Husband With Benefits-Chapter 882: No?

"I am sorry but we will not be getting married. I... I think we should hold an engagement and then plan for the wedding but cancel it in a couple of months due to ’differences’. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

Rafe stilled. Had he misheard? She had not agreed to marry him. But only set up a ruse... He sighed. This was not done. He did not plan to have an engagement charade. "No."

Her gaze snapped to his, confusion flickering across her features. "What do you mean, no?"

"I don’t want an engagement charade, Arabelle," he said firmly.

Arabelle sighed, the weight of his refusal pressing down on her. "You don’t understand," she said, shaking her head. "There are things in my past—things that could ruin you if they came to light."

Rafe’s brows furrowed. He searched her face for clues, his mind racing even though she had hinted at this earlier as well. "What did you do?" he asked, "Was it something immoral?"

Her lips parted slightly, her caution evident. "Immoral and not illegal?" she ventured carefully.

Rafe’s expression softened, though his gaze remained serious. "People in our position have always done something illegal, whether we admit it or not," he said. "What matters is whether it was immoral or not. And do you blame yourself for it? Was it the circumstances?"

Arabelle looked away, her throat tightening. "That’s not the point, Rafe," she said quietly. "The point is—"

"The point," he cut in, his voice unwavering, "is that I fell for you the first time I saw you, Arabelle. So, you can say anything you want, but now that we’re publicly engaged, I don’t intend to let you go. I want you to give me a chance to make you happy."

He leaned forward slightly, his words brimming with determination. "And if there’s anything in your past that bothers you, I will deal with it personally. You don’t have to face it alone. Or worry about me not accepting it."

Arabelle froze, his declaration rendering her speechless. She studied his face, searching for any trace of doubt or hesitation, but found none. He was serious—dead serious. Her heart twisted, caught between the temptation to believe him and the bitter lessons of her past.

"Fine," she said at last, her voice clipped. "You want to take the risk? So be it."

Rafe’s shoulders relaxed slightly, but her next words made him pause.

"Let’s go ahead with this wedding," she continued, her tone businesslike. "Feel free to set a date since you’ve already made most of the arrangements. But there’s a few conditions—prepare a prenuptial agreement with the primary clause being that when we separate in the future, I will retain full custody of the child while you will have visitation rights. That is non negotiable. And, you need to keep the wedding low-key. No grand displays."

With that, Arabelle turned on her heel and walked out of the room, her expression unreadable. She may have not realized it but Rafe had caught onto her words. She believed that they woudl divorce eventually. She’d used the words ’when’ and not ’if’.

As she moved through the corridor, her thoughts churned relentlessly. Someone else had once promised the same thing—that her past didn’t matter, that he wouldn’t care. But those promises had shattered as soon as the truth came out. It had blown up in his face and, more painfully, in hers.

This time, she vowed, she would be ready. If Rafe wanted to take the risk, let him. But she wouldn’t let herself be blindsided.

If they did end up marrying, the prenuptial agreement would be her safety net. It would help her avoid a messy child custody case when the inevitable fallout occurred. And if the truth came out before the wedding, she would simply walk away, as she’d planned. She would take her child and offer Rafe the same arrangements she’d proposed before.

Not once did Arabelle allow herself to consider a third option—that after learning the truth, Rafe might still choose to stay with her. To her, such a scenario was impossible, a fantasy too far-fetched to entertain.

She had learned the hard way that trust was a luxury she couldn’t afford.

She returned to her apartment and sighed as she looked around. Things really did have a way of changing suddenly. It reminded her of how Autumn and Gabe had gotten married. Out of the blue and so suddenly.

She sank into the couch, letting out a quiet sigh as she closed her eyes. For a moment, she hoped to lose herself in her thoughts, to drift away from the whirlwind of emotions. But just as the silence began to settle, her phone buzzed to life, its ringtone cutting through the stillness.

A small smile tugged at her lips as she reached for it. She answered the call, but before she could even say hello, a high-pitched squeal erupted from the other end.

"We’re going to be sisters! Can you believe it? From being sisters-in-law to the Frosts to this! Arabelle, this is so cool!"

Arabelle winced slightly, pulling the phone away from her ear to escape the enthusiastic volume. Despite the ringing in her ears which might make her deaf, her smile widened.

Dora was nothing if not vocal about her thoughts, and it seemed she wholeheartedly approved of the turn of events.

"I don’t think you should be happy about that. If I become a princess too, then you won’t be able to flex anymore."

"Ha! We’ll flex together then." Dora answered before contiunuing," I wanted to come see you but all the press are not gathered around everyone related to Rafe, wanting to know if anyone knew about his dating and what they can tell about you. So, you need to be careful and need to keep a low profile. I’ll send someone over to rescue you tomorrow morning. I have questions... and you, my dear sister, have answers. Be prepared. I am going to be asking you all sorts of questions!"