made you skip something important? You weren't doing anything when I called?" Jason said with a frown, turning to look at his friend.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "I am a top-tier lawyer, and the last thing Thorne and Associates lacks is clients and cases. Do you think I was sitting idly in my office?"

Jason narrowed his gaze. "And do you think I would simply call you here if there is really nothing? If you are forgetting, even I am a doctor. And more than anyone, doctors are busy."

Aiden stared at his two friends and couldn't take it anymore. Turning to Jason, he said, "Instead of talking about these, tell us what you need us here for. So that we could get into the real thing as soon as possible."

Jacob nodded. "Yes, we should do that now. It's anyway getting late."

"And you have no one waiting for you at home. So, relax!" Jason almost mocked, and before Jacob could retort, Jason looked away.

"You —"

"My family wants me to get married," Jason spoke, cutting Jacob off. "They are continuously setting me up at blind dates, and I can't take it any longer. Being my friend, you gutsy need to help me now."

"Help you? How?" Jacob asked, raising his brows in amusement. One look at him and anyone could say he was trying hard to suppress his laughter. "Don't tell me you want us to substitute you at your dates."

Although Jason didn't mean that, he still looked at him and asked, "What's so difficult about going to those blind dates for me? You don't need to do anything. Eat and come back. I will deal with the rest."

Jacob looked at Aiden before turning again to Jason. "The difficulty is: Aiden is already married. And as for me, well, I have no such merits. I can't be your substitute. Especially on such dates. If it's just about eating and coming back, I would prefer to date myself. I can't take the presence of a woman sitting across from me."

Jason pressed his lips into a thin line. He stared daggers at him for a second before giving up. "Fine, if that's not a solution, then tell me what else we could do?" His eyes shifted to look at Aiden, asking him to suggest anything.

However, before Aiden could say anything, Jacob spoke up. "There is one thing you could do to put an end to this whole farce."

When Jason and Aiden glanced his way, he continued, "End it in a way that no one could ever set you up for it ever again."

"Really? Is there anything that could make that possible?" Jason asked, slightly surprised. He never knew a solution like that existed. He was only planning a solution that could help him seek an escape for a few months at least.

"Of course, there is," Jacob said quite confidently. He looked at Aiden, and one look at his eyes and Aiden could say whatever it is, it's up to no good.

The subtle smirk on Jacob's face was enough to tell. "You are a doctor. You must know the best way to avoid this situation."

Jason frowned, not understanding. "What does my profession have to do with it?"

"Prepare a medical report, and you can easily repel the women."

Jason thought for a moment, trying to understand what Jacob meant by that. It took him a while to understand —not because he was dumb. But because he never expected his friend to suggest something like that.

His face went red with fury as he turned to look at Jacob. "Jacob Thorne, say that again, and I will make sure you regret it, suffering yourself the entire life."

Aiden chuckled, and Jacob pointed his finger out. "What? Don't tell me it's not one of the good solutions to avoid such arrangements. After all, your family is only asking you to get married for one reason. If you eliminate that itself, do you think they will care to put hopes on you?"

"Say that again," the warning was clear in Jason's voice, but neither of the two took it seriously.

They laughed while poor Jason sat grumpy.

After the laughter died away, Jason asked seriously. "Did you guys have enough? Now, on a serious note, can you suggest something good enough to be accepted?"

Jacob and Aiden shared a look before they nodded to each other.

"There is another one," Jacob suggested again.

But before he could speak any further, Jason stopped him. "You just leave it. I don't know the road of my life ahead. I just need something that could give me a little time until I am ready."

Jacob pursed his lips. "Are you sure you don't want to listen? You might like this one. After all, even Aiden agrees with it."

Jason turned to look at Aiden, and seeing him nod, he finally turned to Jacob, cueing him to continue.

Jacob shook his head internally. He didn't mean to tease, but it was rare he got a chance to tease either of his two friends. He just didn't want to miss such a rare chance.

"Another way to avoid such blind dates is to get the certificate."

Jason blinked, and seeing him confused, Jacob nodded.

"Yes, get married, and there would be no reason for your parents to set you up for another date."