Aria’s POV

It had been a few days since the incident between Damien and me, yet Vincent seemed to have grown distant. I could barely see him, let alone start a conversation with him. Whenever I asked his secretary about him, I was always given the same answer—that he was busy.

At this point, I had started wondering why I was even here in the first place. Why had I accepted his offer, knowing full well that I was going to be nothing more than a piece of furniture kept in his house for decoration? Still, it was better than going back.

My phone had been buzzing all day with calls from my parents, but I refused to answer. I knew exactly what they wanted to discuss. They wanted to talk about what had happened between Damien and me.

I wasn't going to give them the benefit of the doubt. If my sister was good at taking what belonged to me, then so was I. She had chosen her side first, and I wasn't going to sit back and explain myself to anyone. But despite everything, my mind remained troubled.

What if Vincent had heard what Damien and I were talking about? Perhaps I should have told him myself. Maybe that was the reason he had suddenly become so distant from me.

I was still lost in my thoughts when a knock on the door jolted me back to reality.

I quickly got up and opened it. The butler stood outside. He smiled, bowed his head respectfully, then straightened his back.

“My lady, Boss, requests your presence in the dining room.” I didn't have time to change or fix myself properly. I hurried out of the room and headed straight for the dining room.

The moment I stepped inside, I saw Vincent sitting at the far end of the table.

For a moment, I froze.

“Come. Eat with me.”

His cold voice echoed through the room.

I slowly made my way toward him and took my seat. When dinner was served, we ate in silence.

Neither of us spoke. With every passing second, my nerves grew worse. I couldn't keep hiding the truth from him. I didn't care how he would react; I just had to tell him before Damien got to him first and twisted everything around.

“I have something to tell you,” I finally muttered, breaking the awkward silence.

Vincent slowly raised his head, his gaze meeting mine. He placed his cutlery down and intertwined his fingers on the table.

Waiting, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment, trying to figure out how to put the words together without making everything sound worse than it already was.

“Damien and I were together before he cheated on me with my sister.” The room fell silent, I waited for him to say something. His expression didn't change. the longer he remained silent, the more frustrated I became.

“Aren't you going to say something?” I asked. A faint smirk appeared on his lips.

“I know.” My jaw dropped.My hands began to tremble beneath the table.

“You knew?” I stared at him in disbelief.

“You knew all this time, yet you said nothing? You didn't even ask me about it.”

“There's no need to ask. You're my wife.”

He shrugged as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. I still couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Vincent picked up his glass of wine and took a slow sip before gently placing it back on the table. His gaze remained fixed on me.

“Now, to the reason I wanted us to have dinner.” My stomach tightened.

“I've been thinking about something. I think it's time I have a child to take over my business empire. Since you're my wife, it would be improper to have one outside this marriage.” I froze.

A child?

What was he talking about?That had never been part of the agreement we made.

“Why is he suddenly talking about having a child?” My thoughts raced.

“I... I...” I stammered, completely caught off guard.

I didn't know what to say or how to react. Was he trying to put me in a difficult position? I couldn't believe this was happening.

I was already dealing with Damien trying to create a scene, and now Vincent was asking me to give him a child. A child who would be Damien's half-sibling.

“Mr. Vincent, I hope you don't have a child in mind as part of the agreement?” I asked, keeping my voice as low as possible. I wasn't ready to lose my mind just yet. Vincent's expression remained unchanged.

“It seems you didn't really look through the contract before signing it. Regardless, I want a child from you. You can choose whether it will be through surrogacy or the normal way.” My eyes widened, He said it so casually.

His gaze remained fixed on mine as he picked up his cutlery and took another spoonful of soup. I swallowed hard and tried to look away. Why did he have to look this good? My thoughts were becoming ridiculous, and I quickly pushed them aside.

“If you don't feel safe, we don't have to do it ourselves. You can simply hire a surrogate to carry the child.” I blinked twice and stared at him. His expression was unreadable.

“That isn't what I'm talking about,” I said, my voice tightening. “What about Damien? You can't be angry if he's being replaced, can you?”

The smirk on Vincent's lips widened slightly. He shook his head.

“Damien is not my son.” I froze.