Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ

Meet Miranda The blood drained from my face, turning it paler than pale. Aren had a fiancée?! A real, uncontracted fiancée?! If Aren and Miranda had been engaged, then why did they break up?! I was confused. I didn’t even know how to behave in front of her right now... “Oh,” I voiced out, giving her a blank stare. She burst into laughter, slightly slapping my shoulder. “Hey! I didn’t mean to freak you out; I’m just teasing you!”

I guess Miranda found her own words amusing, but I still didn’t get the joke. “So… Were you, or weren’t you Aren’s fiancée?” I asked, both flustered and annoyed.

“I was… for about six hours… until we sobered up.” She chuckled before shooting me a beaming grin. “But you… you are in a real relationship with him. I must admit that it fascinates me.”

I felt even more baffled. “Wait… so what is YOUR relationship with Aren?”

“We’re friends… nothing more than friends,” she stated firmly.

“So what was it about that thing with Aren’s ear?” I frowned.

She smirked. “I’ll tell you what… Let’s get those tests done, and then we will meet for a coffee or a drink I will tell you everything you want to know and more.”

I sighed, pretending to be cool about it, even if I wasn’t. “All right. Let’s do like you said.” She smiled before putting on a doctor’s mask. I couldn’t help but admire that professional change. It was as if she had turned into a different person. She had done a basic checkup on me, and then she typed it all down on her computer form before collecting my blood for further testing.

“Now, you need to go upstairs for the ultrasound and MRI. After you’re done, we’ll meet for some coffee and chat,” she said, in between calling for a nurse to come and take me to the rest of my examinations.

I nodded yet was still uncertain whether Miranda was a friend or foe. As soon as I left her office, I texted Neil, asking him to tell me anything about my new doctor. He called me instead.

“Did Ms. Corbyn say anything inappropriate?” he asked as I answered, concern more than obvious in the tone of his voice.

That knocked me off guard and that’s why I asked…” I replied, lowering my voice as I followed the nurse to the examination room. Neil cleared his

is true. Ms. Corbyn and Mr. Lan have known each other

wn

Meet Miranda

I muttered before

that she might have known a lot about Aren. Aren trusted her… and that alone made me feel inferior. Then again, I couldn’t explain why I cared so much about being in his

hours later, all the examinations were over. I was drained out and starving since I came to the clinic on an empty stomach. My desires were simple: I needed food and rest in some quiet place, far away from the MRI’s annoying buzz,

shoulder and directing me to the corridor on her left. “Starving,” I

down the corridor. I tried to keep my guard up around her while relentlessly looking for the motive she might have had to get close to me. Was she testing me? And if she truly was, was

part of Lan’s Clinic. The floor -to-ceiling windows in the warm wooden frame created a cozy, almost therapeutic atmosphere. I couldn’t wait until I would get to sit on one of those wooden chairs with linen covered cushions set by one of the many tables inside the room, but Miranda decided to take us to the small

said. “I come here whenever I want to eat in

liked her choice. A few minutes later, we were enjoying the birds’ singing while waiting for our order. She kept smiling as she stared at me, and it

ago.”

her voice.

how long have you and Aren known each other?” I made a desperate

known each other since we were kids. My parents and I lived next to Winton’s mansion. I hated his stepmother, though, and his half-brother… He was the most hateful kid I’ve ever met. Could you believe that Aren was treated like the stepson in the family just because his mother, the real Mrs. Winton, died?!” I could feel her anger when she told me about Aren’s past, and I had to say that I instantly shared her anger. Aren must have suffered a lot when he was a child. As I saw the agitation in

More Miranda

about your engagement?” I decided to cut to

until the waitress put our salads and coffee on the table, and took a deep breath as she walked away. “It was at Harvard. Aren and I studied together. I was after a tough breakup… or more like I was dumped, and I made Aren drink with me to drown my sorrows. I was stupid, and I sort of used him as my remedy for a broken heart. We were completely wasted and ended up in bed. When we woke up, Aren started to apologize and said that he would take responsibility and marry me. Who does that, right?” she smirked,

an absolute jerk. He’s never been in a relationship, and he’s never chased after a